When Young Children are Homeless

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When Young Children are Homeless What You Need
to Know Presented by Shirley Fan-Chan Chief of
External Programs Horizons for Homeless
Children Roxbury, Massachusetts
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The National Picture

• More than 1.5 million children are homeless
• One in fifty American children was homeless in
  2005-2006 (NCFH)
• Families with children comprise 34 of the
  homeless population
• 84 are headed by female
• 11 of American children living in poverty are
  homeless
• Within a single year, nearly 97 of all homeless
  children have moved once or more than once, among
  them
• 25 witnessed violence
• 22 separated from their families
• 20 homeless pre-schoolers have emotional problems

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Why are families homeless?

• Lack of Affordable Housing
• Loss of job
• Health or Mental Health problems
• Domestic Violence
• Substance Abuse
• Lack of education
• Lack of support systems
• Natural disasters
• Changes in the Welfare rules
• Teen pregnancies

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The Homeless Familys JourneyThe Homeless
Familys Journey

• Accessing shelter is very different for families
  compared to the journey of single adults
• It takes many families up to 12 months to access
  shelter
• Many families live doubled or tripled up during
  that period

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Types of Family Shelters

• Congregate
• Domestic Violence
• Scattered Site
• Transitional Programs
• Other
• A shelter is a shelter, not a home

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The Impact of Shelter Life on Parents

• Stress
• Parenting in Public
• Parental Loss of Authority
• Single parenting
• Not conducive to family life
• Services for adults, not children

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Overall Impacts of Homelessness on Young Children

• Health
• Educational Setbacks
• Domestic violence
• Developmental delays
• Mental health
• Stress

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Mental Health

• The consequences of untreated mental health
  disorders can lead to
• school failure, and dropping out, substance
  abuse, violence and even suicide when the young
  children become older.
• Maternal Depression
• 85 of homeless mothers report having had a major
  depression episode in past year.
• Impact on young children
• Interferes with health and development beginning
  before birth
• Impairs critical early relationships
• Impairs health management (e.g. breastfeeding
  neonatal care or managing chronic health
  conditions)
• Impact is greater when combine with other
  parental risk, such as substance abuse, domestic
  violence, trauma, etc.

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Food Insecurity

• Definition
• National average of food insecurity among
  children is 3.9
• Some states as high as 5.7 - 6.3
• Children without homes are twice as likely as
  other children to experience hunger..

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Developmental Delays in Infants, Toddlers and
Preschool Children
Sensory
Motor
Language/cognition

• Social-emotional

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Infants
Motor
Sensory
Language
Social-emotional
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Toddlers
Motor
Sensory
Speech
Social-Emotional
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Preschoolers
Motor
Sensory
Speech
Social-Emotional
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Special Needs and Behaviors of Homeless Children

• Lack of Appropriate Boundaries
• Aggressive Behavior
• Extremely Withdrawn
• Independent/ Mature Beyond Years
• Hoarding
• Sleeping/eating issues

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What do all children need?

• One to one relationships with an adult
• Love and caring
• Safety and shelter
• Learning experiences
• Routine
• Limits
• Structure
• Friends
• Fun

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What Do all Parents Need?

• Acceptance of where they are
• Focus on family strengths
• A comprehensive approach to family needs
• Empowering language strategies
• Help identifying family goals, priorities and
  support
• Support for development of independence
• Creativity and flexibility
• Understanding and respect for values, beliefs and
  culture

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Promoting Family Resilience

• Connect to support systems
• Promote community involvement
• Identify and respect family needs
• Collaborate with shelter and other service
  providers
• Foster and celebrate competence and confidence
• Parenting groups
• Parent/School Relationship Building

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Horizons for Homeless Children Community
Childrens Centers

• Classroom Curriculum
• Adult Child Ratio
• Best Practices

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Classroom Curriculum

• Creative Curriculum
• Individualized
• Age appropriate
• Focus on interest and developmental stage of the
  children

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AdultChild Ratios

• Massachusetts State Ratio
• Infant 2 7
• Toddler 2 9
• Preschoolers 2 20

• HHC Ratio
• Infant 3 7
• Toddler 3 9
• Preschoolers 3 15

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Best Practices HHC model

• NAEYC Accredited
• AdultChild ratio
• Holistic approach
• Family Advocacy Program and Teacher/Advocate Team
• Community Partnership
• Intervention Specialists come on site
• Dentist/Nurses come on site
• Art therapists
• Full Time Employed Teachers
• Consistency of teaching staff
• Teachers education qualification

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Resources

• NAEHCY www.naehcy.org
• Horizons for Homeless Children
  www.horizonsforhomelesschildren.org
• National Center on Homeless Education
  www.serve.org
• National Law Center on Homelessness Poverty
  www.nlchp.org

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Horizons for Homeless Children's 4thYoung
Children Without Homes National Conference June
15 16, 2009, Boston Marriott, Copy Place This
conference will focus on the issue of child and
family homelessness and its effect on young
children (0-5) cross-systems training networkin
g and collaboration strategies and
solutions.Who's invited?Providers of early
care and education services providers of
homeless services health professionals public
school teachers / administrators homeless
education liaisons Head Start providers
policymakers legislators and more! For more
information visit us at www.horizonsforhomelesschi
ldren.org or call 617.445.1480
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Horizons for Homeless Children1705 Columbus
AvenueRoxbury, MA 02119 Training Technical
Assistance Program 617- 445-1480