A Qualitative Assessment of
Homeless Families’ Experiences
in Pursuit of Preschool
Enrollment
Chuck Kieffer, Ph.D.
Cloudburst Consulting Group
National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth
Kansas City, MO -- October 28, 2014
Session Objectives
1.
Review of HUD-funded Small Research Grant on
Homeless Families, Preschool Enrollment, and
Housing Stability
2.
Exploration of key themes / findings from research
3.
Discussion of practice and policy implications
Research Context

This study was one of several small research grants
supported by HUD’s Office of Policy Development
and Research, directly linked to its major national
study on Family Housing Options

Family Options Study: The Impact of Housing and Services
Interventions on Homeless Families -- Over 2,200 homeless
families in 12 communities randomly assigned to one of four
housing treatment options (voucher, TH, rapid rehousing,
“usual care”)
Research Motivation

Over 127,000 children under age 6 counted in
homeless shelters in 2012 (AHAR)

Extensive prior research has established
importance of early childhood education for later
success/achievement

Only 16% of preschool-aged children in homeless
families are enrolled in early educational settings

National policies have not yet helped remove barriers that homeless
families face in enrolling children in early education programs
Research Significance

Little prior examination of the issues and challenges
associated with increasing participation of children from
homeless, recently homeless, or at-risk families in
preschool opportunities

Results may help inform efforts to provide the diverse
social, emotional, and instrumental supports needed to
enhance preschool participation for homeless, recently
re-housed, and/or at-risk families

Results may help in advancing systems practice and
policy that more effectively promotes both preschool
participation and housing stability
Research
Objectives
How do homeless families describe their
experience in pursuit of preschool enrollment?
What challenges and experiences do recently
homeless families face in accessing early
childhood education for preschool-aged children?
What can we learn from parental reflections on
facilitative factors and/or barriers that, as
practitioners and policy leaders, we can apply to
support increasing success in preschool
participation?
Research Design -- Targeted
Participants and Recruitment
Participant
Criteria
Participant
Recruitment
• Households currently enrolled in the national
Family Options Study with preschool- aged children
at the time of study
• 2 geographic sites (Atlanta, GA & New
Haven/Bridgeport, Connecticut)
• Round 1 – Multiple mailings to eligible
participants by Family Options Study lead entity
• Round 2 – Active follow up phone calls, emails,
and mailings by research team
• Provision of gift certificates for local food/
department stores as incentive, at time of
interview
Research Design -- Data Collection
Procedures
•
•
•
•
Round 1: Focus groups and individual interviews
Round 2: In-depth individual follow-up interviews
Environmental scan and assessment
Analysis of Family Options Study baseline data
Data
Collection
Methods and
Measures
• Open ended discussion framework
• Semi-structured focus group and interview guides
• Semi-structured follow-up interview guides
Research Design -- Data Analysis
and Reporting
Data Analysis
Methods
• Modified “Grounded Theory” Approach
• Iterative Coding / Analysis of Key Themes
Data
Reporting
• Non-quantitative reporting on key themes
• Inclusion of illustrative excerpts
Where We Are Now in the Research Process
Literature Review and
Study Design
Data Collection:
Round 1
Initial Data Analysis:
Round 1
and
Environmental Scan
Report-Writing and
Dissemination
Full Data Analysis
Data Collection:
Round 2
Demographic Descriptors of Study Participants
Demographic Variable
Gender
Female
Male
Race
African American
Caucasian
American Indian
Unknown
Age
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
Marital Status
Married
Single-Never Married
Separated or Divorced
Highest Education Completed
Less than grade 12
High school diploma or GED
Some college, Associate Degree, Technical Certificate
Bachelor Degree
Housing Status (immediately prior to entering shelter and enrolling
in Family Options Study)
Staying in a house or apartment paying rent
Staying with a friend or relative and not paying rent
Transitional housing program
Paying to stay in a hotel
Domestic violence shelter
Emergency Shelter
Living in a vehicle
Financial Information
Received Food Stamps
Enrolled in WIC
Enrolled in Medicaid
Enrolled in the state children’s health insurance program
Frequency
Percentage
27
1
96%
04%
22
2
3
1
79%
07%
10%
04%
15
6
6
1
54%
21%
21%
04%
1
19
8
04%
68%
28%
14
5
8
1
50%
18%
28%
04%
16
5
1
2
1
2
1
56%
18%
04%
07%
04%
07%
04%
28
20
22
14
100%
71%
79%
50%
Results: Major Themes Emerging from
Parental Reflections and Dialogue
Parental Perspectives
on Early Learning
and the Preschool
Environment
Parental Views on
Preschool Attributes
and Other
Motivating Factors
Impact of Housing
Stability on
Preschool
Enrollment
Barriers to
Preschool
Enrollment and
Participation
Factors that
Facilitate Access to
Preschool
Role of Homeless
Programs in Support
of Preschool Search
and Selection
Parental Perspectives on Early Learning
and the Preschool Environment

