San Diego and other districts are opening school-based safe parking lots as homelessness rises, sparking debate over dignity and long-term housing.
A school parking lot is now deciding daily routines for some homeless families, offering a degree of safety and privacy while policymakers argue over whether the approach is a lifeline or something darker.
In San Diego, one mother, identified only by her first initial M.. to protect her family’s privacy, described nights spent in a recreational vehicle parked at a city-owned lot.. She said she can cook meals from an outdoor kitchen shared with multiple families. help her child with homework. and maintain basic routines like bathing and brushing teeth before bed.. The next morning. she drives her son to the school where she works part-time as a site monitor—while her family’s belongings. vehicle. and sleeping space remain secured at the lot.
Since late last year, M.. and her family have lived in parking-lot shelters opened through a collaboration involving the city. the local school district. and a nonprofit partner.. Caseworkers help families search for more permanent housing. and the families’ placement is framed as temporary stability rather than a long-term fix.
The push is unfolding against a worsening national backdrop for families with children.. Family homelessness hit a record high in 2024. as the end of federal pandemic assistance and rising inflation left more households unable to stay housed.. A sluggish labor market and high housing costs have intensified pressure on family budgets. and advocates warn that as more unhoused families become visible. school systems face growing demands.
San Diego’s involvement goes back further than the current debate.. The city began experimenting in 2017 with partnerships to convert parking areas into places where people could sleep safely. and it later expanded the model to prioritize families.. When officials moved to ban public camping. district leaders raised a different question: whether vacant school property and other district spaces could provide temporary shelter for families who still needed a place to sleep.
Critics say the approach risks becoming a substitute for the deeper work of preventing homelessness in the first place.. Opposition has come from nearby residents and private developers who worry about crime and impacts on property values.. Progressives locally have also raised concerns—quietly in some cases—that safe parking may divert attention and resources away from the underlying causes of housing loss.
Even at the federal level, the concept has drawn sharp language.. The Trump administration has criticized safe parking lots as “dystopian” and “reprehensible. ” while also planning major cuts to long-term housing programs.. Supporters argue the criticism overlooks the immediate reality educators and families face when emergency shelter capacity cannot absorb need.
Advocates for homeless people describe safe parking sites as imperfect but potentially effective short-term options that preserve autonomy and dignity while families try to move into housing.. In the view of Jennifer Erb-Downward. director of housing stability programs and policy initiatives for Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. parking lots can create a middle ground between staying in a car on the streets and entering shelter systems that may not be available or accessible.. In her framing, the goal is to connect families to a support network instead of leaving them outside the system.
School officials in San Diego say learning requires safety and health.. The district’s liaison for homeless and foster youth described the school-based lots as a “way station. ” meant to help families join a wider web of services and move on as quickly as possible.. At the same time. the district refers families to city shelters. but those shelters do not have enough space to meet demand.
National data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development underscores how wide the gap has become.. HUD’s January 2024 homeless census found nearly 260. 000 people in families with children experiencing homelessness—an increase of more than 50% compared with pre-pandemic levels.. Researchers and experts also warn that these figures likely undercount “hidden” homelessness. including families who sometimes pay out of pocket for hotels and motels or couch-surf with friends and relatives to avoid streets.
In California, which has the largest homeless population in the country, family homelessness has risen by 14% since before the pandemic. Erb-Downward pointed to the instability’s toll on children, arguing that school may be the only consistent stabilizing force in a family’s life.
M.’s situation illustrates how policy changes can translate into sudden instability.. She said her family’s housing ended after a federal rental assistance subsidy ran out—at the same moment her landlord moved to raise rent by nearly a third.. She described trying to search for affordable options but encountering rent levels far beyond reach and strict credit-score requirements.
Within San Diego County. there are roughly 1. 500 people in families experiencing homelessness. yet only a small number of emergency shelters offer space for children and parents.. M.. said she did not want to leave the city, and she faced limited options.. As her family packed belongings into storage. the principal at her son’s school learned of their situation and encouraged her to apply for the new safe parking lot at the former Central Elementary School.
The Central Elementary lot operates with security separated from nearby construction in the City Heights neighborhood.. Families can use one of a limited number of vehicle spots. and the district and the nonprofit partner added practical supports in old portable classrooms. including microwaves for meal preparation.. Parents can meet with case managers, while students use Wi-Fi to do homework and access the school’s soccer field.
For some families. the lot model is preferred to shelter living that may involve strict curfews. constant supervision requirements for minors. and a lack of quiet space for schoolwork.. Jesse Mendez. director of the safe parking program for the nonprofit partner. said the approach is also intended to help children avoid being forced to recognize homelessness as a defining label.. He emphasized that families choose who sleeps nearby and that the environment is designed to feel safe.
