Homelessness: Schools give students consistency amid uncertainty

Helping Hand House featured in article from the Puyallup School District, a key partner in serving homeless families in east Pierce County.

Homelessness: Schools give students consistency amid uncertainty

The hardest part was giving away his cat.

“We had to leave our house,” Christopher recalls, and there was no place for Whiskers.

The 8-year-old packed up his clothes and toys, gave his cat to a nearby farm, and left the quiet Puyallup neighborhood where he played in the yard and walked to and from school.

“It was devastating for him,” recalls Wildwood Elementary counselor, Dorothy Wilgus. “He came to school crying and had a hard time concentrating.”

Two years and several moves later, including time spent in a hotel and in a travel trailer, Christopher lives with his sister, mother, and mother’s boyfriend in an apartment shelter program in Tacoma.

He spends an hour-and-a-half on the bus to and from school so that he can continue to be surrounded by familiar teachers and friends at Wildwood Elementary in Puyallup.

“He is a very resilient student, always with a positive attitude,” Wilgus said. “When he found out he could stay at Wildwood, he worked really hard in class and volunteered to help with school activities.”

Christopher is one of more than 200 homeless students this year in the Puyallup School District. Each student has his or her own story of struggle and, in many cases, success.

The number of homeless students continues to grow districtwide and is on pace to exceed last year’s total of 304 students by June, said Barb Pope, director of student services.

Puyallup School District’s rise in homelessness mirrors a trend across the state and the country as parents lose jobs in the difficult economy and get evicted from their homes.

The increase is also due, in part, to more diligent efforts by educators to identify homeless students and provide them services to be successful in school, Pope said.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction reported in December that 21,826 homeless students enrolled in Washington schools in the 2009-10 school year. That number is up five percent from the previous year and up 56.5 percent from 2005-06.

Not since the Great Depression have so many people in this country been without homes, reports the National Center on Family Homelessness. Homeless families make up more than a third of the homeless population nationally.

Where are homeless students?

“Homeless” is defined by federal law as someone who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

Students live in cars, under bridges, in the woods, on the riverbank, in emergency shelters, in garages, and in motels or hotels.

They await permanent foster care placement, and they are doubled-up living with relatives or friends — all sharing one house because they can’t afford to live on their own.

They have been abandoned by their families and have been labeled “couch surfers” because they move regularly from house to house, often sleeping on friends’ sofas.

“The story from many parents is that the kids aren’t following house rules, so they kick them out or they leave on their own,” Pope said. “The hidden truth in many of these cases is the kids are being abused.”

She tells of one Rogers High School teen who recently lived in his friend’s bedroom closet.

“The boy who lived in the home would hide his friend in the closet and sneak him dinner so the parents wouldn’t find out,” Pope said. “This is what our kids are facing. Instead of concentrating on learning, students worry about their next meal or where they are going to sleep.”

Emerald Ridge High School counselor Richard Mitchell added, “The most heartbreaking thing for me was when a family moved to California and told their teenage son, ‘You’re not coming.’ This was a decent kid, but they were just ready to move on with their lives. As a kid, what do you do? How do you cope with that kind of abandonment? That’s heartbreaking.”

Services for homeless children and youth

When a child’s life is in upheaval, the federal McKinney-Vento Homelessness Act has provisions designed to ensure a consistent and stable education.

The law mandates that children of homeless individuals, as well as unaccompanied youth, have equal access to the same free public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youth.

Homeless students are eligible to receive transportation back to their “school of origin” — the school they attended when they became homeless — or enroll in the school closest to where they relocate.

Research shows that children can lose anywhere between four and six months of academic progress with a transfer to a new school, Pope said.

For Cynthia, who was evicted from her apartment on South Hill in September, having her three school-age children be able to remain at their same schools has been “a godsend.”

She was evicted from the apartment, she said, because the two youngest preschool-age children made too much noise. The family had no choice but to put their furnishings in storage, pack their suitcases with clothes and toiletries, and live in motels and with friends. Several months ago, the family settled in downtown Puyallup and is sharing an apartment with a former neighbor.