Over 60% of parents had enrolled children in a preschool or
Head Start program

Most were relatively happy with children’s preschool settings

“I need to make sure that my kids were learning. I want them to be
exposed to the field trips, which they do two a month at Head Start . . .
The learning process is in itself - them learning, like me being able to
witness and see through the work that they sent home, that he was writing
spelling words, and learning words and knowing how to add, subtract.”
(Camara, age 35)

“What I liked most about it was (the) teacher, herself, because I could
trust her . . . she would just let me know when (my son) needed to get
back on track and when he needed some extra discipline at home”.
(Madison, age 41)
Parental Perspectives on Early Learning and
the Preschool Environment

Parents reflected a notably high level of investment in the
quality of learning in the preschool environment

“I liked how they took care of their students. And there was really a lot
of one on one with the kids...I [liked] how the teachers interacted with
the kids.” (Riley, age 26)

“Make sure that they have a record of actually doing something with
the kids. …look at the education. What do they teach them? What’s
their curriculum for the day?” (Naomi, age 23)

“I just want [my kids] to...know that education's important.” (Aria, age
42)
Parental Perspectives on Early Learning
and the Preschool Environment

Participants widely felt that preschool was important in
assisting their children in achieving positive transitions to
kindergarten and later learning

“I really do see a big part of it playing in my kids' lives, because I do it
here and then they go to school and learn the same things that I'm
teaching them…so I see a difference with kids that don't go to Pre-K
and kids that do go to Pre-K.” (Brooklyn, age 27)

“She’s never been to preschool. She just – she was put in
kindergarten… [which] she had to repeat because she didn’t have that
preschool experience. So this is her second year in kindergarten,
hopefully not her third.” (Zoe, age 23)
Parental Perspectives on Early Learning
and the Preschool Environment

Parental reports of dissatisfaction with preschool choice
were, in several cases, linked to visible absence of
emphasis on learning

“I felt like she was getting more over the weekends here at home as
opposed to five days there. I didn't feel like -- like I would ask her what
did you do today? Oh, ‘We played, and we painted, and we took a nap,
and we ate lunch, and we came home’ . . . I don't see how any of the
kids took away a lot from last year in the Pre-K with them. (Addison,
age 26).
Parental Perspectives on Early Learning
and the Preschool Environment

Parental reports of satisfaction with preschool choice
linked to experience of support from preschool staff

“It felt like they needed to be around other people to maybe get
something they weren't getting from me . . . And with the daycare
that I'm at now, I really feel I get that. They supported me for
Thanksgiving. They've supported me for Christmas. They've just
been a stand-by-me team from [the time I was] moving into the
shelter [providing me with social support and resources]. (Brooklyn,
age 27)
Preschool Attributes and Other
Motivating Factors in Preschool Choice

Parental priorities when selecting preschool included:







Location and Proximity to Home
Availability/Accessibility of Transportation
Educational Quality of Settings
Costs and Availability of Subsidy
Sense of Safety and Security
Availability of Extended Hours
Location and Proximity to Work
Preschool Attributes and Other Motivating
Factors in Preschool Choice

Importance of support for participation in workforce


“So really it was just I needed her to be somewhere so I could look
for work and get things done. So that's really why I put her in
preschool” (Tiffany, age 23).
“I wanted her to be in school because I knew I had to get a job”
(Riley, age 26)
Impact of Housing Stability on
Preschool Enrollment

For many parents, frequent moves meant switching preschools and
having to go through the search and enrollment process again

Some parents made an effort to keep their child[ren] in the same
school throughout residential moves – even if traveling long distances

Only a few parents made housing choices based on availability of
preschool


“ I found out about the school before I found out about the house. . . Wherever they
started that’s where I wanted to keep him. So I wanted to keep him in that school. . . I
wanted to live in an area that’s very close [to that school] and that I wouldn’t have to
drive a long ways.” (Khloe, age 40)
Most parents – understandably -- made locating housing their priority
and focused on preschool after that had been accomplished

“Being in between shelters and everything else . . . I wasn’t really thinking about preschool.
I was thinking about finding a house . . . A home for us” (Zoe, age 23)
Parent-Identified Barriers to Preschool
Enrollment

Long waiting lists delayed opportunity

Complicated processes for enrolling and/or accessing open
slots (e.g., lotteries, waiting lists, etc.)


