Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

189 Presentation EDUCATING HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH POLLY A. BROWN, Ph.D. Special Education Branch District of Columbia Public Schools McFarland Assessment Center 4400 Iowa Avenue, N. W. Washington, D.C. 20011 Recent years have brought a growing recognition that the quality of life for America's children and youth is declining. In 1989, the Children's Defense Fund measured 10 indicators considered crucial to the health and well-being of American children. The study concluded that although the United States ranks second in the world in per capita Gross National Product, its indicators of the quality of life for children do not measure among the top 10 nations.1 Federal programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Head Start, which are targeted to serve children, have been drastically cut. A recent report by the National Coalition for the Homeless reported that $3.6 billion had been slashed from AFDC funds, and in at least 41 states, the combined value of AFDC and food stamp benefits was below 75 percent of the federal poverty level.2 Increasing numbers of American children and youth face another dilemma : homelessness. The demographic profile of American homelessness is changing. Unlike in previous years, homelessness is no longer the exclusive domain of the street bum, the displaced person who is mentally ill, or the substance abuser. Approximately one-half of the nation's homeless are single men, 14 percent are single women, and 24 percent are employed, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors.3 The severely mentally ill and the substance abuser continue to represent a substantial portion (25 percent and 44 percent, respectively) of the homeless, as do minorities. In a National Coalition of the Homeless survey of emergency shelter providers, housing advocacy organizations , and local governments from 26 communities ranging from small rural areas to large urban centers, 11 communities reported that over 50 percent of Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Vol. 2, No. 1, Summer 1991 190 Educating Homeless Children and Youth their homeless were members of minority groups, most commonly AfricanAmericans . In Florida, homelessness rates among Hispanics have doubled in recentyears.4 In a U.S. Conference of Mayors survey, 46 percent of the homeless in 30 cities were black, 34 percent white, 15 percent Hispanic, and one percent Asian.3 But the nation's homeless contain increasing numbers of families with children and youth. The U.S. Conference of Mayors reports that homeless families with children and youth now make up 36 percent of the total population of homeless nationwide. Additionally, one in every four homeless Americans in our cities is a child.1 Every night, an estimated 100,000 children fall to sleep homeless, according to the Children's Defense Fund.5 Notonly are the numbers of homeless children rising, but between 1979 and 1985 the proportion of children living in poverty grew by 25 percent in all but two states—Delaware and New Hampshire.5 Living in poverty or on the brink of poverty places these children and youth at increased risk of inevitable homelessness. The prospects that homeless families with children might find affordable housing and play a more productive role in the mainstream of American life are bleak. The demand for subsidized housing units and assistance programs for the poor far exceeds supply. The U.S. Conference of Mayors reported in 1989 that requests for shelter by homeless families had increased by 89 percent in 27 cities surveyed and by an average of 29 percent since 1988.3 An average of 22 percent of requests for emergency shelter went unmet. According to a report by the Low-Income Housing Information Service, millions of families who meet the government test of need for decent, affordable housing are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty because a large portion of their income must be directed toward payment on rental units. These are the individuals referred to as the "hidden homeless," people who live but one paycheck or one family crisis away from the shelter system and the welfare hotel. These are also the families who have been forced to double up in the homes of other family members...