“The kids have bounced around quite a bit,” she said. “It was important to me that they stay at their same school. I wanted to make sure they had something stable in their life.”

Cynthia said she was embarrassed at first to contact Wilgus, the school counselor at Wildwood Elementary, to explain her plight.

“She made me feel so comfortable,” Cynthia said. “I am so glad I opened up to her, because I don’t know where we would be without the school’s help.”

Students who qualify for McKinney-Vento homeless services also receive free breakfast and lunch, school supplies, school clothing, and tutoring.

They may also participate in after-school sports and activities and attend school functions, such as dances, with reduced or waived fees.

“We provide the supplies, gym clothes and other materials that they need for school,” said Bev Showacy, coordinator of the district’s elementary counseling program. “It takes a burden off of the parents who are already concerned about how they will get by financially. When you are deciding between paying for electricity or school supplies, which are you going to choose?”

The law also makes it easier for homeless families to enroll their children in school. Families are not, for example, required to provide documentation such as proof of residency, transcripts from previous schools, and immunization records.

Even if a student finds permanent housing during the school year, they still receive McKinney-Vento services through June, Pope said.

While some families relocate a few miles away from their original home and school, others move to neighboring cities, sometimes even into another county.

This year, the district transports students to Puyallup from as far away as Eatonville, Kent, Tacoma, Federal Way, Graham, and Covington.

Elementary students are generally transported by school bus, while junior high and high school students are given metro bus passes. Once their metro bus arrives in Puyallup, students can connect to an existing school bus route or, if close enough, walk to school.

While the law mandates that the district transport students, it does not come close to adequately funding the program, Pope said. Last year, the Puyallup School District spent more than $150,000 to transport homeless students to and from school.

“We work hard to cut costs wherever we can,” Pope said. “Ultimately, we are here to help these students.”

Signs of homelessness

Pope has developed a flier for school counselors listing common warning signs of homelessness. The information is adapted from fliers created by the Illinois and Pennsylvania Departments of Education. Homeless students may exhibit the following signs:

• Poor health and nutrition: Unmet medical and dental needs, chronic hunger (may hoard food), and fatigue (may fall asleep in class).
• Transportation and attendance problems: Erratic attendance or tardiness, inability to contact parents, avoidance of class field trips.
• Poor hygiene: Wear the same clothes for several days, lack of shower facilities or washing machines to stay clean.
• Not ready for class: Lack of basic school supplies, incomplete or missing homework.
• Social and behavioral cues: Poor self-esteem, difficulty trusting people, protective of parents, “old” beyond their years.

“Being homeless can affect how children learn, can lead to depression, and can be misdiagnosed as learning disabilities,” Pope said.

When a family flees from a stable home environment to an emergency shelter, she said children may be faced for the first time with overcrowded, difficult, or uncomfortable circumstances.

After being evicted from her apartment last fall for not having enough money to pay rent, Peggy, the parent of two Sunrise Elementary students, lived with her children for a month in a one-room unit at a local hotel until she could find transitional housing.

“The room was extremely tiny,” she said. “We had three people in one bed. It was rough for them, because it was a very small place and they didn’t have the things they were used to because it was all in storage.”

With help from her school counselor and repeated calls to area shelters, Peggy was able to move out of the hotel last fall into a rent-free two-bedroom home. The home is part of the three-month emergency housing program through Helping Hand House.

During that time, she took financial and life-skills classes to help her prepare to get a job and return to school. When last interviewed, Peggy was applying for the program’s transitional housing program and hoped to move into a house or apartment where she could remain for the next two years.

“I’m looking forward to being settled so the kids can focus on school,” she said.

Schools and community respond

From warm clothing drives to collections of canned foods and toys, students and educators throughout the school district have responded with an outpouring of support.

Last fall, Kalles Junior High collected 1,043 blankets, coats, scarves, socks, and other warm clothing for St. Francis House in downtown Puyallup. The organization helps individuals and families in need by providing food, clothing, furniture, and adult education classes.

Numerous schools have also held canned food drives, prepared Thanksgiving baskets, and coordinated giving trees over the winter holiday season to collect toys and clothing for those less fortunate.

