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More than 1,200 Medford students experienced homelessness either alone or with their families at some point during the last school year, according to a report released earlier this month by Oregon Department of Education. The count represents an increase of 207 students over the previous year, which state officials attribute to a new reporting methodology. But the head of the Maslow Project, a Medford resource for homeless youths and their families, says the increase shows enduring effects of the recession. The student homeless populations in the Ashland, Butte Falls, Eagle Point and Phoenix-Talent school districts also grew, but none so much as in Medford, which accounted for more than a quarter of the state's total increase. Students are considered homeless if they are living in a shelter (Hearts with a Mission, the Dunn House, St. Vincent de Paul, etc.); couch surfing or staying with someone who is not a parent or legal guardian; or sleeping in a tent, a car, substandard housing or a hotel/motel, explained Mary Ferrell, executive director and founder of the Maslow Project. In other words, homeless refers to any housing situation that is not “fixed, adequate and regular,” Ferrell said. Of the 1,200 homeless students enrolled in Medford schools, about 170 are not living with a parent or guardian. That's up from 125 in 2012-13. “Most of those kids are unaccompanied because of unsafe or uncomfortable living conditions,” Ferrell said. “And sometimes it’s a situation where the child has been kicked out, or there’s been sexual or domestic abuse, abandonment, neglect, or if a single parent is incarcerated. “Less than 1 percent of the unaccompanied youth we work with have the option of going home and are choosing not to,” Ferrell added. Every year, Maslow Project staff are responsible for collecting homeless student data on behalf of Jackson County public school districts (except for the Eagle Point School District, which handles its own data collection) and submitting it to ODE for analysis. Before 2012, districts were asked to provide a headcount of the homeless students they’d served. Starting in 2012-13, ODE asked districts to also provide each homeless student’s ID number to avoid duplicating students who moved between districts during the school year, said ODE spokeswoman Crystal Greene. Medford’s homeless count dropped from 1,235 students in 2011-12 to 993 students in 2012-13, but then increased in 2013-14. “Statewide we saw an increase this year after seeing a decrease the year before,” Greene said. “As a state we think it has more to do with how the information was reported as opposed to a true decline, although we realize the need is still there.” Maslow Project served 35 percent more students in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, Ferrell said, adding that the increase was related to need rather than a new reporting method. “Over the course of the year, our numbers tend to vary plus or minus 5 percent, but this is the first time in our 15-year history of working with this population that our numbers have increased this dramatically,” she said. The population living in poverty is not recovering from the recession as quickly as the rest of the community, she said. “Many families' unemployment benefits have timed out, and while the housing market has dropped, the cost of rent has remained the same,” she said. Families and students are often identified as homeless by their response to a nighttime residency survey found in enrollment packets or are referred to the Maslow Project through a teacher, school staff, shelter or another agency. Homeless youth are more likely to miss school and/or drop out, receive lower scores on standardized tests, and suffer from depression, physical illnesses and learning disabilities than their housed peers, said Ferrell, citing research done by the National Center on Family Homelessness and the U.S. Department of Education. "If anything, the official ODE count is underrepresenting what local schools are dealing with throughout the year," she said. Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt.