Young Children & Homelessness Convening
October 10, 2013
Welcome
Lynn Haglin
Vice President, Northland Foundation
Overview of Family Homelessness in
Minnesota
Michelle Decker Gerrard
Research Manager, Wilder Research
Monica Idzelis Rothe
Research Scientist, Wilder Research
Wilder
Research
Overview of family homelessness
in Minnesota from the 2012 survey
Prepared for Start Early Funders Coalition
October 10, 2013
Presented by
Michelle Decker Gerrard
and Monica Idzelis Rothe
About the statewide study
 Point in time survey, every 3 years
 Trained volunteer interviewers
On October 25, 2012:
 Interviews in >250 shelters and programs
 Outreach locations in >50 cities, towns, and outlying areas
wilderresearch.org
One-night study counts
9,654
7,696
7,854
10,214
Total count
7,751
5,645
4,553
3,079
3,178
1,791
2,294
2,862
2,726
1994
3,546
Children with parents
889
1991
3,251
1997
2000
2003
2006
wilderresearch.org
2009
2012
What is new?
 Increase in numbers mainly accounted for by
– Children with their parents (up 9%)
– Older adults (age 55+)
 22% increase in 2-parent families
 Emergency shelter use up by 27%
wilderresearch.org
What does not change?
 Long-term health issues
 Inability to afford housing
 Racial disparities
 Traumatic experiences in childhood
 Violence and exploitation
 Transition years (15-21) are time of greatest risk
wilderresearch.org
Age groups
Adult females
age 22 or older
Children with
their parents
25%
35%
Adult males
age 22 or older
Unaccompanied
minors age 12-17
29%
1%
Unaccompanied young
adults age 18-21
10%
Ages of children with their parents
Age
13-17
13%
51%
Age 36%
6-12
Age
0-5
Children and families
Where homeless children were counted
Not in
shelter
Battered
women
11%
11%
Emergency
shelter
24%
Transitional
housing
55%
wilderresearch.org
Children and families: counts
 On a single night, 1,747 families were counted with 3,546 children
 Besides children who are homeless with their parents, at least
another 2,000 are affected by a parent’s homelessness but are
not with them
wilderresearch.org
Children and families: demographics
 72% of children are with their mom; 4% are with their dad; and
24% are with both
 29% of youth (age 21 and under) are parents (for female youth
39%); 21% have their children with them
 Median age for homeless parents is 29
wilderresearch.org
Parents: racial disparities
Adults (18+)
Homeless
parents
MN
9%
1%
American Indian
2%
3%
Asian American
50%
5%
30%
86%
9%
3%
8%
4%
Black
White
(non-Hispanic)
Other, including
multi-racial
Hispanic
(any race)
wilderresearch.org
Parents: homelessness history
 92% of parents had been homeless at least a month
 9% had spent at least one night outside/car etc. in the past 30
days
 25% had spent at least one night doubled-up
 31% of parents first experienced homelessness as a child
wilderresearch.org
Parents: health problems
 52% of parents have serious mental health problems
 48% have chronic physical health problems
 9% have chemical dependency issues
wilderresearch.org
Parents: other characteristics
 72% had lived in MN for more than 2 years
 55% are on waiting list for Section 8 or subsidized housing
 33% are employed; 11% full-time (35 or more hours/week)
 93% receive food stamps/SNAP, 47% WIC, and 27% child care
assistance
 47% were physically or sexually abused as a child or youth
wilderresearch.org
Health care needs of children with parents
Percent of parents who could not get needed care for their children
in the past year:
 Dental care (10%)
 Physical health care (6%)
 Mental health care (5%)
wilderresearch.org
Other health related needs
Percent of parents who report at least one child with a chronic or
severe problem:
 Emotional or behavioral (26%)
 Physical health problem (15%)
wilderresearch.org
Other needs of children
Percent of parents who report:
 Children skipped a meal in the past month because there was not
money to buy food (11%)
 Unable to get regular child care when needed in the past year
(34%)
wilderresearch.org
Young children (age 0-5)
 7 in 10 families had young children with them (ages 0-5)
Of those with young children (age 0-5):
 42% have a child who is enrolled in Head Start or an early
childhood program; 15% of these report that their children have
difficulty attending because of their housing situation
wilderresearch.org
Housing affordability gap
 Monthly median income of homeless adults
– Metro
$381
– Greater MN
$403
 Fair market rent for a one bedroom apartment
– Metro
$745
– Greater MN
$531
What gives us hope?
