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-school-
  community 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
   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
 Thenature 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

 Only12% 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
cchristy@homelessfund.org