“I don’t want to wear out my welcome,” Richardson said.

Richardson went from four large bags in September to two. He has lost track of clothes and personal items during the shuffle and thrown away a lot to expedite his moves. He spent one night in an abandoned house and vowed he would never do it again.

He was often late to school because he was trying to catch the right bus or remember at whose house he left his textbook, homework or a clean shirt. There were a few occasions he bought a new shirt after several days of not showering because it was “the closest thing I have to feeling clean,” he said.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates there are about 380,000 high school-age homeless youth nationwide.

Identifying students who live under these circumstances is a challenge because of shame and secrecy, said Mary Herrington-Babb, the McKinney-Vento Regional Education Program coordinator for Richmond Public Schools.

But there are signs.

“You can identify them because they have their backpacks and all their stuff with them,” she said, adding they often miss school during the moves. “A lot of things go on in the family system that they don’t want to share.”