University of Kentucky

Children in Housing Distress: An Examination of Education

Institution

University of Kentucky

Abstract

The number of homeless children has risen significantly in recent years. For many children, homelessness is neither a singular nor brief experience and can cause emotional and educational setbacks that can permanently put them off-track for success. Adequate education is needed in order to end the cycle of poverty. The project, which is part of an ethnographic study involving 86 homeless families in Kentucky, examines the lives of homeless children and the effects of homelessness on children's education. Eighty-six (86) mothers and eighteen (18) fathers were interviewed using a semi-structured format making the total number of interviews 102. In addition to answering questions about their lives growing up and what contributed to their homelessness, the parents were asked about the well-being of their respective child(ren), for example, the effects of moving on their education. Current research regarding the effects of homelessness on children and educational challenges was also reviewed in an effort to place these findings within a natural setting. This work discusses the educational setbacks faced by homeless children, the causes of such problems (e.g. residency requirements, guardianship requirements, lack of immunization records), and implications for policy reform. The McKinney Act was established in order to provide homeless children with rights to an education equal to their permanently housed peers. However, many barriers to the success of homeless children in school still exist. The results of this study, in the form of anecdotal accounts and data tables, provide evidence for addressing these reforms.

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Children in Housing Distress: An Examination of Education

The number of homeless children has risen significantly in recent years. For many children, homelessness is neither a singular nor brief experience and can cause emotional and educational setbacks that can permanently put them off-track for success. Adequate education is needed in order to end the cycle of poverty. The project, which is part of an ethnographic study involving 86 homeless families in Kentucky, examines the lives of homeless children and the effects of homelessness on children's education. Eighty-six (86) mothers and eighteen (18) fathers were interviewed using a semi-structured format making the total number of interviews 102. In addition to answering questions about their lives growing up and what contributed to their homelessness, the parents were asked about the well-being of their respective child(ren), for example, the effects of moving on their education. Current research regarding the effects of homelessness on children and educational challenges was also reviewed in an effort to place these findings within a natural setting. This work discusses the educational setbacks faced by homeless children, the causes of such problems (e.g. residency requirements, guardianship requirements, lack of immunization records), and implications for policy reform. The McKinney Act was established in order to provide homeless children with rights to an education equal to their permanently housed peers. However, many barriers to the success of homeless children in school still exist. The results of this study, in the form of anecdotal accounts and data tables, provide evidence for addressing these reforms.