After Esmeralda Nuno Mora’s father was deported, her mother was left to raise two small children. Esme’s situation worsened at age 14 when her mother was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor. “When she ultimately passed away, I not only lost my mom but my stability and a sense of security.”
After her mother’s death, Esme and her sister did not have a fixed address or legal guardians. Instead, they were bounced between relatives and lived in legal limbo as minor children.
Her public school did not identify her as homeless, a designation would have granted Esme special educational rights and provided her with additional assistance. Instead, she struggled.
“With each move, it was extremely difficult to enroll in school as my caregivers had no legal custody or court documents. I went to a total of 4 different high schools, losing many educational opportunities along the way. I couldn’t join sports or clubs as I had no financial assistance and never knew when or where I would be forced to move next.”
Unfortunately, Esme is not alone. Many youth experiencing homelessness are not identified, leading school districts to fail to address their serious and unique needs. A report by the ACLU estimates that the number of homeless students is approximately six times greater than the total reported by school districts.
John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) is working with Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva to make sure Esme’s experience doesn’t happen to other young people. Her policy proposal, Assembly Bill 2137, would require school districts to take extra measures to identify unaccompanied homeless youth.
The policy proposal includes two additional provisions. The first would allow county offices of education to provide direct assistance to foster youth and the second would require school districts to provide foster youth student “opt-out forms” when they elect to not apply for college financial aid.
Fortunately, Esme persevered. In her senior year of high school, she was identified as an “unaccompanied homeless youth” which ensured she received maximum college financial aid. It also helped her understand why her experience was so different from others.
“Learning about my unaccompanied homeless youth identity was the missing piece to the puzzle, putting a label on why I had no court documents regarding guardianship, why I kept moving from home to home, where I could find other students in my same position, and that there was a community to help me to get out of survival mode.”
With that knowledge, Esme attended Norco Community College in Riverside and transferred to UC Berkeley. She finally received the help she needed all along, “Once in college, my counselors, homeless liaisons, and success coaches became my advocates, fighting with me to get me the resources necessary to survive and thrive as a student, filling the gap that was left when I no longer had a parent to care for me.”
Esme is happy to receive the help, but is serving as a JBAY Youth Advocate to ensure others are not left behind, “Only by being identified as homeless will students like me get the resources they need, and schools should be held accountable to the existing requirements to identify their homeless students. That is why I am here today.”