Supporting Children Who Are Homeless & Highly Mobile

And homeless near a thousand homes I stood,And near a thousand tables pined and wanted food”

-William Wordsworth

Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness

1.3 million children are homeless in the course of a year 40% of the nation's homeless population are made up from families with young children 42% of homeless children are under 5 years of age

15% of those are enrolled in pre-school

•Families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.•More than 85% of homeless families are headed by single mothers.•The average homeless family is comprised of a young mother and her two young children, most of whom are below the age of 6 years.•Children who are homeless & highly mobile face problems enrolling and participating in school because they move frequently.

Families Experiencing Homelessness

Definitions of Homeless Children and YouthLack fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residenceLack fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence

Share housing (due to loss or hardship) Share housing (due to loss or hardship)

Live in hotels, motels, trailer homes, campgrounds, Live in hotels, motels, trailer homes, campgrounds, emergency or transitional shelters, abandoned in emergency or transitional shelters, abandoned in hospitals, awaiting foster carehospitals, awaiting foster care

Primary nighttime residence not designed or ordinarily Primary nighttime residence not designed or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodationused as a regular sleeping accommodation

Definitions of Homeless Children and YouthLive in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, Live in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,

substandard housing, bus, or train stationssubstandard housing, bus, or train stations

Unaccompanied youth (youth not in the physical custody Unaccompanied youth (youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian)of a parent or guardian)

Migrant children who qualify as homeless because of Migrant children who qualify as homeless because of their living situationtheir living situation

What has been your personal experience?

Share a story about a family you have known that was in a homeless or highly mobile situation.

Supporting Children Who Are Homeless & Highly Mobile

Early IdentificationEarly IdentificationTimely EnrollmentTimely EnrollmentEducational Stability & Educational Stability & ContinuityContinuityFamily InvolvementFamily Involvement

Reducing Barriers for Families Experiencing Homelessness

•Form partnerships with community agencies •Network with child care and preschool programs •Build relationships with school district homeless liaisons •Maintain open channels of communication with existing families

Early Identification

Enrollment Solutions

Priority status in order Priority status in order to begin services as early to begin services as early as possibleas possible

Right to enroll without Right to enroll without birth certificate or birth certificate or immunization records immunization records

Educational Stability & Continuity

Transportation to shelters Transportation to shelters and transitional living and transitional living facilitiesfacilities

Right to attend the same Right to attend the same program for the program for the entire entire duration of homelessnessduration of homelessness

Family Involvement

Parents and guardians need to be Parents and guardians need to be provided with meaningful opportunities to provided with meaningful opportunities to

participate in the education of their participate in the education of their children.children.

Fully inform parents and guardians of…Fully inform parents and guardians of…

enrollment options and eligibility requirementsenrollment options and eligibility requirements

options for transporting their childrenoptions for transporting their children

options for service deliveryoptions for service delivery

identifying their child’s strengths and needs identifying their child’s strengths and needs Initial Assessment & ScreeningInitial Assessment & ScreeningSetting Curriculum GoalsSetting Curriculum GoalsProgress Monitoring & Frequent FeedbackProgress Monitoring & Frequent Feedback

Parental Options and Involvement

WMELS provide a common language and guidance for families, professionals, and policy makers around early childhood education and care.

WMELS draws attention to all the domains of a child’s learning and development.

The following slides briefly review all of the developmental domains and the performance standards that correlate to them.

Consider the standards in the context of the homeless child.

Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards

Reducing Barriers to Children’s Success

• Physical Health &Physical Health & DevelopmentDevelopment• Social/Emotional Social/Emotional DevelopmentDevelopment• Language &Language & CommunicationCommunication• Approaches to Approaches to LearningLearning• Cognition & GeneralCognition & General KnowledgeKnowledge

                      

•Nutrition, clothing, and shelter may be Nutrition, clothing, and shelter may be inadequate. inadequate.

