You asked for the number of children under age five living in state-funded homeless shelters. You also wanted information on comprehensive social service models that target homeless preschool age children.

The education-related questions you asked are in a separate OLR report, 2005-R-0138, sent to you on February 7, 2005.

SUMMARY

According to the Department of Social Services (DSS) annual homeless shelter demographic report for federal FY 04, 1,204 children under age six were served by DSS-funded homeless shelters between October 2003 and September 2004, which was nearly one-half of all children served.

Research continues to show that families with children are the fastest growing segment of the nation’s homeless population, and half of these children are under age six. There is also growing evidence that children who experience homelessness have more health problems, are nutritionally deprived, and have more hospitalizations and developmental problems than poor children who have never experienced homelessness. Recognizing the complexity of the problem and these negative outcomes,

many of the innovative programs we identified take a holistic approach to helping families who experience homelessness, rather than targeting homeless preschoolers specifically.

Under the McKinney-Vento act, millions of federal dollars are available for programs that prevent homelessness; help those who experience it move into permanent housing; and for those living in shelters, provide health care and nutrition assistance targeting children specifically.

A New York City-based program, Homes for the Homeless, continues to be the model program for helping homeless families and their children using the group’s “family inn” model. The “housing first” model used by the Beyond Shelter program helps families who have moved out of shelters stay out of them.

FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN

Health Care for the Homeless

Title VI of the McKinney Act (now called McKinney-Vento) authorizes the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to award grants to states to enable them to provide health services to their homeless residents. Health Care for the Homeless is the only federal program whose sole responsibility is to address the primary health care needs of homeless people. Generally, grants go to community-based programs that serve homeless clients in shelters, community health centers, and mobile health units.

Program director Jean Hochran reports that in calendar year 2003, the program served about 580,000 people. Of these, approximately 39,000 were children ages six and under.

President Bush has proposed a $ 149 million for this program in FFY 2006, an increase from the current $ 140 million.

Nutritional Guidelines. One HRSA project was to fund a set of guidelines for shelter operators designed by the Children’s Health Fund (helps provide health care to New York City’s homeless children and families) to ensure that families have access to proper nutrition. These include referrals to existing food resources (e. g. , WIC), as well as other programs, such as the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Child and Adult Care Food Program. The USDA runs this program, which subsidizes the cost of meals provided to children living in shelters. Participating shelters receive reimbursement for up to three meals a day or two meals and a snack. This assistance is available to families who are preparing their own meals, provided the food is served in a congregate setting. State education departments administer the program. Paperwork responsibilities are minimal. This program provides an important financial supplement to shelters.

LOCAL EFFORTS—HOMELESS FAMILIES LIVING IN SHELTERS

Homes for the Homeless (HFH)

Since 1986, Homes for the Homeless, a private, nonprofit organization, has provided transitional housing and comprehensive support services to homeless children and their families in New York City. Although it does not target preschoolers specifically, its five-part intervention program, which includes arming families with the tools they need to find and maintain permanent housing, clearly benefits young children.

The average age of mothers served by the program is 19 and most of the children are under age six. Most of the women have experienced domestic violence, substance abuse, or inadequate health care.

The centerpiece of the program is the Residential Education Training Center (RETC) model, which offers families an array of services and interventions that are tailored to meet each family’s unique needs. These are provided in American Family Inns, which function like a real community, allowing the family to feel comfortable as it works on a plan to find a permanent home. The inn model includes several components: (1) family support and assistance, (2) adult education and literacy, (3) employment training and placement, and (4) children’s education and recreation. The first, second, and third components arguably assist children in a direct way.

Family Support and Assistance. The Inns’ Crisis Nurseries offer 24-hour temporary emergency child care to children at risk of abuse or neglect. While the children are watched, their parents or caretakers receive intensive counseling, aftercare services, parenting workships, and ongoing support and referrals.

Family health is a first priority when a family enters an inn. Mobile health units provide medical, prenatal, and dental care to residents. Clinics for physical and preventive medical care are also offered on-site, and referrals to hospitals are made when a special health condition exists. The inns set aside space for local substance abuse and domestic violence counselors to offer services on-site.

Finally, a housing specialist facilitates each family’s search for permanent and affordable housing.

Adult Education and Literacy. Families entering the inns often have multiple barriers to finding and sustaining work, which can make permanent housing an elusive goal. The inns, through the Together in Learning family literacy program, help parents increase their literacy through contextualized learning, while a Parent and Child Together component promotes education as a shared family activity. The latter program uses daily life examples as opportunities for learning and helps the parent be the child’s first and best teacher to create a literacy-based environment in the home.

Parents can earn high school equivalency by attending an alternative high school. There they also receive career counseling and obtain job training referrals.

Practical living and useful skills workshops include units on parenting, family violence, stress engagement, intimate relationships, among other topics, designed to help families maintain permanent housing once they find it.

Children’s Education and Recreation. The core of HFH’s child programming is made up of preschool programs, accelerated after-school education, and constructive recreational programming. On-site child development centers give children aged six months to six years the opportunity to begin their educational development in a stimulating learning environment. The centers use a variation of the High Scope curriculum. (This pre-school curriculum is based on a Piaget theory that children should be active learners and should plan, carry out, and reflect on learning activities. )

Strengths-Based Case Management

The strengths-based case management model uses a “team” approach to helping homeless individuals and families. The team members include the consumer (family), a professional case manager, and the community. The needs of each member are taken into account when a plan to end the family’s homelessness is developed. The case manager works with a small number of individuals and families over an extended period of time to ensure the family obtains and retains permanent housing. Kansas City, Missouri has used such a model for many years and in one county, the program has been so successful it has secured funding from foundations and individuals to expand it to other counties in both Missouri and Kansas.

FAMILY HOMELESSNESS RECURRENCE PREVENTION—HOUSING FIRST

Beyond Shelter

Connecticut is one of several states that fund a Beyond Housing program for families with children who experience homelessness. Its “housing first” approach ensures that once families leave shelters for permanent housing, supports are in place for them to stay there. In Connecticut, DSS provides funds to Beyond Shelter, which pay for a housing coordinator who works with the families to identify problems that could lead to a recurrence of homelessness, such as educating them about landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities, as well as providing assistance with food, clothing, transportation, money management, and parenting. The support system motivates landlords to participate.

TRACKING FAMILY HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION MODELS

Since 1988, the National Center on Family Homelessness has collaborated with service providers, research organizations, advocacy groups, governmental agencies, policymakers, and homeless families looking at both the causes and effects of family homelessness and short- and long-term solutions to it. It evaluates existing programs to enable service providers to learn from others. And the National Alliance to End Homelessness is a clearinghouse for homelessness research and continually highlights best practices around the country on its website (www. endhomelessness. org. )

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