“A lot of times clothing is an issue,” said Woodland Elementary School counselor Claudia Knauss. “It’s pouring down rain, or there is ice and snow on the ground, and a student has no socks. Or, they outgrow their hand-me-downs and their toes are coming through the end of their shoes.”

It’s not uncommon, she said, for teachers or other school employees to appear at her counseling office door with a new pair of shoes or a winter coat in hand with a request they be given to a child in need.

“It’s a tough time to be in a tough situation,” she said. “Any of us could be in that situation.”

Other annual giving programs districtwide include the United Way Campaign; Puyallup
Giftmakers gift-giving event; and Communities In Schools of Puyallup (CISP) back-to-school supply drive and March Gladness student-led service projects.

Faith-based organizations around the community have also helped with financial donations, gift cards, and bags of clothing or food.

This is the fifth straight year, for example, that Calvary Community Church has donated gift cards to CISP to give to school counselors for district families in need. The church donated 500 $25 grocery gift cards this year, as well as an invitation for each recipient to receive a holiday gift box valued at $39.

Ferrucci Junior High also raised nearly $8,000 during a fun run/walk last June for teens who are homeless or from low-income families.

In addition to the many drives and fundraisers, counselors have access to funding for students in need through the Washington Education Association, Title I federal funds, Invest Ed (formerly called the Saul Haas fund), and the school district’s Children’s Emergency Fund.

Kellie, a junior at Emerald Ridge High, said she is content with finding most of her clothes at the Salvation Army or wearing hand-me-downs from relatives.

What’s tough, she said, is living in a small bedroom in an apartment with two of her siblings and sharing one family computer among all five children, three of whom are in school.

The 16-year-old said she looks forward to graduating next year and continuing her education at Pierce College. Her goal, she said, is to pursue a career in health services “or something that will make people’s lives better.”

After she finishes her chores, does her homework, and takes a short shower (so that all five children have enough hot water each night), Kellie said she climbs in bed and thinks about what she is thankful for in her life. “I may not have everything, but I have my family,” she said. “My family is my home.”

All names of students and parents in this article have been changed to protect their privacy.

Read a related article on efforts to increase housing for homeless families.

If you are homeless, or know of someone who may be homeless, contact the school counselor. For information about emergency shelters in Pierce County, call a new centralized intake number at 211 or (253) 682-3401.

Original article at: http://www.puyallup.k12.wa.us/ourdistrict/news/newsdetail.cfm?NID=1011

How do people become homeless?

A few years ago I was having lunch at a spa and a woman asked to join me. Steamed and soaked into blissful states and wrapped in soft terry robes, we chatted while we ate. She was a physician and I worked for a non-profit. As I shared what my work was like, she asked me a question that shocked me, “How do people become homeless?” When I explained, of course she caught on quickly and I reminded myself how normal it is to be blind to issues that do not confront us directly and how difficult it is to imagine life situations so different from those we experience. Neither she nor anyone close to her had ever been homeless.  

Even in this prolonged recession when job losses and foreclosures dominate the news, the facts of life for low income Americans are probably still not clear to most of us. Nationwide, many people in the workforce regularly spend more than 50% of their income on their housing, making them extremely vulnerable and ‘just a paycheck’ away from homelessness. For example, in Pierce County, Washington where Helping Hand House is located, rental vacancies fell to 4.3 percent in February, nearly 2 percentage points lower than the historical average of 6 percent. In the summer quarter of 2008 the cost of rentals rose 2.3 percent and is expected to rise another 6 or 7 points by this summer. (source: Central Puget Sound Real Estate Research Committee, v.59 n.2, p.46-47) When you pair higher rental costs and fewer units available with current unemployment figures, the chief reason for family homelessness becomes vividly clear.  

Even when the economy is flush, workers at minimum wage still have to work 81 hours a week to afford the standard two-bedroom unit in Pierce County ($845) and 117 hours for a three-bedroom ($1231). The average income for renters is $11.70 an hour, making decent, safe housing still out of reach for so many families.  

There was a time in our country when anyone who worked was pretty much guaranteed a safe, decent place to live. Let’s take a good look at the situation in our communities and do all we can to make that true once again.