Poverty, Homelessness and Inequity: The Children in Our Care

1. Poverty, Homelessness and Inequity: The Children in Our Care Corie Davis, Poverty and Homelessness Content Coach, WECCP Bridget Mouchon Family Living Agent, Green County UW-Extension

2. “In America, we believe that fate is not fixed by the circumstances of birth. The surest guarantor of this ideal is educational opportunity—the birthright of each and every child. For so many children today, and many more to come, these American values are made hollow by our failure to ensure equity and excellence throughout our system of public education. For each child, only health and the love of family are more important. Our nation as a whole faces few challenges so critical or so fundamental; the achievement gaps we have described’ weaken the country internationally, economically and morally.” US Department of Education, Excellence and Equity Commission, February, 2013

3. Outline • Poverty • Homelessness • Inequity • Interventions and Strategies

4. Poverty “Poverty is now the crisis of our times, demanding redress…poverty relentlessly maps the pathways of childhood, shaping the terrain of diminished possibilities and eroding human capabilities.” Defending Childhood, pp. 92-93

5. Poverty “Poverty” is a word that evokes many different meanings. • Sit with this word a few moments. Write down some first impressions and thoughts.

6. Poverty Poverty Poverty and low socioeconomic status is related to a range of negative child outcomes: • Greater risk of academic failure, lower educational attainment and achievement • More likely to be suspended from school and/or drop out of school than are middle-income students • Higher likelihood of developing social-emotional problems. • Delinquency and alcohol or drug problems

7. Poverty More likely to face certain “obstacles” to academic success: • Homelessness • Foster care, or being in the child welfare system • Being a victim of abuse, neglect, or witnessing domestic violence • Parents with mental health and/or AODA issues

8. Poverty • Since 1974, no age group has had a higher percentage of people living in poverty than children. • Currently more than one in five children (22%) in the United States lives in a family whose income falls below the federal poverty line. • Federal poverty level: Family of 4 = $23,050; Family of 3 = $19,090 First Focus, “Child Poverty during the Great Recession: Predicting State Child Poverty Rates for 2010.”

9. Life at the Poverty Line http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid506929354001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAdgye3dk~,p0Zv3iru3vLtuHJC18uO4sBMTKhhmskf&bctid=1427461935001 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

10. Homelessness and Housing Instability “A review of a well-established body of research on childhood homelessness reveals a profound and cumulative negative effect on the development of children, leading many to repeat the cycle of homelessness as adults. “ From Homelessness and Its Effects on Children, Family Housing Fund National Center for Homeless Education • www.serve.org/nche

11. The McKinney Vento Act Who is Homeless? Those lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Sharing the housing of others due to a loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reason Living in domestic violence, emergency, or transitional shelters Living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to a lack of alternative accommodations Awaiting foster care placement Living in a public or private place not designed for sleeping - such as cars, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train station stations, etc

12. Preschool Children and the McKinney-Vento Act • “Section 721. Statement of Policy. Each state educational agency shall ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youths.” • “Section 722.(g)(6) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY LIAISON (iii) homeless families, children, and youth receive education services for which such families, children and youth are eligible, including Head Start and Even Start programs and preschool programs administered by the local educational agency, and referrals to health care services, dental services, mental health services, and other appropriate services.”

13. Opening Doors for the Homeless Young Child • Coordinate identification and enrollment • Include homeless families in Child Find process. • Enroll in the district’s preschool program. • Follow “best interest” provisions. • Provide the assistance and supports needed for success.

14. Opening Doors for the Homeless Young Child • Partner with school staff and community agencies to: • inform them of the educational rights of preschool children develop “Release of Information Agreements’ for reciprocal referrals. • Eliminate barriers to enrollment and participation. • Provide information about community programs to assist families with basic needs.

15. Know Who Your Partners Are • Homeless Liaison • Front Office Staff • Child Find • Head Start • Early Head Start • Continuum of Care

16. Homelessness inhibits the physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioral development of children. • Obstacles to Healthy Pregnancy • Significant delays by 18 Months • 75% • one major delay • 40% • two or more major delays • By ages 3-6 National Center for Homeless Education • www.serve.org/nche

17. Interactive Homeless Lessons Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

18. Homelessness and Housing Instability http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK_RnxYdrqU

19. Inequity “The downward distribution of human costs disproportionately affects children, and paradoxically, the youngest of us endure the worst of the damage.” Defending Childhood, p. 90

21. Income levels dropping for “bottom half” of Wisconsin workforce.

22. What’s Wrong With This Picture? Percentage of children (0-17 years) in households with equivalent income less than 50% of the median Percentage of working-age households with children without an employed parent

23. Inequity “The immense resources which the nation does in fact possess go not to the child in greatest need but to the child of the highest bidder.” Defending Childhood, p. 100

24. Child Well-Being: How the U.S. Compares Among 24Developed Countries Studied* *UNICEF Report Card on of the lives and well-being of children in the economically advanced nations, 2010

25. Child Well-Being: How the U.S. Compares in Spending

26. The achievement gap is in essence a gap in opportunity, a gap that begins in the earliest years. • Fact: • Socio-economic status accounts for more differences …in language, vocabulary, and other academic skills than any other factor by far, including race and ethnicity. • Fact: • Before even entering kindergarten, children in the highest income level score more than two-thirds higher on standardized measures of language and early literacy skills than children in the lowest income group. “Starting Early to Close the Achievement Gap” OUNCE OF PREVENTION FUND

