Article: Housing vouchers could help homeless teens grow, thrive (TNT)
Tacoma News Tribune article about the challenges of serving homeless youth in Pierce County. Thanks for addressing this, Kit.
Housing vouchers could help homeless teens grow, thrive
KATHLEEN MERRYMAN; STAFF WRITER
If you look at one set of federal numbers, there are five homeless teens in Tacoma. If you look at another, there are 250.But if you listen to the people trying to help them, there are hundreds more throughout Pierce County, and most have little hope of getting into decent, stable homes, or growing into decent, stable adults.
Federal counts, which determine where federal money goes, don’t fit the problem. They don’t even fit each other.
Susan Paredes is Tacoma schools’ liaison with the federal program for homeless kids in school. She can name 250 high school students who don’t have homes. They all go to Tacoma schools, and they all meet federal standards for defining a homeless student. Many are couch surfing – sleeping at the homes of friends or relatives until their welcome wears out.
By contrast, federal Department of Housing and Urban Development rules say that if they were crashing with friends on Jan. 27, the night of the annual homeless count, they had a roof and aren’t homeless. Last year, that tally found five kids.
This kind of undercounting sinks efforts to get money to help these young people.
Now experts in social work and housing are teaming up to fix the long-term hole in services for vulnerable youth. They’re brainstorming ways to get these kids into safe homes with counseling, health care, education and training in life skills.
These aren’t easy kids. Some have run away from home. More have been kicked out, fled for their own safety or were abandoned.
“One mother left one of her daughters, left the state, then came back and left the other daughter,” said Cheryl Jones, executive director of Tacoma’s Allen Renaissance.
“I’ve heard many stories of 12-year-olds who are picked up, then leave when they hear they have to be reported to their parents,” said Diane Powers, planner for Pierce County’s mental health and homeless programs. “They say, ‘I’m going back to the camp.’ Many of them are involved in prostitution.”
And many of them, Jones said, will end up at the state’s sexual offender unit for youths with a felony on their juvenile record.
“What our kids are going through is horrific,” she said.
She uses “our kids” in the broad sense, to cover young people who can’t live with their own families and depend on the rest of us to help them toward a decent future.
Even the most basic emergency shelters are expensive, said Troy Christensen of Pierce County Human Services.
“It requires highly trained staff and notification of families,” he said.
But the investment helps cut the risk that young people will harm themselves, have sex or do something else that might leave the provider liable. Expensive programs are powerful deterrents to agencies that are barely getting by and don’t have enough funds targeted at homeless teens.
Work around that, suggested Michael Mirra, executive director of Tacoma Housing Authority. Take money from general funds and use it to get teens settled and aimed at independence.
Tacoma Housing Authority owns houses, and it distributes vouchers that can be used to pay for housing.
“We have homes with up to six bedrooms. We could make a larger single-family home available as a congregate facility that we would not run,” he said.
The young residents could use housing vouchers to pay their rent, and an agency with a good track record could provide the monitoring, counseling and life-skills training in a group-home setting.
Paredes said some homeless students stay in school, but they are minors, entirely on their own and unable to find housing.
The housing authority can help, Mirra said. “If we could support them with housing vouchers, we would count that as very good use of housing dollars.”
This kind of new thinking about solving old problems with existing funds is welcome. It’s opening the possibility of going beyond shelter to help damaged young people grow into productive community members.
These are kids who would love the chance to someday become taxpayers.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677 kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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
VIDEO: The costs of poverty – and the solutions we’re working on
This is a great video from The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, illustrating powerfully the struggles of those who are in poverty. Here at Helping Hand House, we’re committed to preventing and ending family homelessness - equipping parents and their children to escape poverty through education, financial management, and careers that will support their families.
The premise we work under? No family who goes through our programs should ever be homeless again. Search through our website or come to a House Warming Tour and learn more about our unique and innovative solutions to family homelessness, eradicating poverty one family at a time, breaking cycles for the generation to come.
No family should ever be homeless. We’re working to make it that way.
2009 Hunger & Homelessness Report from US Council of Mayors
The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) released results of its 2009 Hunger and Homelessness Report. The survey includes results from 27 of America’s major cities that highlight the impact of hunger and homelessness in metropolitan centers in the United States.
(Can’t see the video? Please click here to go to C-Span video)
2008 Annual Report Ready!
We are very excited about this year’s Annual Report – we encourage you to take a look and get a picture of the work that we’ve been up to in the last year!
Please click here to download the 2008 Annual Report as a pdf…
Neighborhoods are important
Another study this week proved the wisdom of HHH’s method of placing recently homeless families in great neighborhoods. A study from the Pew Trust (see News Tribune article below) demonstrated that the neighborhood one is raised in is a primary factor in determining whether or not someone will live in poverty as an adult or not – and whether they will regress further than their parents. Helping Hand House has made a point of placing our families in homes throughout Pierce County in healthy neighborhoods, without the stigma of being a low-income project, etc. Our criteria? If we wouldn’t move our own family in there, we won’t put those in our programs there either.
Research finds that neighborhood is key to income mobility
Location keeps some lower on ladderWASHINGTON – Researchers have found that being raised in poor neighborhoods plays a major role in explaining why African American children from middle-income families are far more likely than white children to slip down the income ladder as adults.
The Pew Charitable Trusts Economic Mobility Project caused a stir two years ago by reporting that nearly half of African American children born to middle-class parents in the 1950s and ’60s had fallen to a lower economic status as adults, a rate of downward mobility far higher than that for whites.
This week, Pew will release findings of a study that helps explain that economic fragility, pointing to the fact that middle-class blacks are far more likely than whites to live in high-poverty neighborhoods, which has a negative effect on even the better-off children raised there.
Even as African Americans have made gains in wealth and income, the report found, black children and white children are often raised in starkly different environments. Two out of three black children born from 1985 through 2000 were raised in neighborhoods with at least a 20 percent poverty rate, compared to just 6 percent of white children.
Using a study that has tracked more than 5,000 families since 1968, the Pew research found that no other factor, including parents’ education, employment or marital status, was as important as neighborhood poverty in explaining why black children were so much more likely than whites to lose income as adults.
See article here.