 Some improvement among groups targeted for solutions
– Single long-term homeless adults
– Veterans
 Children are able to get to and stay in school
 Newly allocated money in Minnesota for housing
 Solutions address systems, not just individuals
wilderresearch.org
Next steps
 Special reports on youth, American Indian reservation
homelessness, and veterans
 Seeking funding for a special report on homeless families
Wilder
Research
To learn more about homelessness in
Minnesota go to www.wilderresearch.org
Keynote Address: Resilience and
Homeless Children
Dr. Ann Masten, Ph.D.
Professor of Child Psychology
University of Minnesota
Risk and Resilience in Homeless
and Highly Mobile Children
Early Childhood as a Window of Opportunity
Ann S. Masten
University of Minnesota
October 10, 2013
Start Early Convening on Young Children and Homelessness
A translational research story
• Beginning
• Collaborating
• Evolving
• Intervening
Capacity of a system
to adapt successfully
to significant disturbances
that threaten its adaptive function, viability, or development
RESILIENCE
The beginning…
1980s - awareness
1988 - invitation
1989 - first study
1990s - series of small
collaborative studies
Art by Donna Miliotis
Homeless compared to
housed but similar families
• More recent stressful life events
• Children had more fears (deprivation)
• More school changes and disrupted lives
• Similar but more extreme levels of risk
• Parents expressed more distress
• Child problems relate to parent distress, risk
Masten et al 1993
Variation in cumulative risk
Risk Factors
Low education
Single parent
Parent died
Parents divorced
Foster care
Maltreatment
Saw violence
See Masten & Sesma 1999
CURA Reporter
Conclusions from early work
• Homelessness indicates high cumulative risk
• High risk for health, school, behavior problems
• Homeless similar to other disadvantaged
families but higher on a risk continuum
• Variation in risk and function among homeless
children
• Resilience related to parenting, cognitive skills
Fast forward to recent research
• New concerns
• New opportunities
• Translational goals
• Fully collaborative
In 2010/2011 over one million
American school children
were identified as homeless
by Federal guidelines
Analyzing administrative data
THE BIG PICTURE
Reading scores 2005 to 2009
26,501 students
Reading score
General
- Norm, & …RPM
Free meals
HHM
75%
46%
21%
12%
Cutuli et al 2013
Child Development
84, 841-857
Reading score
HHM student individual reading scores
National avg
Homeless avg
MATH
26,474 students
76th
General
Math score
Norm & RPM
79th
18th percentile avg score
Free meals
HHM
th
12
Additional findings
• 45% of HHM show academic resilience
– Scoring in the normal range or higher all tests
• Slow down in growth related to HHM status
– Comparing year following HHM with other years
– Growth rate in math (but not reading) slows
– Consistent with acute disturbance as well as
chronic risk
What makes a difference?
• Attendance
• Minority status
• English language learner
• Earlier achievement
First grade reading skills
• Shows a similar risk gradient
• Predicts later achievement and
growth in math and reading
• Shows protective effects for
high-risk students (interactions)
on free lunch or homeless
Herbers et al 2012
Educational Researcher, 41, 366-374
High
Low
Administrative data limitations
• Schools cannot collect data on key protective influences
due to time burden and cost
Potentially malleable protective factors
A CLOSER LOOK AT WHAT MAKES A
DIFFERENCE
Important…malleable…interrelated
• Child executive function (EF) skills
• Parenting
• Stress
Executive Function
 Neurocognitive processes involved in goaldirected control of attention, thought, actions
(cognitive control)
 Working memory
 Cognitive flexibility
 Inhibitory control
 Needed to succeed in school
pay attention…control emotions… wait turn…
follow instructions…listen to teacher…plan…
switch from one activity to another
Why EF?
