Transcript Educating Homeless Children in Allegheny County

Educating
Homeless Children
in Allegheny County
An Evaluation of Families and
Services
About HCEF

501(c)(3) not-for-profit founded in 1999

Partners with 17 shelters, transitional, &
permanent housing sites for homeless
families in Allegheny County to deliver
resources, funds, and education based
afterschool and summer programs

Advocacy & Awareness: to the general
public and with legislators and
government offices

Provides an opportunity for the public to
participate/assist in meeting the
educational needs of homeless children
…..
Our Target Service Population
 Emergency
Shelters, Bridge, Transitional
and Permanent Housing facilities
 Children and youth grades K-12
 Shelter staff working directly with children
and parents
 Parents
 Volunteers
An Evaluation of Homeless
Families and Services
 Collaboration
between HCEF,
Duquesne University, and
Allegheny County Department of
Human Services
Principal Investigators
 Dr.
James B. Schreiber, Associate
Professor, Duquesne University,
Department of Foundations and
Leadership
 Dr. Peter Miller, Assistant Professor,
U Wisconsin-Madison (formerly
Duquesne University) Dept. of
Educational Leadership & Policy
Analysis
Data Collection
 Study
conducted in Spring 2009
 Surveyed 20 Allegheny County agencies that
serve homeless family populations
 139 parents responded, 40 agency staff, and
51 interviews with parents were conducted,
more taking place now
 Researchers also had access to Allegheny
County DHS Statistics
Major Findings
 1.
Diversity of homeless families in
Allegheny County
 2. Homeless families’ problems in
school
 3. Parent advocacy and barriers to
involvement
Major Findings continued…
 4.
Effectiveness of agency-based after
school learning centers
 5. Importance of agency-schoolcommunity communication
 6. Roles of relationships in education of
homeless students
Major Finding #1
 There
is great diversity among
homeless families with school age
children in Allegheny County. Many of
these families do not fit stereotypes
that are commonly attributed to the
homeless population
Major Finding #1
 44%
of the homeless parents in our
sample group attended and/or
graduated from college
 Suggests they are committed to
helping their kids in school, value
education, and have experience
making it through the educational
system
Major Finding #2
Homeless
students and
parents experience
widespread problems with
school
Major Finding #2
Major
issues centered around:
•Student mobility
•Student health and attendance
•Student/parent
harassment/stigmatization
•Misdiagnosis of students
•Student behavior
•General school lack of care
Quotes from Parents Regarding
Stigmatization
“ The schools, they know our situation. They
know our kids. They know we’re here and
they hold it against us. They hold it over
our heads like, “We know your secret!” It’s
like, “Oh, your child is slow because you
were too busy doing drugs.” Well, actually,
my daughter was getting straight ‘A’s
before going to that school. So it’s not
her—she’s very smart. It’s the school.”
Quotes from Parents Regarding
Stigmatization
“
It’s none of their business… I’ve heard
people say negative things to me about
being at (a homeless agency). About being
homeless and poor. About being this and
that. But I’ve had to let them now, I’m
there but I’m not poor. I’m there but I’m not
crazy. I’m there but I’m not a drug addict or
alcoholic. But I’m there. You can make
your own assumptions…”
Regarding School Conflicts
 Some
parents accepted a degree of
responsibility for their child’s school
conflicts, others were more adamant that
the school system itself was to blame
“
I’m responsible for their actions, but they
need some help. I have children who need
help.”
Major Finding #3
 Most
parents want to be active
advocates in their children’s
educational pursuits, but many of
them face significant barriers in
their attempts to do so.
Major Finding #3 continued
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79% of parents indicated that they help their children
with schoolwork at least a few times a week
51% of parents indicated that they help their children
with schoolwork everyday
71% of parents indicated that they want more
information about how they could assist their children
with school work
92% of parents claim they speak with homeless
agency staff at least once a week about their children’s
educational progress
68% of homeless agency staff claimed that parents
are either somewhat or very responsive to agency
attempts to get parents more involved with their kids’
schooling
Quote regarding
Educational Advocacy
“ I’m not just one of those parents who sends their kids
to school and lets them go. I want to know why the
busses are late, why the grades are what they are…
I want to know this, I want to know that…I’m very
involved… I let them (school professionals) know
that my childs coming from a situation that is difficult
enough as it is and she doesn’t need to be
pampered, but she better be treated with respect.”
Barriers to Educational Advocacy
 Information
shortages (mothers lack info
on school subject matter*, school and
community program information, and legal
information)
 Both parents and agencies are short on
time and money
 * 90% of homeless agency staff members
claimed that better parent understanding
of school subjects would help parents to
be more effective educational advocates
Educational Advocacy continued