San Diego’s Rose Canyon lot offers a different configuration.. There. the city and the nonprofit provide each family with its own trailer. along with covered communal space that includes a small library. dining and study area. charging stations. and a shared kitchen.. M.. said she prefers Rose Canyon to the Central Elementary setup. citing noise from nearby apartment construction and describing the surrounding street environment as less comfortable due to the number of people living outdoors.
School district planning adds another layer to the story.. After Rose Canyon opened for families in 2023. district leaders began considering converting the Central Elementary campus lot into a safe parking site.. Longer term. the district intends to develop the school into affordable housing for teachers. custodians. and other district employees. though construction is not expected to begin for years.
The district’s staffing and housing economics complicate that timeline.. In San Diego. salaries for many employees are low. and hourly staff such as classroom aides and bus monitors can earn as little as $1. 832.64 a month.. At the same time. median rent is reported as over $2. 200 for a one-bedroom apartment. and nearly $3. 000 for a two-bedroom—figures that help explain why workforce housing and family housing pressures intersect.
When funding arrived shortly before Thanksgiving 2025, the district was able to refer more than two dozen families quickly.. Eligibility is described as limited to a subset of homeless families who have a vehicle; they must have enough resources to own it but not enough to pay rent.. For the Central Elementary site, the lot is open daily from 6 p.m.. to 7 a.m., with portable restrooms on site.. Families must wait for a nearby YMCA’s hours to shower, and they also receive access to the food pantry.
Supporters point to research from the nonprofit partner’s model when arguing the approach is more than symbolic.. The nonprofit’s 2024 study found that 40% of households staying at a site between March 2020 and November 2021 had moved into more stable housing. either permanent or temporary.. It also reported that clients who used both parking programs and emergency shelters “highly preferred” the lots.. More recent program reporting cited higher stabilization rates overall and at Rose Canyon specifically. while noting that national and local benchmarks from HUD and local shelters vary.
The program enrollment process begins with households placed for an initial 60 days while case managers set goals and work toward stable housing. Many families remain longer, suggesting that the “bridge” can extend for months as housing vouchers, landlord availability, and eligibility rules line up.
That bridge can also lead to tangible outcomes.. In March, Dezarae S.. and her family moved from the Rose Canyon lot into a three-bedroom apartment after years on a housing voucher waiting list.. She said her childhood experiences of homelessness—spending time in shelters. on the streets. and in her mother’s car—shaped her decision to keep her own children from experiencing similar instability.. Her twin sons. both autistic. met with specialists at the lot to prepare for preschool. and she described daily caregiving details that had to continue even while the family waited for housing.
Her family’s move followed support from the program over time: from life on the lot to ultimately securing housing in late March. She said her children’s well-being remained central throughout, framing the moment not as an end to work but as a restoration of childhood stability.
The idea has also begun spreading beyond California.. Cincinnati Public Schools in Ohio is scheduled to open its first safe parking lot for families at a downtown elementary school. with a limited number of spaces and plans to hire security seven days a week.. Officials also plan to build facilities that provide private bathrooms, laundry, and shower areas.
In Kentucky. the Fayette County Public Schools reported more than 1. 100 students as homeless this year. and local educators say they are taking cues from other districts.. The teachers union for Fayette County Public Schools has asked its school board to follow Cincinnati’s lead. echoing a broader argument: even if schools cannot solve homelessness alone. they can reduce immediate harm.
In the Cincinnati case. the head of homeless services visited safe parking programs in San Diego and at Long Beach Community College before adopting the model.. She acknowledged it remains a stopgap due to the continued need for support and pointed to the costs of placing students and families in short-term hotels and motels. describing the safe parking model as a bridge during an immediate crisis.
For families currently on the lots, the model’s limits are clear.. M.. said she considered moving back to Calexico more than 100 miles away but would have meant leaving her job.. She also said a housing voucher program that was available for another family’s situation is closed for hers.. Rising gas prices and costs to store belongings make it difficult to move toward stability even when options exist on paper.
Still. she tries to protect daily life as best she can—spending time together at the beach and nearby tide pools. and keeping her son’s routine alive by retrieving his bicycle from storage.. As he rode his bike in the parking lot. she described resilience as practical work: “We just got to make it work.”
As districts continue weighing safe parking lots, the larger debate over homelessness will likely intensify rather than disappear.. For now. school campuses and city lots are becoming temporary platforms for families to remain safe. stay connected to education. and wait for the housing systems that could finally end the cycle.
safe parking lots homeless students San Diego school district housing vouchers student homelessness education policy Cincinnati schools