• Long implicated in
resilience
• Important for learning
• Affected by “toxic stress”
• Related to good parenting
• Related to competence
over time
• Develops rapidly in
preschoolers
• Promising malleability
graph courtesy of Stephanie Carlson
Neural effects of training
See Espinet et al. 2013
graph courtesy of Philip David Zelazo
Sample of findings
• Executive function task performance
– Predicts “child on task” observations
– Predicts school success over & above IQ
– Related to good parenting
– Mediates relation of parenting to school outcomes
• ACEs much higher than State averages
• Cortisol (a stress hormone; salivary)
– Related to worse child executive function (EF)
• Parenting
– Correlate and protective factor for achievement
– Related to parent EF as well child EF skills
• Asthma
– High rates (28%)
– Related to academic and behavior problems
Resilient children have better
executive function skills
Obradović 2010
Masten et al 2012
Resilient
Parenting Quality Moderates Risk
4
3.8
Academic Functioning
3.6
higher quality
parenting
lower quality
parenting
3.4
3.2
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1
Herbers et al., 2011
2
3
Cumulative Risk
4
5
Children cannot wait
Interventions to consider
• Reduce risk and stress
– Prevent homeless episodes
– Stabilize housing and schooling
– Reduce hunger and food insecurity
• Increase resources
– Access to quality programs, housing, health care
– High quality education (starting early)
– Tutoring and summer programs
• Promote protective processes
– Effective parenting
– Executive function skills
– Teacher-child relationships
See Masten 2011
Targeting executive function
PROMOTING SCHOOL SUCCESS
Ready? Set. Go!
Boosting readiness for Kindergarten
in homeless children living in emergency shelter
– Focused on executive function skills
– Strategically timed
– Implemented August 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
– Inspired a new IES-funded research project
IES project
PIs = Masten + Carlson + Zelazo
• Promoting EF in preschool
• Developing components collaboratively
Curriculum + Parent education + individual child training
• Community Advisory Board
• Design team
– Teachers & researchers
– Pooled expertise
•
•
•
•
•
•
EF
Teaching preschoolers
Teacher training
Preventive intervention
Risk and resilience
Context
IES Developmental Project
• Iterative process
– Design – try – refine – try again - repeat
– One component to isolate effects
– All components to evaluate promise
• Leading to
– Pilot study
– Randomized efficacy trial
– Effectiveness trial
Observations from recent HHM studies
• HHM is a window on risks, barriers, safety gaps
• Mobile children key for closing achievement gaps
• Executive function skills central to school success
• Promoting resilience is possible
Windows of Early Opportunity
• Preventing stress
• Protecting brain development
• Promoting tools for learning
• Supporting parents
Thank you!
•
Minnesotans who opened their lives to inform and help others
•
Collaborators in community and university – and especially to
–
–
–
–
•
Funders who supported the research discussed in this talk
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
People Serving People; The Family Partnership; Mary’s Place; St. Anne’s Place
Minneapolis and Saint Paul Public Schools
Professors Stephanie Carlson, Abi Gewirtz, Megan Gunnar, Jeff Long, Philip David Zelazo
Many graduate and undergraduate students
Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA)
Center for Personalized Prevention Research (NIMH supported)
Irving B. Harris Professorship; McKnight University Professorships
Institute of Education Sciences
National Science Foundation (NSF)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Sauer Children’s Renew Foundation
All of you for listening!
