Homelessness and its’ Impact on Education

Hi,

my name is Michaela Jenkins and I am getting

a degree in professional counseling here at Angelo's state.

Um I've learned so much this year already and this

semester has provided so much insight and the things I need

to be aware of and understand and know in order

to positively impact and support the population that I serve.

So today we're going to specifically be talking

about homelessness and its impact on education.

I found a quote that really resonated with me because I

live in austin texas and um throughout this school year,

I have already

um supported some scholars that are experiencing homelessness.

So the quote says each year over 600 youth under

the age of 25 experience literal homelessness in Austin texas.

So there are definite impacts across the country and the globe,

but to bring it home is pretty,

it's pretty intense.

So it's just something to know that in all

of our areas there are youth experiencing homelessness.

So, to introduce the topic, um

I will say that homelessness is an ongoing struggle for many,

including our most vulnerable and marginalized populations.

So people of color, um different socio economic situations.

Um they struggle typically the most with homelessness due to discrimination,

lack of resources, all kinds of things that will dig into.

Unfortunately, homelessness is a reality for many young scholars in school.

Um as I stated before,

I myself have had to um support students already dealing with homelessness.

Um and it has really

uh impacted their education and how they feel about life in general.

So it's pretty serious.

Moving on,

homelessness is a relevant issue in education because of the emotional academic

and physical impacts and traumas it has on Children and adolescents,

there are many causes of homelessness that

will be discussed later in this presentation,

solutions on the impact of homelessness and education will

also be discussed in hopes that all stakeholders,

stakeholders are aware of preventative and responsive

support on this very heavy issue.

Alright, so moving on to causes and effects.

So here, I've just provided a few quotes um on different causes.

So this one really talks about a few different causes,

focusing on decade long recessions, lack of affordable housing,

which is a huge one.

Um the tight job market and with that also discrimination and

um trying to get a job um and then low wages.

So the jobs that some of our families are able to

get do not provide the wage necessary to keep a home.

So that is definitely a huge issue.

Um here we have some different causes. There are more um

um how do you say emotional um and

traumatic issues that can happen within the family.

So, this research stated in several countries,

including the US has found that family conflict and family breakdown

are the most significant factors and young people becoming homeless.

Um I've seen this a lot with families um getting divorced and um one parent

maybe being more impacted than the other with this due to finances,

um lack of resources, what have you.

And so when families are dealing with

chronic conflict and um divorce and separation,

that can put our youth at risk,

especially if they are part of the marginalized communities that we discussed.

So,

another thing to take note with homelessness um is that um it can be just

things happening within the family conflict that

can happen that can make this happen.

Um So here are some effects of homelessness on youth.

Um So unfortunately when youth are homeless,

it can be a big disadvantage to when they're an adult and seeking housing,

seeking jobs,

it puts them at a bigger disadvantage than um youth that have a stable home.

Another big effect,

unfortunately is that when young youth experience

homelessness a lot of times education isn't completed

um such as high school and um the ability to go to college isn't there,

which puts them at a big disadvantage to making

larger wage to be able to afford a house.

Um and then also with the incompletion of high school and education,

it really affects all kinds of things.

Um employment, social emotional skills, academic skills,

like the ability to read and write

like foundational skills are affected when Children

and adolescents are homeless and moving around a lot.

Um chronic absenteeism due to um transitioning from home to home, um

transitioning from school to school,

it causes a lot of emotional and academic gaps.

Um So another thing that goes along with that is um

Children that are homeless are at risk for cycle psychosocial difficulties.

Um so like I said before, the social emotional skills are really

decreased when Children are not coming to school daily

due to the fact that they are homeless.

Um so this is really important when it comes to the stakeholders solutions and

identifying and knowing who is homeless so that we can provide as educators,

counselors um and other academic personnel can um provide support for the family,

resources for the family and especially SCL skills.

Um

And then this is an important statistic I wanted to

read out according to the 2020 annual homeless assessment report.

Families with Children accounted for 30% of the homeless population in the

United States and Children made up 18% of all persons experiencing homelessness.

Um so that's a really pretty big number

for the amount of families that include Children.