•Living arrangements make it difficult to get Living arrangements make it difficult to get enough sleep and exercise. enough sleep and exercise.

•Children often have poor health and Children often have poor health and insufficient medical care. insufficient medical care.

Developmental Barriers:Physical Health & DevelopmentPhysical Health & Development

Considering each of the following Performance Standards, share some possible strategies that

support children’s physical health and

development.

Physical Health and Development

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

A.EL.1a Demonstrates behaviors to meet self-help and physical needs.

Sleep

A.EL.1b Demonstrates behaviors to meet self-help and physical needs.

Dressing

A.EL.1c Demonstrates behaviors to meet self-help and physical needs.

Toileting

A.EL.1d Demonstrates behaviors to meet self-help and physical needs.

Eating

A.EL. 2 Demonstrates behaviors to meet safety needs.

A.EL. 3 Demonstrates a healthy life style.

Physical Health and Development

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

B.EL.1a Moves with strength, control, balance, coordination, locomotion, and endurance.

Purpose and Coordination

B.EL.1b Moves with strength, control, balance, coordination, locomotion, and endurance.

Balance and Strength

B.EL. 2 Exhibits eye-hand coordination strength, control, and object manipulation

Motor Development

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

C.EL. 1 Uses senses to take in, experience, integrate, and regulate responses to the environment.

Sensory Organization

Developmental Barriers:Emotional DevelopmentEmotional Development

Every day children Every day children who are homeless who are homeless or highly mobile or highly mobile are confronted are confronted with stressful, with stressful, often traumatic often traumatic events.events.

Considering the following Performance Standards, share possible strategies that support children’s social and emotional

development.

Emotional Development

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

A.EL. 1 Expresses a wide range of emotions.

A.EL. 2 Understands and responds to others’ emotions.

Emotional Development

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

B.EL. 1 Develops positive self-esteem.

B.EL. 2 Demonstrates self-awareness.

Self-Concept

Developmental Barriers:Social Development

Children in Children in homeless situations homeless situations often lack positive often lack positive relationships with relationships with adults & peers. adults & peers. High mobility High mobility makes it difficult to makes it difficult to form friendships.form friendships.

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

C.EL. 1 Demonstrates attachment, trust, and autonomy.

C.EL. 2 Engages in social interaction and plays with others.

C.EL. 3 Demonstrates understanding of rules and social expectations.

C.EL. 4 Engages in social problem solving behavior and learns to

resolve conflict.

Social Competence

Children may be Children may be exposed to a limited exposed to a limited vocabulary and vocabulary and primarily “casual primarily “casual register” form of register” form of speech. Their speech. Their experience hearing experience hearing and using “formal and using “formal register” may be register” may be very infrequent.very infrequent.

Developmental Barriers:Language and Communication

Considering the following Performance Standards, share possible strategies that support children’s

language and communication development.

Language and Communication

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

A.EL.1 Derives meaning through listening to communications of

others and sounds in the environment.

A.EL.2 Listens and responds to communications with others.

A.EL.3 Follows directions of increasing complexity.

Listening and Understanding

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

B.EL.1 Uses gestures and movements (non-verbal) to communicate.

B.EL. 2a Uses vocalizations and spoken language to communicate.

Language Form (Syntax: rule system for combining words,

phrases, and sentences, includes parts of speech, word order, and

sentence structure)

B.EL. 2b Uses vocalizations and spoken language to communicate.

Language Content (Semantics: rule system for establishing meaning of words, individually and in combination)

B.EL. 2c Uses vocalizations and spoken language to communicate.

Language Function (Pragmatics: rules governing the use of

language in context)

Speaking and Communicating

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

C.EL. 1 Shows an appreciation of books and understands how print

works.

C.EL. 2 Develops alphabetic awareness.

C.EL. 3a Develops phonological awareness.

C.EL. 3b Develops phonemic awareness.

