NAEHCY NATIONAL CONFERENCENAEHCY NATIONAL CONFERENCE

NOVEMBER 15-17, 2015NOVEMBER 15-17, 2015

Elevated Risk of Homelessness: Elevated Risk of Homelessness: Exploring Doubled-Up ScenariosExploring Doubled-Up Scenarios

Donna Cash, Missouri State CoordinatorMcKinney-Vento Homeless ProgramSupervisor, Title I – St. Louis and Kansas City Charter Schools

State of Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education PO Box 480Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480Phone: 573-522-8763 Fax: 573-526-6698donna.cash@dese.mo.gov

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DOUBLED-UP IS...DOUBLED-UP IS...

Doubled-up students represent the largest percentage of identified homeless students.

In the 2012-13 school year, there were 1,240,925 students identified as homeless in schools throughout the United States. Of those students, 75% were living in doubled-up situations.¹

¹National Center for Homeless Education.

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CAUSESCAUSES

“Homelessness is a lack of permanent housing resulting from extreme poverty and/or unsafe or unstable living environments (e.g., conditions of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, natural or other disasters).”

Two trends are largely responsible for the rise of family homelessness over the past several decades:

•a growing shortage of affordable housing and •a simultaneous increase in severe poverty.¹

¹ Issues of Homelessness and Education: Causes and Consequences. (2009). In Educating Children Without Housing (Third ed., p. 3). ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty.

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UNDERSTANDING DOUBLED-UP UNDERSTANDING DOUBLED-UP

...adolescents “living doubled-up” represent 60% of homeless youth. (Hallet 2012, p.4)

•Individuals who are forced to live together often walk a fine line.

•Living doubled-up is often a precursor to other forms of instability.

•People may not consider themselves housed. But at the same time, they often do not consider themselves homeless either.

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THE McKINNEY-VENTO ACTTHE McKINNEY-VENTO ACT

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When making determinations, some instances will be clear-cut; others will require further inquiry and perhaps require a judgment call.

BUT, remember a determination of eligibility cannot delay immediate enrollment and the prompt provision of services for students.

Ask yourself: What procedures does your LEA have in place? Do you have forms, policies, and/or programs? A committee to help make a decision?

Do you know what resources your community has?

HOMELESS AND DOUBLED-UPHOMELESS AND DOUBLED-UP

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IF YOU HAVE STUDENTS...IF YOU HAVE STUDENTS...

telling others about their crowded living conditions experiencing panic attacks in class or exhibit hyper vigilant behavior exhibiting chronic hunger or food-hoarding behaviors falling asleep in class coming to school in disheveled or dressed in inappropriate clothing who have inadequate or lack personal hygiene who have unmet medical, dental, or psychological needs who exhibit stress or trauma

YOU may have homeless students in your school!

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DOUBLED-UP and RUNAWAYSDOUBLED-UP and RUNAWAYS

Doubled-up homeless student who are older may be at a higher risk of running away.

They are often trying to escape from crowded, doubled-up situations because the atmosphere has become unbearable for them. Perhaps they feel in danger from domestic violence, or they're chronically

hungry or depressed.

They feel intimidated, threatened, scared...their livingconditions have become toxic.

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IN A WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN...IN A WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN...

Children living doubled-up often face uncertainty. New rules or no rules New and often hectic routines

Who sets the rules or boundaries in the home? Who determines or “rules” the television Meal times Shower/bath times Discipline? Who “hands it out” and who “follows through”?

For these and many more reasons, living doubled-up is perhaps the most precarious form of temporary housing. This may be the final place they

“land” before accessing shelters or even living in their cars.

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A LIFE PUT “ON HOLD”A LIFE PUT “ON HOLD”

Living in “survival” mode

Among the many differences between sheltered life and living doubled-up is students in shelters or transitional housing usually have access to outside supports.

Outside supports such as counseling, medical and dental care, immunizations, and preventive care.

These advantages are rarely provided to students living doubled-up.

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SECRETSSECRETS

Families/students living doubled-up hide their living situation. They believe they have to lie about where they live to keep their children enrolled in school. They may be fleeing past landlords or bill collectors. They feel shamed. They are afraid of losing their children.

Students/Parents are embarrassed and ashamed. They are afraid of being removed from school. They may become victims of bullying. They may “act out” because they struggle academically or have discipline infractions. They hide their hunger or illnesses.

Living doubled-up is a less visible form of homelessness.

While they have a “roof over their heads”...

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FEARFEAR

The constant fear of the guest family is palpable. One misstep can make them mobile again—living on the street, in a shelter, and/or in a more precarious situation than they currently face.

