Texas Homeless Education Office

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Texas HomelessEducation Office
The University of Texas at AustinCharles A. Dana
Center2901 N IH 35, Room 2.200Austin, Texas
78722

• 1-800-446-3142
• http//www.utdanacenter.org/theo

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Jointly sponsored by The United States
Department of Education The Texas Education
Agency Region 10 Education Service Center The
Charles A. Dana Center at the University of
Texas at Austin
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• Part A
• A Quick Look at Homelessness

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Who are we talking about?

• Families or unaccompanied youth living in
  emergency shelters.
• Families living in domestic violence shelters.
• Youth living in youth shelters.

• Children living in shelters awaiting placement in
  foster care.
• Families or youth living in campgrounds or parks.
• Families or youth living in cars.
• Families or youth living in abandoned buildings.
• Families or youth living in airports, bus
  stations, or train stations.
• Families or youth that are doubled up with
  friends or relatives (couch-surfing).
• Families or youth living in substandard housing,
  such as colonias (no running water, no
  electricity).
• Families living in transitional housing programs.

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Contributing Factors to Homelessness
Lack of affordable housing

• Lack or loss of economic support networks

• Lack or loss of social support networks

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Contributing Factors to Homelessness
The majority of poor families with children in
Texas have one or more working family members.
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Cycle of Homelessness
Source Mary Ann Weinacht, Ed.D., Assoc.
Professor Mary Nan Aldridge, Ph.D., Professor,
Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas 79832
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Housing Instability

• The key to understanding families living in
  homelessness is to think in terms of housing
  instability.
• Housing instability exists when families do not
  have the resources to have consistent, reliable
  housing.
• Families that have a high degree of housing
  instability will frequently bounce back and forth
  between having a temporarily stable housing
  situation and homelessness.

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Poverty and Children

• Over the past 30 years, poverty has become a
  problem of childhood and children.
• Children, especially young children,bear the
  brunt of poverty.
• Children are disproportionately poor.
• Children are more likely to be poorthan any
  other age group.

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Poverty and Children
The younger a child is in Texas, the more likely
he or she is to live in poverty.
Percentage of Texas Children Living in Poverty
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Poverty and Children

• Children under age 6 are particularly
  vulnerable to poverty.
• Children living in families with a female head
  of household and no husband present (single moms)
  experience a poverty rate of 54.8 percent, more
  than five times the rate for children under 6 in
  married-couple families.

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Thus, we are primarilytalking about

• poor families
• headed by single moms
• with young children

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Are these families homeless?

• These families tend to live in situations
  that
• are considered homeless or
• live in conditions that are the same as, or very
  similar to, homelessness even if they do not
  constitute actual homelessness.

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• A Quick Look at Homelessness
• Option A
• Understanding Excerpts from
• the Pieces of the Puzzle Video

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• A Quick Look at Homelessness
• Option B
• Dallas Morning News Pictures

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Children living in these situations are more
likely to experience

• lags in language skills
• learning disabilities
• attention deficit disorder
• developmental delays

• physical abuse
• health problems
• low self-esteem
• malnutrition
• sleeping problems

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Children living in these situations are more
likely to exhibit

• anxiety
• withdrawal
• depression
• restlessness
• hyperactivity
• aggressive behavior
• inappropriate acting out
• immature peer interaction
• immature motor behavior

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Children living in these situations are more
likely to exhibit

• school behavior problems
• regressive behavior inattentiveness
• persistent tiredness/sleep disorders
• inappropriate social interaction with adults

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• Children living in homeless situations usually
  perform about two to three years below grade
  level in school.

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Number of Children and Youth Experiencing
Homelessness
Nationwide estimates . .

• 1989 - 272,773
• 1991 - 327,416
• 1993 - 744,266
• 1997 - 841,730
• 2000 - 930,232
• 2002 - 1,350,000

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Number of Children and Youth Experiencing
Homelessness
135,000
Texas estimate . . .
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Do children experiencinghomelessness belong in
school?

• Yes, its the law!
• More importantly--we have a moral responsibility
  to ensure that no one is excluded from public
  education because they are experiencing
  homelessness or poverty.

