Table of Contents Homelessness and Children Problem Description Statistics Real Life Example Conclusion Works Cited Homelessness and Children Homelessness is a person who lacks housing. For example, living in shelters, temporary housing (with family or friends), living on the street, in abandoned buildings, in a vehicle, children waiting for foster care, a person or family who has received a eviction notice ordering him to leave within 14 days, any unstable and non-permanent situation. I will explore the effects of homelessness on children. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Description of the Problem Many children in the United States face the trauma of homelessness. Homelessness is defined as a person who does not have a fixed, regular and adequate place to stay at night. This vulnerable population is often overlooked, but is actually at high risk for future problems. “A homeless child is at high risk of malnutrition, mental health disorders, and poor academic performance, among other developmental and social problems. » (Canfield, 2014, p. 165) The population of homeless children is very vulnerable because they are at a great disadvantage compared to their housed peers. The biggest disadvantage of homeless children is their lack of education. By the time homeless children reach school age, their homelessness affects their social, physical, and academic lives. These children face unstable living conditions, transportation issues, problems with proof of residency, health insurance, and a lack of funds. You may wonder why the education of homeless children is affected. These children face unexpected school changes, resulting in low attendance and causing them to fall behind their peers. Often, when children fall behind academically, they become self-conscious and stop trying in class or don't go to school at all. Due to their lack of education, they may be misdiagnosed with mental disorders. When in reality, these homeless children lack the attention, affection and attachment they need. They become accustomed to constantly moving from place to place and tend to be alienated from everything around them. In the absence of normalcy, homeless children are exposed to far more than their housed peers, leading to child delays. “Homeless children are at risk for developmental delays, particularly in language functioning, and social-emotional problems. (Haskett, Armstrong, & Tisdale, 2016, p. 123)During the developmental phase of the elementary years (ages 8-12), homeless children face many challenges. Homeless children's social skills, attachment skills, and learning abilities are affected. At this age, they are too young to fully understand, leading to emotional distress. Families facing poverty, violence, or income inequality cannot interact with their children the way families in welfare housing can. Their social skills are compromised because they are constantly moving, whether between shelters, family homes or from apartment to apartment. Due to their constant travel, they have little interaction with caregivers, other children, teachers or social workers. Their attachment to people loosens with the constant environment of strangers. I think school should be their safe zone, but even at school,children remain distant. Often, “homeless children do not want to seek services for fear of being reported, which means their peers will find out about their situation. Reluctance to admit that one is homeless therefore hinders practice efforts. » (Canfield, 2014, p. 166) Detachment of homeless children from school results in poor attendance, inability to develop a new interest, lack of peer relationships, falling behind in reading and academics, and malnutrition. “Homeless children and youth performed below grade level on math, reading, and spelling tests than students who were not homeless. (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 58) Students from well-organized homes do not face many of the challenges of homeless children. Their caregivers can sit at work and interact with their children. When these children go to school, they get enough sleep to get good grades and stay ahead academically. In addition, hosted children have normal, healthy relationships with caregivers and teachers and can easily make friends. Unlike homeless children, they do not experience feelings of being overwhelmed and helpless. Children in care do not go to bed at night wondering where they will sleep tomorrow, nor do they watch their parents suffer day after day. So much pressure and stress is put on homeless children at such a young age, causing psychological problems in the child. Statistics “The United States faces an epidemic in which one in 30 children and youth is homeless. ” (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 57) According to the State Department of Education, as of July 2016, most of New York State's homeless students resided in New York City. For example, between 2014 and 2015, New York State had 118,639 homeless students and 86,694 lived in New York City. The risk of health problems begins before birth. Chavkin, Kristal, Seabron, and Guigli (1987) compared the reproductive experience of 401 homeless women in New York public housing with that of 13,249 women living in public housing and with all live births in New York during of the same period. Significantly more homeless women had low birth weight babies. Infant mortality was also high: 25 deaths per 1,000 live births among homeless women, compared to 17 per 1,000 for housed poor women and 12 per 1,000 for urban women. Young homeless children often suffer from emotional problems. Homeless children cry more easily, react more intensely when upset, tend to overreact to small things, and are easily upset. One in five homeless children ages three to six experience extreme emotional distress that warrants professional intervention. Twelve percent have clinically diagnosed problems with anxiety, depression, and withdrawal, and 16 percent have behavioral problems demonstrated by severe aggression and hostility. Real-Life Example I witnessed a homeless child firsthand. While this child was homeless, he faced many problems. When my godson was only 6 years old, his mother was in an abusive relationship. The day she finally decided she'd had enough was the same day her family became homeless. Her mother changed the locks on her doors, which only led to the man kicking the door down and attacking her. She had the courage to call the police and they arrested the man. His owner was upset by the broken door and therefore asked him toto relocate. She was placed in a shelter for