Um and so we definitely have work to do

and how we can support these families with Children,

all families of course, but youth um in particular in this case.

Okay,

so those are the causes and effects.

So some solutions, we actually found quite a bit a bit of solutions for this.

Now,

all of it's going to take lots of work from

all stakeholders from the federal level all the way down.

Um so there are already acts put in place like the Mckinney Act, um that is supposed to

support the rights of homeless Children um

specifically um granting them free education.

Um and that program does obviously impact this population in a positive way.

However, the issues that I'm reading and research are that there are not common

language languages around what is deemed to be a homeless youth.

So the issue is that even though we have Mckinney Mckinney act

in Congress and other acts um supporting the rights of homeless youth,

not all homeless youth are caught and identified.

So that is a huge part of the solution is coming up with a language a almost like a um

a boundary that states what is in fact considered to be a homeless youth and make

it a very consistent thing across the country

so that more homeless youth can be identified.

Um,

other things are

volunteer support groups,

um and after school groups that specifically support

the issues that go along with homelessness.

So, um as like an SCL coordinator slash counselor at my campus,

this could be something that I look into at my campus

is how can I help facilitate um support groups for this?

Um I do support groups for other issue.

And so this will be a way that I will try to catch and

provide support for Children experiencing homelessness at

my campus is offering small group support.

Um and I love that there are peer based support groups out there.

Um and I would definitely recommend looking into that at your campuses.

I will be looking at that for mine,

um intervention programs from all staff members and

personnel um with these Children and making sure that

they are getting um connected to resources and counseling

um is crucial in our in our realm.

So in the educator world, that is a huge thing that we can do,

is making sure that not only are we identifying

who is homeless but providing the resources needed.

Um

sorry, I had to pause there, but as I was saying, so educators,

it's our job and duty to make sure that

we are providing proper support these Children experiencing homelessness.

So just making sure that systems are put in place at your campus,

um there should be a homeless liaison

um that really has been trained on how to identify

a child that is homeless and the next steps needed,

once you are able to identify, I am actually the homeless liaison at my campus,

so that is why I have personally dealt with

um youth with youth dealing with homelessness myself.

And so it's just incredibly important to at least

have one stakeholder um on your campus or at your

yeah, on your campus,

that is the the go to person for um this very hard topic

um so that more kids are caught and not slipping through the cracks.

Um and then

the other thing that's so important when

it comes to finding solutions for homelessness,

um particularly those with families with youth,

is that providing access to stable housing and um affordable housing.

So that's not something I necessarily can do,

but it's something I can advocate for um when

voting in local elections is how we can get

more affordable housing so that these marginalized communities have

a chance to be successful and to have a

stable home so that their Children can go to

school and have um consistency in their schedules.

So there is something that everyone can do

um if you're not an educator or someone at

the district school level or federal level making laws,

you can um join advocacy groups or be a volunteer um to help groups of at risk youth.

Um So yeah, all kinds of solutions

doesn't mean that they're easy solutions though,

it's going to take a lot of front loading and um work

on all sides in order to best help this really problematic issue,

not just in our country but across the globe.

So to conclude this presentation,

youth homelessness is a global issue that impacts the social, emotional,

educational and physical needs of students.

There are many causes of youth homelessness,

including limited affordable housing, chronic conflict and or abuse in the home,

lack of job opportunity for marginalized groups,

discrimination against marginalized populations, low wages and more

youth homelessness directly impacts education as

educators and other school personnel.

So that means counselors,

social workers administration District personnel are required to

identify and support students dealing with homelessness,

educators need to know strategies, both SCL and academic and resources.

So, um, shelters, counseling services, food and clothing donations,

that sort of thing

to help those in need.

Further advocacy and laws regarding youth

homelessness and their rights to education,

safe housing,

medical care and social emotional needs must be

executed in order to identify and in homelessness.

Thank you for listening today.

I hope you have a great day and I hope that you learned from my presentation today.

I do have a reference page

If you'd like to go check out any of these articles that I read.

They were very helpful and informational about homelessness.

Um, specifically with the youth. Thank you. I hope you have a great day.

Homelessness and its’ Impact on Education

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