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Barriers to Enrollment

• Lack of transportation to or from temporary
  residence
• Lack of immunization and medical records
• Lack of school records
• State guardianship/residencyrequirements not
  uniformlyinterpreted by school
• Lack of birth certificate

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Barriers to Enrollment

• Youth ages 12 and up face additional
  barriers to school enrollment, for example
• Attendance policies
• Secondary school credit accrual

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Barriers to School Success

• Frequent mobility
• Lack of staff awareness and sensitivity
• Inability to complete school assignments
• Lack of psychological services
• Poor health and inadequate medical care
• Physical needs -- food, clothing, health care

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There are no easy solutions to the problems of
educating homeless children and youth.

• There are no legal remedies that will solve all
  the problems of educating homeless children and
  youth.
• There is not a lot of money available for
  educating homeless children and youth.

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Schools were not designed to serve homeless
students!

• These children and youth live in situations that
  they do not control and we do not control.
• We cannot change their situations, so

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• We have to adjust our schools to meet the
  situations inwhich these childrenand youth are
  living.

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• What can schools do to help homeless children
  and youthobtain every educational opportunity
  that is possible?

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The most immediate steps

• Great Beginnings . . .
• . . . was developed by the Region 13 ESC to
  highlight some of the initial steps schools can
  take to provide services to children and youth
  experiencing homelessness.

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The most immediate steps

• Streamline enrollment procedures.
• Revise enrollment procedures that could delay or
  prevent the enrollment of children and youth
  living in homeless situations.
• Make sure that lack of records, birth
  certificates, or immunizations does not prevent
  students from enrolling.

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Access to Special Programs and Services
Children experiencing homelessness have
difficulty accessing the following programs and
services

• Special Education
• Head Start
• Gifted and Talented
• Even Start
• Programs for English language learners

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Homelessness and high mobility are problems that
affect communities

• Identify all the shelters and service providers
  in your area.
• Establish ongoing communication between the
  school, shelters, and service providers.
• Families on the move often stay at inexpensive
  motels. Establish ongoing communication and
  procedures between the managers of these motels
  and your school.

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Homelessness and high mobility areproblems that
affect communities

• Establish regular meetings with the different
  people in your community who serve these
  families. The purpose of these meetings is to
  share information, solve problems, and develop
  procedures across the district for enrolling and
  working with these families. The schools and
  shelters should share important calendar and
  scheduling information.

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Establish a Homeless Liaison

• A homeless liaison is a point person for homeless
  and highly mobile families at your school or
  district.
• A homeless liaison is knowledgeable about all the
  laws and local rules that are relevant to
  homeless and highly mobile familiesand the local
  shelter policies and procedures.

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Establish a Homeless Liaison

• The homeless liaison uses all their knowledge to
  act as an advocate on behalf of homeless and
  highly mobile families at the school or district.
• The homeless liaison can help these families
  navigate the complex world of schools and school
  administration.

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Parent Meetings

• Parents in these families often do not have
  regular transportation and often
  spend daytime hours either employed or looking
  for work. Conduct parent meetings at times and
  places that make it possible for the parents to
  participate-- at the shelter in the evening, for
  example.

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In the Classroom

• Provide conveyable resources for completing
  homework
• Incorporate play time into the school day
• Include life skills in the curriculum
• Provide and allow for closure when these children
  must move on
• Give the students something that belongs only to
  them
• If possible, allow these students access to any
  shower and washing facilities

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In the Classroom

• Provide quick access to all the supplemental
  academic resources for which the children are
  eligible
• Provide a space and time for students to complete
  their homework, such as an after-school
  homework/tutorial program
• Try to reduce the time it takes for these
  students to begin working in a new school setting
• Provide structure and reliability
• If possible, establish a buddy system

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What can schools do?

• There are many opportunities and strategies
  schools can
• use to help homeless children
• and youth obtain every
• educational opportunity possible that are not
  dependent on any specific law in order to be
  implemented or to succeed.

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Texas HomelessEducation Office
The University of Texas at AustinCharles A. Dana
Center2901 N IH 35, Room 2.200Austin, Texas
78722
1-800-446-3142 http//www.utdanacenter.org/theo