Rhode Island had the fewest number of homeless children in the United States before the recession, according to a report released yesterday.

State officials did a “moderate” job in handling the problem in 2005 and 2006, when the study was done. As a result, Rhode Island ranks fourth in the nation in a state-by-state report card on child homelessness, issued by the National Center on Family Homelessness in Newton Center, Mass.

Rhode Island had 797 homeless children as of 2006, the report says.

But local experts say the findings, outlined in a 204-page report, are already old, and grossly underestimate the number of homeless children in the state, even three years ago.

“Their findings are outdated,” said Eric Hirsch, a professor of sociology at Providence College. The report, he said, relies on information from the state’s public schools, not its homeless shelters. “It’s not a complete picture of the problem.”

According to the report, 1.5 million children in America do not have a home. About a third of the homeless in America are families with children, it says.

“A storm is moving across the country, sweeping families out of homes and workers out of jobs,” the study says. “Not since the Great Depression have so many children stood in the sight lines of homelessness.”

Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., of Pennsylvania, released the report on Capitol Hill. “This report shows the staggering reality that one in fifty children in America is homeless,” said Casey, the chair of the Advisory Board to the Campaign to End Child Homelessness. “We must come together to help prevent even one child from wondering where he or she will lay their head at night.”

Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, yesterday applauded the work of the National Center on Family Homelessness. “It puts the issue on the national map,” she said.

While the state has fewer homeless children than elsewhere, “we can all agree that not one Rhode Island child should be homeless. Children suffer long-term effects from sleeping in a shelter or in a car, in a campground or doubled up with family, friends or neighbors. Every child needs the stability of safe, affordable housing where they can grow, play and learn.”

According to the report, homeless children have twice the rate of moderate to severe health conditions and emotional problems as middle class children. They also struggle more with math and reading than other children.

The report estimates there were 797 homeless children in Rhode Island, based on data reported by school districts in 2005 and 2006, as part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act requirement. Of those, 335 children were under age six.

But Jim Ryczek, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless in Providence, said yesterday the actual number of homeless children during that period was 1,378, based on shelter records.

Ryczek also criticized the report for rating Rhode Island highly on its homeless policies. Three years later, many programs are still in the planning stages, he said. “It doesn’t mean we’re further down the line on public policy.”

The state has also cut programs that benefit the homeless, experts say.

While the report is a good start, it “paints a false picture of the homeless problem today,” Ryczek said. It focuses on a period “that ignores the recent high foreclosure and unemployment rates. It is a much different picture today.”

Rhode Island was the first New England state to fall into recession. In January, the state’s jobless rate topped 10 percent.

Shelters, meanwhile, are feeling the strain of a bad economy.

At Crossroads Rhode Island, the number of people seeking shelter this year has doubled from a year ago.

In Pawtucket, a 15-bed shelter at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, is struggling. Access-Rhode Island, the agency that oversees the shelter, recently raised enough money to keep the shelter open through this month. But it’s a constant struggle to find money, said program director Sheryl Marshall.

“Is the state doing a great job now? Absolutely not,” Marshall said. “We work with the chronically homeless. But we’re seeing a wave of new homeless people.”

Federal stimulus money will help many people pay their rents and mortgages, and keep them off the streets, she said. But it doesn’t help the community that needs it the most, “the people who are already homeless. They are on the streets. Their lives are in danger.”

Responding to criticism, the National Center on Family Homelessness said it considers more than 30 variables when ranking states.

“While some of these variables may be altered by current economic conditions, these conditions are affecting all 50 states. The fact that Rhode Island entered the recession earlier and is now experiencing 10 percent unemployment might well impact child homelessness when the next measurements are taken.” But for now, “this report offers the best available picture.”

pdavis@projo.com