Expert Panel
Denise Mayotte- Panel Moderator
Executive Director, The Shelter Arms Foundation
Angela Kimball
Education Services Manager, People Serving People
Nancy Cashman
Supporting Housing Director, Center City Housing- Duluth
Ryan Strack
Early Learning System Coordinator, School District 622
(North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale)
E A R LY C H I L D H O O D
D E V E LO P M E N T
P RO G R A M
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The People Serving People Early Childhood Development Program is licensed by the state of
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services and a Parent Aware 4 Star rated program. Our center
serves up to 52 children per day in the following age groups:
-Infants:
Ages 6 weeks – 15 months
-Toddlers:
Ages 16 months – 2 years
-Preschool Prep:
Ages 2 ½ years – 3 ½ years
-Preschool:
Ages 3 years – 5 years
Program hours are Monday thru Friday 8:30am – 4:30 PM
CURRICULUM
*Teacher created curriculums to meet the unique challenges of our setting.
*Average stay is 37 days
*New kids always coming and kids always moving out
*Children have varied backgrounds and previous experiences
*Children exhibit unique challenges due to living with high levels of stress.
*Kids Resiliency Education (KRE), Creative Curriculum, and Building Language for Literacy were used
as resources.
CURRICULUM CONTINUED
Primary focus is to provide a calming and secure
environment with consistent routines where children
feel safe and are able to thrive and learn.
Daily schedules include typical preschool activities,
self-directed learning (free play), large and small
group lessons, large motor, snacks/lunch, and rest
time.
The primary goal is to provide a learning environment
where the children can be successful.
Skill focuses center around social/emotional
development and include yoga, deep breathing
exercises, emotion recognition activities, and
movement/music; and Executive Function activities
such as Bear/Dragon, BLINK, I Spy and freeze
dancing.
ASSESSMENT
The Creative Curriculum Gold Assessment tool is used for all 4 classrooms to track children’s growth
We see about 25% growth in children’s scores throughout their stay.
Assessments are done frequently, every 1-2 weeks, to track progress and account for the limited time
we have with the children.
PARTNERSHIPS
People Serving People partners with various organizations to support families while they are in shelter, as
well as connect them to community resources.
* University of Minnesota Institute of Child Development
*Minneapolis Public Schools
-Preschool Screening and Early Intervention
* St. David's Center for Children
*Metro State
*St. Kate’s nursing students
*MacPhail Center for Music
* Minneapolis Crisis Nursery
EXTENDING OUR IMPACT
How can we assure our impact is sustained?
We believe that parents
are their children’s #1 influence and primary
educator.
We have a Parent Engagement coordinator
who is licensed in Parent Education working
closely with the Early Childhood Teaches to
support parents. Both individual sessions and
parenting groups are offered.
Scholarships to high quality early childhood
programming after their stay at PSP
ENDING THE CYCLE
Our ultimate goal is to
permanently end a
family’s homelessness
with one visit to our
shelter, and end the
cycle of homelessness
for the children.