64% of parents claimed that lack of knowledge
about community programming was the biggest
barrier to the fuller involvement of their children
in local programming
 57% of staff said that lack of info was a barrier
to families becoming more involved in
community programming
 At agencies where staff made deliberate efforts
to provide community resource information to
parents, the parents did not express this same
sentiment about lack of awareness being a
barrier
Parental Involvement
 Over
75% of agency staff members said
more support from school staff and more
homeless agency staffing and/or
resources are needed to get parents more
actively engaged in the educational
process
Awareness of Legal Rights

20% of parents claimed they knew very much
about their children’s educational rights
 50% said they knew not much or nothing about
these rights
 38% of agency staff members strongly agreed
that they knew about the McKinney Vento
Homeless Assistance Act and its implications for
students’ rights
 Knowledge regarding McKinney Vento may not
be shared across the spectrum of positions at
the agencies
Summary of Major Finding #3
 Homeless
parents need to learn how
to access the education resources
that they perceive to be unavailable
Major Finding #4
 Agency
based after school
learning centers appear to be
highly effective at providing
academic and social support for
homeless students
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Agency-Based Learning Centers
 68%
of parents stated they and/or
their kids use the agency-based
after school programming two or
more times per week
 99% of parents indicated that
these services were either
somewhat or very helpful
Quotes from Parents

“The after-school program here is very, very
helpful. It’s tremendous. Because they’re here.
When we’re getting off work or coming back later
from school, they’re here. It’s wonderful. I hope it
never changes-even for families who come here
years from now… They have a reading program
that is special. My daughter kind of liked reading
in school, but she loves reading here- and it
brought here– and it brought her grades up in
school. It’s great!”
Major Finding #5
 The
nature and frequency of
communication between schools,
community programs, residential
agency staffs, and parents is crucial
Parent -School Communication
 Parents
praised regular feedback from the
school, both positive and negative
 Expressed frustrations with seemingly
uncooperative staff, unreturned phone
calls
 Mothers perceive schools to be less apt to
respect and be responsive to them
because they are homeless
Parent -School Communication
 School
personnel suggest that
communication problems with homeless
parents stem from their lack of
understanding of how to navigate the
school system: “A lot of the parents at the
agency go straight to the top with any little
issue that comes up. This creates a
conflict when it’s really not necessary. If
they would just go to the teacher or
counselor first, we could resolve most of
these things a lot more easily.”
Homeless Agency-School
Communication
 Only
12% of agency staff members
indicated that they speak with school staff
members very often
 44%
do so “rarely or never”
Major Finding #6
 Relationships
(and the lack
thereof) play important roles in
parents’ and children’s
development
Relationships
 Many
families in homeless programs have
history of highly destructive personal
relationships
 Many homeless shelters and schools have
virtually no relationships at all
 Yet, productive relationships exist between
homeless agency staff and families, as
well as among the families themselves
Parent-Agency Relationships
 87%
of parents indicated that supportive
relationships with agency staff members
were helpful for their kids’ academic
achievement
Relationships continued
 Parents
struggled to identify who were the
key players in productive school based
relationships
 20% indicated teachers were helpful
during times of homelessness
 21% indicated school administrators…
 36% indicated school counselors…
 Only 15% of homeless agency staff
strongly claimed to have meaningful
relationships with members of the local
education community
Recommendations
 Professional
development for both shelter
and school staff
 Increased human and financial capital
towards site-based educational programs
 More specifically targeted programs
depending on the length of stay of the
agency
 School based connections and
programming, after school opportunities
Recommendations continued
 Increased
connections to community
programming and systematic information
dissemination at homeless agencies and
schools
 Research and evaluation of families
experiences regarding education while
experiencing homelessness
 Further expansion of a
network/collaboration of all institutions that
support homeless children
Limitations of the Study

Focus was solely on sheltered homeless, and
does not reflect the experiences of those who
are not affiliated with a homeless housing
agency
 Agencies sampled primarily reflect an urban
population
 The focus on parents with school age kids limits
the information about the educational
experiences had by parents of pre-schoolers or
young adults
 Interview sample only includes a small number
of school employees. More data would have
strengthened the ability to cross-check
statements made by parents
Questions and Answers?
For more information on HCEF or to
access a full copy of the report:
www.homelessfund.org
Carlin Christy:
412-562-0154
[email protected]