Hallett (2012) quotes one young man who described his residence:

“It's an apartment, we pay like about $880 dollars for rent, it is two bedrooms and I live with my mom, my brother, my sister, my grandparents, my aunt and my cousin. … My aunt and my cousin, they got their bedroom. My mom, my brother and sister got to share a bedroom, and there's a closet and they turned it into a bedroom for me. My grandparents is in the living room.” (p. 1)

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HALLETT STUDYHALLETT STUDY

Ronald E. Hallett studied doubled-up homeless youth.

... “living doubled-up” represent 60% of homeless youth He states, “Congress has recognized that these individuals walk a fine line between homelessness and housed.” Least studied group of homeless adolescentsLiving doubled-up is often a precursor to other forms of unstable housing. i.e.—shelters, cars, and unsheltered situations.

When you live doubled-up, it goes against the “American Dream”. Hallett reveals the tension when families share housing. He also explored how this affects the educational experience of children living in doubled-up arrangements.

(Hallett, 2012, pg.4) continued...

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““MERGED RESIDENCES”MERGED RESIDENCES”

Describes the different households living within the same home.

Share responsibilities (household task and children)Merged residences provide a protective aspect. Also shared duties, such as I do the finances and you handle the educational needs of the children. This builds on the strength each party may bring to the merged household.Pooling resources.

In this way, living doubled-up “limits” the risk factors for the youth.

continued...

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““SEPARATE HOUSEHOLDS”SEPARATE HOUSEHOLDS”

Share responsibility toward rent but still operate as independent units within the same residence.

The parents of the respective households have to balance the financial and household duties, which may result in meeting the children’s basic necessities but doesn’t always allow for enough time or energy to dedicate to their educational needs.

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Learning More About Doubled-UpLearning More About Doubled-Up

RESOURCES National Center For Homeless Education (NCHE)

NCHE Coffee Break Materials –Understanding Doubled-Uphttp://center.serve.org/nche/web/coffee-break-doubled-up.php

“10 in 10” Orientation Tutorial for New State Coordinatorshttp://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/sc/modules/2.pdf

NCHE Toolkit – Chapter Four: Determining Eligibility http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/toolkit2/ch4.pdf

National Alliance to End Homelessness (Economic Crisis)Economy Bytes: Doubled Up in the United States May 18, 2010http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/economy-bytes-doubled-up-in-the-united-states

HEAR US (Exploring Doubled-Up) “Worn Out Welcome Mat” http://hearus.us/projects/wowm.html

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ReferencesReferences

Bailey, K., March E. L., Ettinger de Cuba, S., Becker Cutts, D., Cook, J., Coleman, S., et al. (2011, November). Overcrowding and frequent moves undermine children's health. Children's HealthWatch Policy Action Brief. Retrieved from: www.childrenshealthwatch.org/upload/resource/crowdedmultimoves_brief_nov11.pdf

Barshay, J. (2014, September 29). Homeless students increase by 58 percent in past six years [blog post]. Retrieved from Education by the Numbers at: http://educationbythenumbers.org/content/homeless-students-increase-58-percent-past-five-years_1965

Hallett, R. E. (2012). Educational experiences of hidden homeless teenagers: Living doubled-up. New York: Routledge.

Masten, A. S., Herbers, J. E., Desjardins, C. D., Cutuli, J. J., McCormick, C. M., Sapienza, J. K., et al. (2012). Executive function skills and school success in young children experiencing homelessness. Educational Researcher, 41(9), 375–384.

McInnes, E., Diamond, A., & Whitington, V. (2014). Developing trauma-informed pedagogy in a year 2–3 classroom. In Mark Callaghan (Ed.), How trauma resonates: Art, literature and theoretical practice (pp. 127–138). Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2012). Addressing post-traumatic stress disorder caused by homelessness. Retrieved from http://b.3cdn.net/naeh/973478e833747853ce_a1m6bx81p.pdf

SanFilippo, E. J. (2012, October 17). When homelessness causes PTSD [blog post]. Retrieved from National Alliance to End Homelessness at http://blog.endhomelessness.org/when-homelessness-causes-ptsd

Yeager, J., & Bennett, M. (2012). Neuroscience applied to the therapeutic milieu. In R. E. Longo, D. S. Prescott, J. Bergman, & K. Creeden (Eds.), Current perspectives and applications in neurobiology: Working with young persons who are victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse. Holyoke, MA: NEARI Press.

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ReflectionReflection

The moral test of Government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children, those who are in the twilight of life, the aged, and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.

--Hubert Humphrey, 1976

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Questions?Questions?

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