Center City Housing Corp
Low Income Housing Developer
Owner manager supportive service provider
Currently owns 421 Units
Expanded State wide in 2009
Serves most difficult to house
Homeless Family supportive housing
Chronic alcoholic homeless
Partner based programming
Supportive Housing For Homeless
Families with children
 Currently manage 32 units
 21 transitional housing
 11 permanent supportive housing
 44 new units beginning construction
The Homeless Experience
Social/emotional/developmental delays
Highly mobile and episodes of homelessness
Lacking positive parenting skills and knowledge
World of violence and chaos
The Housing Experience
• TOTS Programming
•
Addresses needs
•
Develop individual plan for each child
•
Referrals to other providers
•
Parenting skills at parents current level of understanding
•
Addresses attachment issues
Success: 3 plus years of housing stability
the story of Anilah and Nevaeh
Start Early Funders Coalition
Presentation
October 10, 2013
Wilder Foundation
Ryan Strack, School District 622
Overview of School District 622
• Serve 11,000 school-age students
• East metro inner-ring suburbs
• According to census, about 3500 children
birth to kindergarten age
• 213 K-12 students experiencing
homelessness (SY 12-13)
• 68 B-5 children experiencing homelessness
(SY 12-13)
• 50% of students on free or reduced meals
Outreach and Intentionality Matters
• B-5 children experiencing homelessness identified pre- and
post- program implementation
2011- 201212
13
24
68
McKinney-Vento Act (Education) Overview
• First authored in 1987, President Reagan
• Re-authorized in 2001 under Title X, Part C of No Child
Left Behind
• Applies narrowly to early childhood
• Establishes educational rights for children and youth
experiencing homelessness (FAPE)
• Named for former St. Paul Congressman
Program Overview
• Primary goal is to connect more kids and their families to
services in order to increase protective factors and become
more prepared for kindergarten
• Work through four main components
•
•
•
•
Outreach and awareness building
Enrollment in programs and services
Stability/consistency
Education
Outreach and Awareness Building
• To shelters and housing programs
• Service provider locations (food shelves, etc.)
• Community groups (CoC, FHPAP)
Program Enrollment
• Pays fees for programs (preschool and parent
education)
• Provides assistance with applications and
paperwork
• Makes connections with programs
Stability/Consistency
• Children in consistent programming and
services
• Transportation provided when possible
• Consistent navigator
• Follow-up and follow-through
Education
• About the education system
• About efficacy and importance of early
childhood programs and services
• For families and educators and homeless
services providers
Snapshot of Services Provided
Program
Number
Type of Access Provided by District 622
Stepping Stones Preschool
5
5 Enrollment
2 Transport
Early Childhood Screening
9
9 Appointment
1 Transport
Pre-Kindergarten
3
3 Enrollment
3 Transport
3 Tuition
Head Start
19
17 Application
2 Enrollment
1 Transport
Close to My Heart Preschool
2
2 Enrollment
2 Transport
2 Tuition
ECFE
4
4 Enrollment
4 Transport
4 Tuition
School Readiness summer class
2
2 Enrollment
2 Transport
2 Tuition
Safety Town
1
1 Enrollment
1 Transport
1 Tuition
ECSE
7
Totals
52
43
5 Tuition
17
18
Program Logistics
• Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance grant
administered by the MN Department of Education
• Share two-day per week Outreach Worker with another
program in the district
Successes
• Number served who would not otherwise have
had access
• Stories and gratitude from families
• Demand for services
Challenges
• Multiple counties
• Working across different systems
• Homeless service providers
• Education
Contact Information
Ryan Strack, Early Learning System Coordinator
Email: rstrack@isd622.org
Phone: 651-748-7696
Twitter: @ryan_strack
School District Website: www.isd622.org
Discussion
Developing Policies
Sharon Henry-Blythe
Director, Visible Child Initiative at the Family Housing Fund
Cathy ten Broeke
State Director to Prevent and End Homelessness
The Visible Child Initiative
Ending homelessness by investing in the healthy
development and academic success of children who
have known homelessness
Sharon Henry-Blythe
Family Housing Fund
Visible Child Initiative
Start Early Young Children & Homelessness Convening, October 2013
Breaking the Cycle of Generational
Homelessness
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategies
• Embed Evidence Based, Research
Informed, Culturally Appropriate
Practices
• Accountability
• Influence Public Policy
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategy
Embed Evidence Based, Research Informed, Culturally
Appropriate Practices
– Visible Child Training Series
– Conversations on Chemical Health
– Culture Matters
• Providers asking for multi-session or full day session at a
minimum.
• Looking to answer how trauma can be generational and often
unknown to the parent.
Quotes from Providers
“Visible Child monthly training series
with the Conversations on Chemical
Health has caused the case managers,
who all have a degree in Social Work, to
heighten their level of expertise in
serving their families at Model Cities as
whole.”