“They keep you on the waiting list up until they do the lottery over, and
then once they do it over, even if you’re like number two and you didn’t
get in, you have to reapply all over again” (Tiffany, Age 23)
Transience complicated challenges of timing of program
entry
Parent-Identified Barriers to Preschool
Enrollment

Insufficient numbers of available subsidized slots – complicated
by issues of location of settings where slots were available or
desired


“[My daughter] loved the school. She came home excited every time.
I liked, you know, the teachers were very nice. I liked the way they
teach them. How everything went, it was just really nice. So the only
thing was, it was very far. So it was just me having to catch a bus and
then still walk down a long hill and around the corner just to get her to
school every day. But I really wanted her to go there. (Naomi, age 23)
Need for access to transportation for sites with available slots
Parent-Identified Barriers to Preschool
Enrollment

Absence of quality of information shared and/or outreach by
early education providers


“They [elementary school] have Pre-K slots but you have to [know
about them] . . . And the only way you would know is if you call the
school, because of course they don’t send no information home.”
(Kaylee, Age 29)
Preschool programs unresponsive or inaccessible to contact

“Basically either the information was outdated, or it wasn’t for a
particular area, or you didn’t meet a qualification for this or that.
Everything was a runaround” (Tracy, age 26)
Parent-Identified Barriers to Preschool
Enrollment

Participants reported receiving little support from homeless
service providers and shelters -- needing to locate preschool
on their own

Lack of support from extended family networks

little help with logistics of transportation and/or access to service
Facilitative Factors Assisting in
Preschool Enrollment

Personal qualities of persistence and strength of personal
commitment to identifying high quality educational
programming


“It's all about what you do. You got all your paperwork, and right there
you talk to the people...so you go in. You try and do business.You got all
your documentation, as far as birth certificates, social security, income
tax, lease—all that—they're gonna get you in that day. They would
rather work with people that got their stuff together than half of it.”
(Camara, age 35)
When asked what advice they would provide to others in a
similar situation, participants responded with a consistent
theme -- be persistent, do the research, pull your own
documentation together, visit schools before enrolling, and
don’t give up.
Facilitative Factors Assisting in
Preschool Enrollment

Geographic proximity of the school of choice to home location,
and subsequent absence of difficulty with transportation

Co-location of Pre-K (either with daycare for younger children
or with primary school for older children)

“They were in daycare, but that daycare was, kind of, transitional. So by
them having a Georgia Lotto Program already in that particular daycare
[site] that I was sending them to, as [my child] turned three – they just
bumped him right into it.” (Tracy, age 23)

Access to accurate/updated resources directories

Access to centralized waiting lists and referral systems

“It…shows you what’s available . . . They tell you, like, what schools are
available . . . They help you with Care for Kids. They help you with a lot of
things” (Avery, age 21)
Role of Homeless Programs and Services
in Supporting Preschool Pursuit

Few parents reported receiving any meaningful support
from homeless programs or service providers regarding
preschool placement opportunities for their children


Homeless Service Providers that did provide information on
preschool often provided information on programs in the
immediate vicinity of the shelter
Only one participant reported that accessing preschool
was discussed as part of their case management plan
Role of Homeless Programs and Services in
Supporting Preschool Pursuit

Striking absence of reference to Head Start outreach by
study participants

Few parents could articulate the differences between Head
Start and Pre-K

Virtually no outreach regarding early childhood education
attributed to McKinney-Vento Education Liaisons

Virtually no outreach by other early childhood programs
Implications for Policy and Practice

Integrate more thoughtful attention to preschool
access in shelter case management protocols

Increase shelter in-reach and /or consumer outreach
focused on early childhood opportunities:



Head Start and other early childhood providers
McKinney-Vento liaisons
Cultivate use of peer-to-peer supports in information
sharing
Implications for Policy and Practice

Increase investment in building consumer knowledge/
awareness of preschool options, opportunities, and
requirements for enrollment

Increase systems’ knowledge of consumer need via
expanded data development and data sharing strategies
Implications for Policy and Practice

Increase collaborative partnerships between homeless
service providers and educators


Mobilize cross-systems strategies for minimizing barriers to
preschool enrollment
Address systemic barriers to preschool enrollment (e.g.,
increase transportation support, access to subsidies, and
preferences/set-asides for limited slots)


Increase use of homeless preferences in state and federally funded
early childhood initiatives (e.g., CCDF slots, Preschool Development
slots, IDEA Part C, MIECHV)
Develop and provide technical assistance /training for early
childhood providers on needs of homeless families and importance
of increasing accessibility of systemic supports and resources
Implications for Policy and Practice

Develop strategies that help reduce the impact of housing
mobility



Porting of subsidy slots
Post-shelter follow-up
Provide information on resources in “new” housing locations

Include early childhood providers as participants in
community-wide coordinated assessment and intake strategies

Increase participation of early childhood providers as partners
in community planning
Discussion and Questions

Audience Reflections on Results

Audience Reflections on Recommendations for Response
Contact Information
Chuck Kieffer
Cloudburst Consulting Group
8400 Corporate Drive -- Suite 550
Landover, MD 20785
chuck.kieffer@cloudburstgroup.com
Please Note: The study reported on in this presentation was supported by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and
Research (Grant # H-21616RG)