1. A HEAD START ON HOUSING STABILITY
One Child, Many Hands A Multidisciplinary conference on child welfare
Field Center for Policy, Practice, and Research
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2017
Kathleen Creamer, Supervising Attorney
Community Legal Services, Philadephia, PA
Michael Heard, Social Services manager
Washington State Office of Public Defense, Olympia, WA
Ruth White, Executive Director
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, College Park, MD

2. Presenters
Monette M. Ferguson Director of Early Childhood Learning, ABCD Inc., Bridgeport, CT Betsy Cronin Director of Housing Development, The Connection Inc., Middletown, CT Ruth White Executive Director, National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, College Park, MD

3. Homelessness in Early Childhood Education
Monette M. Ferguson
Director of Early Childhood ABCD Inc.

4. What we know……
3,000-9,000 children under 6 are homeless in CT according to the Federal McKinney- Vento standard.
Over 1500 live in emergency shelters and other emergency locations for families in crisis.
All of these children from 0-5 are categorically eligible for Head start and Early Head start services.
Connecticut Early Childhood Homeless Policy Proposals. (2016) inal.pdf

5. Why Target Homelessness in Head Start?
“Inadequate housing and the accompanying instability is traumatic for a family, but particularly detrimental for the long term health and development of a young child”(Homeless policy, ).
“During the first five years, brain development is at its peak and stability, safety and a nurturing environment are critical to supporting children to build healthy social-emotional behaviors as well as intellectual abilities”(Homeless policy, 2015).

6. Why Partner with Head Start to End This Tragic Phenomenon
Children are categorically eligible.
Wrap around services.
Existing connections to community resources.
Relationships with families.

7. The Partners. ABCD Head Start. Bridgeport, Connecticut
The Partners ABCD Head Start Bridgeport, Connecticut Agency Needs Assessment identified Housing for Head Start Families as an agency priority The Connection, Inc. Leading Supportive Housing Services Agency provides services and has offices located in the ABCD Head Start building in Bridgeport l

8. Where we are now
Private donors contributed start up funding in 2016 for:
DATA COLLECTION:
Contract with University of Chicago at Chapin Hall to work with ABCD Head Start screening 1100 enrolled children to evaluate housing risk and need using the QRAFT screening tool (April/May 2017)
RESEARCH FINDINGS:
Chapin Hall to write brief of QRAFT findings (July 2017)
MEDIA/MARKETING:
Video being produced to demonstrate need; Conference presentations, meetings with public and private funders and housing providers to gain support for the model, stakeholder engagement

9. What we know now
There is a population of Head Start families that  are experiencing significant or severe barriers to stable housing.
Of these same families employment and budgeting is a significant barrier.

10. Housing and Supportive Services for Educational Stability
The Connection, Inc. Supportive Housing for Families Model
Betsy Cronin

11. Ishf service model: core components

12. Financing Housing & Supportive Services
Ruth White, National center for housing and child welfare

13. Housing versus Cash Assistance
Sustained economic investments make the difference – in cases of great financial stress, a small handout or purchase of equipment may not tangibly improve the plight of families. (Littell and Schuerman, 2002).
Families who received housing subsidies improved their circumstances, while families who received cash assistance continued to have problems. In order to get cash assistance, you have to continue to report problems. This is not the case with housing – it is quite the opposite.
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare November 2015

14. Housing is Cost-Effective
A $15 million investment in FUP means that more than 9,000 children can return home. This will result in a savings of $101 million in foster care expenditures. (Harburger and White, 2004). (or $56, 892 per family)
It costs approximately $53,500 to serve a homeless young person on the street or in residential treatment but supportive housing for one young person costs only $5,300. (Van Leeuwen, 2004).
Foster care is an expensive alternative to affordable housing. According to the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare the average cost of foster care for the children of one family is $56,892. By contrast, it costs approximately $13,193 to house one family and provide supportive services for one year. HUD’s investment in affordable housing will save more than $101 million in foster care expenditures.
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare November 2015

15. National Center for Housing and Child Welfare November 2015
NCHCW 2015 cost analysis
Estimated National Annual Average Savings for Two Bedroom and Three Bedroom FMR
Per child annual savings in a two bedroom: $12,021
Per family annual savings in a two bedroom: $32,458
Per child annual savings in a three bedroom: $9,954
Per family annual savings in a three bedroom: $26,878
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare November 2015

16. National Center for Housing and Child Welfare November 2015
NCHCW 2015 cost analysis
Estimated National Annual NATIONAL Average Savings for Two Bedroom and Three Bedroom FMR
National savings if housing plus services intervention applied to all Title IV-E eligible families who need it: $822,992,330 (two bedroom)
National savings if housing plus services intervention applied to all Title IV-E eligible families who need it: $681,494,639 (three bedroom)
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare November 2015

17. What can child welfare agencies do about housing?
Use the considerable flexibility ALREADY available in local, state, and federal child welfare dollars for housing assistance for families and youth.
Create an Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS)-like Program for families and youth – this is like an IDA.
Partner with local housers – like PHAs, HFAs and private non- profit developers (CHDO)
Set up a local Family Unification Program (or FUP-like partnership)
Lack of appropriate tools to do the job affects self-efficacy, which affects turnover (Ellet, 2006). The federal resource allocation becomes an ethical dilemma for front line case workers. “CPS is not a housing agency” (Shdaimah, 2008).
Consider the assessment tools such as NCFAS – Duncan Lindsey’s new book asks – why train workers on assessment tools if they don’t have the tools to address the problems such tools reveal?
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare November 2015

18. A Partial List of Housing Resources
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs (MIECHV)
Permanent Supportive Housing
Community Action Programs
Rural Housing Development Section 315
HOME
Low Income Housing Tax Credit
City and State housing funds, SHFAs
Private Landlords
Public Housing Authorities – Section 8 and PH
Family Unification Program
Community Continuum of Care
Philanthropy

19. More Info on Housing Resources
For more information visit and check out the Advocate’s Guide

20. For Example… McCarver Elementary School Housing Program
Designed by Michael Mirra, Director, Tacoma Housing Authority, Tacoma WA
THA attached Housing Choice Vouchers to families in the community surrounding McCarver ES.
The parents are required to participate in the PTO/PTA, assist their children with their school work and ensure that their children attend school regularly.
Early results show a positive impact on the families, children, school performance, and the community.
***TCA is a Moving to Work PHA

21. Questions?