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategy
Embed Evidence Based, Research Informed, Culturally
Appropriate Practices (Continued)
– Children’s Mental Health Project
– 90 Day Window for Children
– Evidence Based Parent Education and Coaching
– Trauma Informed Child Care/Early Childhood Services
Quotes from Providers
“Trauma has been buried so
deep.”
“It’s like something has been
uncorked for our moms.”
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategy
• Accountability
The Visible Child Initiative Will:
– Increase the number of homeless and formerly homeless children
who receive developmental screening.
– Increase homeless and formerly homeless children’s access to
needed mental health and early intervention services.
– Increase homeless and formerly homeless young children’s access to
existing publically funded family and child focused services and
programs.
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategy
Influence Public Policy
2009 Legislative Action
 Omnibus Education Finance Bill signed into law which included a key
provision that allows Head Start programs with “innovative initiatives”
more flexibility – without penalty – to serve children and families who
live in shelters, transitional housing, or permanent housing.
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategy
Influence Public Policy
2012 Legislative Action
 Legislation passed creating Minnesota Visible Child Work Group to
identify and recommend issues that should be addressed in a
statewide, comprehensive plan to improve the well-being of children
who are homeless or have experienced homelessness.
 Addressing Child Homelessness in Minnesota: Report of the Visible
Child Work Group submitted to legislature December 2012
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategy
Influence Public Policy
 2013 Legislative Action
 Agencies serving homeless children and their families will be represented on
local Interagency Early Intervention Committees (IEICs) across the state.
Requiring IEICs to include representation from providers serving homeless
families will help ensure that the developmental needs of homeless children
are addressed.
 Minnesota Department of Education will collect statistics on the number of
homeless children who receive Part C services and will report the results
annually to the legislature.
Visible Child Initiative Key Strategy
Influence Public Policy
2014 Visible Child Advocacy Agenda
– Carry forward the recommendations of the Visible Child Work Group
through the creation of a statewide plan to address the well-being of
children who have experienced homelessness. The statewide plan will
increase access to early childhood and related family support services by
children and families who have experienced homelessness.
Kindergarten Readiness
“A poll of kindergarten teachers found
that they rate knowledge of letters
and numbers as less important
readiness skills than being physically
healthy, able to communicate
verbally, curious and enthusiastic, and
able to take turns and share.”
The Future of
Children-Princeton-Brookings:
School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps
For More Information
Sharon Henry-Blythe
Family Housing Fund
Director, Visible Child Initiative
612-375-9644, ext. 19
sharon@fhfund.org
www.visiblechild.org
THE MINNESOTA INTERAGENCY COUNCIL
ON HOMELESSNESS
Cathy ten Broeke
Minnesota’s Director to Prevent and End Homelessness
Why is this important for Minnesota?
Housing stability is a platform for better educational
outcomes for our children, a stronger workforce both now
and in the future, increased public safety, better health,
reduced health care costs, and reduced disparities among
populations.
Minnesota’s Interagency Council on
Homelessness:
 Corrections
 Education
 Employment and Economic Development
 Health
 Higher Education
 Housing
 Human Rights
 Human Services
 Public Safety
 Transportation
 Veterans Affairs
 Governor’s Office
Vision: Prevent and End Homelessness for All Minnesotans
What do we mean by “ending homelessness?”
“Ending Homelessness” means that we will prevent
homelessness whenever possible and if a family or
individual does become homeless we will have a crisis
response system to assess their needs and provide them
the opportunity to quickly access stable housing.
It does not mean that no one ever again will experience
homelessness.
Levers for Change
• Increase investments in what we know works
• Reduce barriers and increase access to mainstream resources
• Improve effectiveness and targeting of existing resources
• Improve our data, both quality and access, and use it to drive
policy
• Reduce disparities through culturally responsible actions and
approaches
Can we end homelessness?
Not a question of can we,
but will we.