C.EL. 4 Demonstrates the use of strategies to read words.

C.EL. 5 Uses writing to represent thoughts or ideas.

Early Literacy

Children Children experiencing experiencing homelessness often homelessness often lack the skills that lack the skills that help them to learn. help them to learn. Children may be so Children may be so overwhelmed by all overwhelmed by all the stimuli in their the stimuli in their environment that environment that they find it difficult to they find it difficult to focus.focus.

Developmental Barriers:Approaches to Learning

Consider the following Performance Standards and brainstorm possible

strategies to support approaches to learning.

Approaches to Learning

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

A.EL. 1 Displays curiosity, risk-taking and willingness to engage in

new experiences.

A.EL. 2 Engages in meaningful learning through attempting, repeating, experimenting, refining and elaborating on experiences

and activities.

A. EL.3 Exhibits persistence and flexibility.

Curiosity, Engagement and Persistence

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

B. EL. 1 Engages in imaginative play and inventive thinking

through interactions with people, materials and the environment.

B. EL. 2 Expresses self creatively through music, movement and art.

Creativity and Imagination

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

C.EL. 1 Experiences a variety of routines, practices and languages.

C.EL. 2 Learns within the context of his/her family and culture.

C.EL. 3 Uses various styles of learning including verbal/linguistic, bodily/kinesthetic, visual/spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.

Diversity in Learning

Developmental Barriers:Cognitive Skills

Children who are Children who are highly mobile may highly mobile may experience experience cognitive delays cognitive delays and lack the and lack the academic skills academic skills that other that other children their age children their age have acquired.have acquired.

Consider the following Performance

Standards and brainstorm strategies to support cognitive

development.

Cognition and General Knowledge

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

A. EL. 1 Uses multi-sensory abilities to process information.

A. EL. 2 Understands new meanings as memory increases.

A. EL. 3 Applies problem solving skills.

Exploration, Discovery and Problem Solving

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

B. EL. 1 Demonstrates an understanding of numbers and counting.

B. EL. 2 Understands number operations and relationships.

B. EL. 3 Explores, recognizes and describes, shapes and spatial relationships.

B. EL. 4 Uses the attributes of objects for comparison and patterning.

B. EL. 5 Understands the concept of measurement.

B. EL. 6 Collects, describes and records information using all senses.

Mathematical Thinking

Performance Standard

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

C. EL.1 Uses observation to gather information.

C. EL.2 Use tools to gather information, compare observed objects, and seek answers to questions through active investigation.

C. EL.3 Hypothesizes and makes predictions.

C. EL.4 Forms explanations based on trial and error, observations, and explorations.

Scientific Thinking

Special Education Special Education

Medical HomeMedical Home

Mental Health Services Mental Health Services

Dental Health CareDental Health Care

Even StartEven Start

Programs for Dual Language LearnersPrograms for Dual Language Learners

Access to Special Programs and Services

Provide opportunities to Provide opportunities to access… access…

Lara Kain

Lara.Kain@dpi.wi.gov

Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program

P.O. Box 7841

Madison, WI 53707-7841

http://dpi.wi.gov/homeless/

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE)

Diana Bowman, DirectorDiana Bowman, Director

Helpline: 1-800-308-2145 Helpline: 1-800-308-2145 Email: Email: homeless@serve.org

http://www.serve.org/nchehttp://www.serve.org/nche

U.S. Department of Education

McKinney-Vento Program McKinney-Vento Program

www.ed.gov/OFFICES/CEPwww.ed.gov/OFFICES/CEP

Contact Information

National Coalition for the HomelessNational Coalition for the Homelesswww.nationalhomeless.org

National Law Center for Homelessness and PovertyNational Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty www.nlchp.org

National Association of the Education of Homeless National Association of the Education of Homeless Children and YouthChildren and Youth

www.naehcy.org

Additional Organizations

Supporting Children Who are Homeless and Highly

Mobile