27. The achievement gap is in essence a gap in opportunity, a gap that begins in the earliest years. • Fact: • Low-income children are much more likely than their more advantaged peers to enter lower-quality schools. • Fact: • The effect of poverty persists: 9-year-olds in low-income areas are, on average, 3 grade levels below 9 • Year olds in high-income areas in math and reading ability, and are 7 times less likely to graduate from college • Than children in high-income areas. “Starting Early to Close the Achievement Gap” OUNCE OF PREVENTION FUND

28. The achievement gap is in essence a gap in opportunity, a gap that begins in the earliest years. • The Good News: • For at-risk children who enter school with the academic and social-emotional skills they need to succeed, positive academic performance can be as persistent an outcome as the increasingly poor performance oftheir ill-prepared peers. “Starting Early to Close the Achievement Gap” OUNCE OF PREVENTION FUND

29. Income Level and Unequal Access to Resources • Safe and decent housing, • Safe, resource rich neighborhoods • Nutritious meals, access to food • Quality childcare and schools • Parents’ educational level and home environment • Other opportunities, e.g. extra-curricular activities, lessons, school/family trips All of these are important factors in child development and school success.

30. Toxic stress and children’s neurology • http://developingchild.harvard.edu/ • Center on the Developing Child - Harvard University: Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development

31. Interventions and Strategies Brain Hero!

32. Interventions and Strategies from an Ecological Systems Model http://impactofspecialneeds.weebly.com/bronfenbrennerrsquos-ecological-systems-theory.html

33. Policy and Culture Shift

34. Ecological Theories: Starting Big, Impacting the Little Outer Circle: • Attitudes and Cultural Beliefs about the Causes of Poverty and Low-resource families • Public Education Funding • Economic Support (Social Welfare) Policies and Funding • E.g. Medicaid, Food Share, Child care and housing subsidies • Income and resource distribution

35. Policy and Culture Recommendations • Equitable or even progressive funding for schools and school districts, attracting well-prepared teachers, inlcuding pre-school and 4K • Appropriate funding of economic supports, to help low-wage-earning families meet their needs for housing, food, and medical care.

36. Community Level Interventions and Strategies

37. How do neighborhoods impact kids? • Peer influences • Stress: Physical toxins and Socio-psychological toxins like community violence • Social Cohesion: Role models, connections, and value consensus which help control problem behaviors • Institutions: Schools, police protection, etc. Neurons to Neighborhoods, p. 330

38. Neighborhoods and Social Support • Neighborhoods high in poverty tend to be segregated from other parts of the community – physically and/or socially - and have low levels of community and child involvement • While this tends to be true, low-income neighborhoods with high social cohesiveness provide a buffer and a positive environment for children’s development and school success. • P. 67, Defending Childhood

39. Community Shift • Initiatives in the community to reach out to adults and youth • Silver Lining Project • Shanty Town • Poverty Simulations

40. Home and Family

41. Economic Instability • Income is less stable, jobs are not secure and wages may not be regular • Housing instability – more frequent and often unplanned moves, homelessness • Inconsistent access to basic needs resources, including food, personal products, clothing, transportation • Consistency of care arrangements, school enrollment and attendance

42. Home Environment • Parent and family stresses associated with poverty, income/housing/resource instability. • Parenting behaviors • parental depressed mood; • lower levels of warmth, nurturance, and monitoring of children • more anger and conflict due to levels of stress

43. Parent-Child Relationship and Attachment • A securely attached infant is able to learn how to regulate her emotions. • A child able to regulate her emotions can focus attention on learning about the world around her. • A child focused on learning is set for achievement, academically and in life. • Emotion • Attention • Learning “Starting Early to Close the Achievement Gap” OUNCE OF PREVENTION FUND

44. Children’s expectations for success, parents as “expectancy socializers” • Parents who model achievement-oriented behavior • (e.g., obtaining advanced degrees; reading frequently; encouraging a strong work ethic) • Provide achievement-oriented opportunities • (e.g., library and museum trips; after-school enrichment programs; educational books and videos) • More highly educated parents tend to actively encourage their children to develop high expectations of their own. • Parents who experience difficult economic times have children who are more pessimistic about their educational and vocational futures.

45. Home-School Relationships Recommendations

46. The Equity and Excellence Commission – Report to The Secretary “If we know anything about learning, it is that the years from birth to age 5 are crucial in every child’s life. Nowhere is achieving educational equity more important than at the earliest stages of a child’s physical and cognitive development. “ “Changing the paradigm is a national imperative. “

47. Providers and Teachers in the Classroom • “…early childhood care and education is more than preparation for transition to formal schooling. It places early childhood policies within a broader context of social development including: gender, equity and poverty. It requires an integrated approach to early childhood care, development and learning.* • We envision … a public education system that embraces the fact that learning begins at birth and eradicates the achievement gap via widely available, high-quality early learning environments. * The United States is one of two UN countries that have no clause for child rights. UNESCO’s World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education, September 2010

48. The Equity and Excellence Commission – Report to The Secretary • Research is also clear on the characteristics of high-quality early learning programs. Highly effective teachers with specialized training in early childhood teaching get better results. • Preschool students benefit from intentional teaching focused on specific learning goals and academic content, and from deep learning opportunities through discovery and social interaction.

49. The Equity and Excellence Commission – Report to The Secretary Parent Engagement and Education • Families play critical roles in their children’s cognitive, social and emotional development from birth through adolescence, • Family engagement is one of the strongest predictors of children’s school success. • Parents know they have a responsibility to be involved in their children’s lives. • Schools and communities have an obligation to support that engagement. • We must shift the paradigm of opportunity to allow all parents to play a meaningful role in the lives of their children and school governance - accommodating for parents with no transportation, working multiple jobs or speaking a language other than English.

50. Imagine the possibilities…… • Two images of the possibilities/opportunities • Two images of best practice