Highly Mobile Youth: How State Policy and Local Implementation Can Work Together to Support Youth

Educational Stability as the Anchor

Colorado’s central strategy allocates funds directly to school districts to design and implement programs that serve multiple HMY populations.

Local First Innovation With State Support

Colorado’s local-first strategy prioritizes learning from district-developed approaches and building infrastructure to support broader adoption and collaboration within state agencies.

“I really believe in Colorado, our best work comes from grassroots work; from communities who are coming up with ways to better identify, serve, and support these students. We need to spotlight and highlight these solutions and replicate them across the state. That’s our role at the state level: bring awareness to practitioners about where their numbers are at, where the gaps and overlaps are.”
-Colorado state education agency staff member

Research-Practice Partnerships

Collaborations in Colorado have examined indicators like school stability, attendance, credit accumulation, and graduation across student groups, that provide insights to guide policy design, program development, and implementation.

Legislated Cross-Sector Collaboration

Cross-sector work plays two roles at the state level in Washington:
1. Aligns, coordinates, and monitors policy, services, resources, and outcomes across systems.
2. Leverages data for real-time, individualized educational support and analysis of HMY outcomes.

“Project Education Impact organizes our systems around the fact that [HMY] have similar educational conditions and outcomes. We identify the overlaps and where there might need to be population-specific investments at the state level.”
-Washington nonprofit organization, Treehouse, senior leader

Recognizing Housing as Central to Mobility

In Washington, policies now focus on interventions to support HMY beyond education. They acknowledge the important intersection between housing instability and systems involvement, illustrating how housing can serve as a key preventative approach.

“There is a population of young people that experience both systems involvement and housing instability. These are some of our most vulnerable youth. Housing instability can make these young people even more likely to bounce around between the justice system and child welfare system.”
-Washington nonprofit policy director

Nonprofits Bridging Services and Systems

Statewide nonprofit organizations in Washington, like Treehouse, Building Changes, and The Mockingbird Society, work at the local and state levels to make sure policies and procedures are supporting HMY across systems.

Standardized Terminology and Data Sharing

Inconsistent terminology can create challenges for identifying and serving HMY. Washington enacted legislation and revised definitions across systems to improve early identification and access to support.

Limited Support for Youth Involved With the Justice System

Youth involved with the justice system face fragmented support across education, justice, and human services. Limited data sharing and unclear responsibility can interrupt timely, coordinated care.

“From a student advocacy lens, a lot of folks have pushed back [against information sharing for justice-involved youth] … Folks say [that record] potentially changes how that school treats that kid, in a negative way.”
-Colorado state education agency administrator

Misconceptions and Narrow Definitions for Youth Who Are Migrant

There are barriers within the eligibility and identification process that impact migrant students’ access to services. One Colorado state-level director described common confusion around the term “migrant,” which students qualify and are eligible for support. Immigration-related stigma was mentioned in preventing highly mobile students from being identified and served.

The current eligibility criteria: Eligibility is limited to 36 months from the qualifying move (a short window for identifying and serving students). A parent must be legally authorized to work in the United States and employed in agriculture, fishing, or dairy, excluding other high-mobility sectors like construction or tourism.

Inconsistent Terminology Across Agencies

Vague and inconsistent terminology across state systems makes it difficult to identify HMY, align agency responsibilities, and target supports effectively.

“One of the biggest barriers for us right now … is what educational setting are the foster students in. … We might have a graduation rate of 33 percent for foster. But if we were able to disaggregate the data, we might see that 6 percent of students are graduating out of detention facility programs, whereas 70 percent might be graduating out of our traditional day programs. … There’s no way to evaluate these differences and provide educational services that meet the unique needs of students as the system is currently set up.”
-Colorado state-level administrator that oversees student services

Data Sharing and Privacy Constraints

Strict data protections, while important, can limit a state agency’s comprehensive understanding of HMY experiences and needs. This slows coordination and limits system-wide improvement across child-serving agencies.

“We already have a strict or cautious data environment in Colorado, and for this group of students [HMY] it is even more so. Being able to understand data and point to who these students are, where there are challenges and where things are going well for our services across systems and align on that … we can’t do this if we don’t have a complete picture of what’s happening with these youth.”
-Colorado state education agency administrator

Underrepresentation of Youth Classified as Migrant

Washington has the nation’s second-largest population of migrant students, but they are absent from recent HMY policies and our interviews.

While interviewees frequently noted overlap among homelessness, foster care, and justice involvement, migrant youth were not mentioned. Their underrepresentation could stem from their location, as many live in rural areas, making them less visible in state efforts.

Stigma and Fragmented Support for Youth Involved With the Justice System

Stigma and dispersed responsibility across agencies often leave justice-involved youth overlooked. When districts, child welfare, and state agency systems share responsibility, it becomes difficult to ensure consistent accountability for students’ learning and well-being. This fragmentation creates gaps in access, continuity, and the quality of educational support.

“People just turn a blind eye to the young people involved with juvenile justice services because they did something wrong and now they have to serve their time.”
-Washington state child welfare agency coordinator, contrasting this student group with the more sympathetic viewpoint of young people in foster care

Limited District-Level Engagement

Interviewees emphasized the importance of collaboration with districts to adopt integrated practices that recognize the overlapping needs of HMY.

“One of the things we are wondering now in our work is if we could partner with districts to improve their practices for HMY. How can we help them see overlaps between the populations to maximize impact?”
-Senior nonprofit leader, Treehouse

Similarities

Colorado and Washington share numerous commonalities in their experiences of supporting HMY populations.

Youth in Foster Care and Youth Experiencing Homelessness as Policy Priorities

Recognition of Overlapping Needs and Shared Outcomes

Direct Service Providers as Catalysts for the Work

Differences

Local-First Versus Policy-Driven Models

Degrees of Inclusion for Youth Who Are Migrant and Those Who Are Justice-Involved

Terminology and Data Approaches

Sustainability Strategies

Lessons Learned

State Alignment and Local Flexibility

Patterns of Inclusion and Omission in Policy and Practice Across HMY Populations

Legislative Codification Plus Individual Leadership

Data and Definitions as Foundations for the Work

Direct Service Providers as Connectors of Policy and Practice

Recommendations

Combine State Alignment With Local Flexibility

Formalize Cross-Agency Expertise and Relationships

Develop and Use Agreed-Upon Terminology for Stronger, Higher Quality Data Systems

Build Trust in Systems

Elevate Youth Voices

Strengthen Protections for Youth Who Are Migrant and Those Involved With the Justice System