Homeless Children and the Educational System

Homeless Children and the Educational System

Many people still think of homeless transients as alcoholics and/or mentally disabled. The truth is, the current homeless population consists of runaway adolescents, single adult males or females, battered women and over one million homeless families with children – typically headed by a female parent.

To be homeless means that one’s primary residence is a public or private shelter, emergency housing, hotel, motel, living with family or friends or any public space – like parks, automobiles, aqueducts or abandoned buildings (Pawlas, 1996).

Statement of the Problem

With the number of homeless students on the rise, schools encounter new educational challenges that include: establishing and maintaining enrollment procedures that would not discourage school attendance; lack of teacher-training/awareness in the special needs of homeless children; the non-existence of a school transfer system for homeless children that would be least destructive to a child's education, while all the time not overlooking the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, security and medical care that homeless families with children require immediately.

Framing Question

Homelessness is now a major problem in the United States, with the growing population being homeless families or single mothers and their children. Due to the rapid growth and obvious presence (shelters, visibility) of homeless families in the United States – Are the legally mandated educational rights of homeless children being fulfilled? If so, how? If not, why not?

Review of Literature

The plight of homeless families with children was initially addressed in 1987. Congress passed the...

... middle of paper ...

...

http://www.ed.gov/database/Eric.Digest/ed308276.html

Wells, Amy Stuart: Education Provisions of the McKinney Act (1989)

http://www.ed.gov/database/Eric.Digest/ed.308276.html

Wells, Amy Stuart: Problems Facing Local Educators (1989)

http://www.ed.gov/database/Eric.Digest/ed.308276.html

Eddowes, A (1994). Schools Providing Safer Environments for Homeless Children. Childhood Education

Nunez, R., Collignon, K. (1997). Creating a Community of Learning for Homeless Children. Educational Leadership

Pawles, G. West, G. Brookes, C. Russell (1994). A Safety Net for Homeless Students. Educational Leadership

Rafferty, Y. (1998). Meeting the Educational Needs of Homeless Children. Educational Leadership

Yon, M. (1994). Educating Homeless Children in the United States. Equity and Excellence in Education