abused women with her two children. She and the two children shared a room with all their belongings. Their belongings were minimal as they could not take only what they could carry. She left behind furniture, clothes, household items and the children's toys. The children changed schools twice during this move. After leaving her family home, she was transferred to an agency called the Center for Safety and Change, which was a women's shelter. Their absences became alarm signals and caused children to fall behind. The children were crying, saying they didn't want to go to school because they had no friends and they didn't want anyone to know where they lived. They were even more upset when they found out they couldn't invite anyone. The shelter provided them with legal assistance and group sessions where there were people like her that she could relate to. She felt ashamed of herself because she felt like she had failed her children. She met with the Department of Social Services along with housing officials, but finding permanent residency was a work in progress.” During this experience, I saw my godson become so silent and distant before my eyes. He lost all interest in his education. He stopped showing his love for reading books aloud. His teachers explain that he would not concentrate in class and that he could have learning disabilities. His mother referred him to therapy because he didn't want to talk to anyone. I think therapy has done a lot for him. He opened up and built a relationship with his social worker. He explained to the social worker that he hated moving all the time, that he had lost all his toys and that he missed his old home with his old friends. Many times, parents or adults don't realize that being homeless significantly affects children. My godson didn't have a learning disability, he just didn't know how to express his feelings. Today, their family is doing better. They moved out of the family home after 9 months and found a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment. He is in his 3rd year and is excelling. He will tell you all the time how much he loves his room and his toys. A policy known as the McKinney Vento Homelessness Assistance Act was put in place to help homeless children succeed. This policy aims to help homeless children succeed in all 50 states. “The federal government enacted the McKinney-Veto Homeless Assistance Act to equip schools with services to help alleviate the many barriers homeless students face in seeking educational opportunities.” (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 57) This policy ensures that homeless children have equal access to free, public education. School staff are tackling transportation issues, immunizations, residency requirements, lack of birth certificates, school records and guardianship issues. With this policy, they keep homeless children in the same school to reduce the amount of travel and encourage friendships and relationships. The law was originally authorized in 1987 and was reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and reauthorized again. in 2015 as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In 2016, it was authorized again as part of education for homeless children and young people. The McKinney Vento Act provides funding to schools to help homeless children succeed in any way they can. For example, these subsidies areused for school meals, transportation, after-school programs, school supplies, violence prevention counseling, etc. “MVA helped increase school attendance by 17 percent in addition to contributing to the reduction of enrollment barriers that children face. and young people experiencing homelessness. (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 58) MVA also helps children in smaller grades focus on their learning disabilities. Other important policies put in place are federal benefits. These benefits include public assistance grants, food stamps, and the Woman's, Infant and Children (WIC) program. More adequate and continuous benefits, accompanied by increased provision, will prevent families from becoming homeless. This policy affects social workers in many ways. We have the opportunity to make a change. Social workers need to be aware of as many opportunities as possible in order to better serve people. A school social worker can help educate school staff about policies such as the McKinney-Vento Act in hopes of helping more students. People often forget that homelessness does not take away basic human rights. In the field of social work, there are micro, mezzo, and macro interventions that can be effective in helping homeless children address their developmental challenges. For example, at the micro level, some interventions may consist of social workers working one-on-one with children. Social workers can begin counseling the child and family. Help them receive the resources available to them. This may include funds associated with the McKinney Vento Assistance Act, finding stable housing, resolving health insurance or income inconsistencies. At the mezzo level, social workers can help homeless children by hosting workshops for parents facing trauma causing homelessness. These workshops can help a population of homeless families begin applying for jobs, housing, or welfare benefits. In New York State, mezzo social workers can be found in social service agencies, hospitals, schools, or in therapy sessions. Under the McKinney Vento Assistance Act, the local education agency is responsible for assisting homeless families. This agency is empowered to locate homeless students and assist them with all their needs. They help families with tutoring, special needs, school meals, referrals to medical, dental, mental health services, transportation, tuition, and training programs for parents of homeless children . On a macro level, policies within New York State are being implemented to help the entire population of homeless children. NYS offers programs to provide support to ensure homeless children and youth have equal access to free public education. The Head Start program is part of the macro-system, free pre-kindergarten is provided to families who cannot afford to pay for their education. Another example is shelters for homeless families, social workers who help families get to and from appointments, school and work. The macro level of social work focuses on helping the entire population of homeless children. They want to advocate, create nonprofits, research problems to solve them, create programs, and educate the community. In my opinion, for the population of children without, 77(9),