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Understanding & Ameliorating the Impact of Child Homelessness on Educational Advancement 1 Thaler McCormick, CEO, ForKids Joi Chisolm Thaxton, Director of Education, ForKids Dr. Elsie Harold Lans, Senior Director of the Department of Student Support Services, Norfolk Public Schools
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ForKids: Our Mission Breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty for families and children 2
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Service Area 3
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Regional Call Center Housing Solutions Emergency Shelter Supportive Housing Prevention, Rapid Re-Housing Adult & Children’s Education Educational assessment, tutoring & school advocacy GED & Life Skills Critical Services Intensive Case Management Mental & physical healthcare Our Model Housing, Education & Critical Services 4
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ForKids Impact In Fiscal Year 2014: We assisted over 1,155 people 347 families w/ 709 children 89% exited to appropriate housing 90% of school aged children in the program at least 90 days were promoted to the next grade. From Nov. 2013- Oct. 2014 We answered 18,680 calls from 8,131 callers 10% were from Virginia Beach residents 5
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25 th Anniversary Commission Addressing the Link Between Affordable Housing & the Educational Advancement of Homeless Children in Hampton Roads 6
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7 “Homelessness begins as housing crisis and becomes and education crisis.” ---The ForKids 25 th Anniversary Commission Report
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1. Data Collection: establish a unified method to identify homeless and highly-mobile children; link school system date to HMIS data 2. Affordable Housing: develop recommendations to expand the supply of safe, affordable housing 3. Educational Advancement: identify best practices that achieve high school graduation for homeless and highly-mobile children 8 Commission’s Focus Areas
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What are the challenges? Constant migration (city-wide and regionally) Stigma/fear of identification “Normalization” Transportation McKinney-Vento (MV) Law Education of Homeless Children 9
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What do we know? “Achievement gaps related to homelessness residential instability emerge early and persist” 10 Education of Homeless Children
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Homeless Children in South Hampton Roads: Estimating the Costs to Society James V. Koch Old Dominion University 11
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CityCosts Chesapeake$252,113 Norfolk$280,000 Portsmouth$247,035 Suffolk$135,000 Virginia Beach*$458,138 Total$1,372,286 12 Transportation Costs Associated w/ McKinney-Vento Students 2012-2013 * Virginia Beach includes funds expended for coordination and $50,000 in in-kind gifts and donations from the public
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13 Academic Performance of Norfolk Students based on Economic Status 2012-2013 HomelessLow Socioeconomic High Socioeconomic Ave. Attendance87.9%92.8%95.1% Ave. GPA1.982.272.86 Ave. SOL Exams Passed 41.7%54.8%73.7% Ave. Suspensions/Yr 1.18.79.13
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In Virginia Beach 15 days less school 24% higher failure rate Attendance (Avg days) Homeless Students Lower Income, Housed 136.3151.1 14 SOL Performance Homeless Students Lower Income, Housed Failed all 22.1%Failed all 17.8%
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15 Achievement Gap *Combined graduation rates for Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, &Virginia Beach. **Students identified as homeless/economically disadvantaged at least once in 9th - 12th grade. Source: Virginia Dept. of Education, Virginia Cohort Reports, Class of 2013
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Data from Project HOPE: In 2012-2013: How did homeless kids do in Virginia? Reading: 32-39% lower (high school 11%) Math: 31-49% lower 16 Achievement Gap: SOLs
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Each homeless child costs our community approximately $20,000 per year* Total cost of child homelessness for SHR annually: $30 million “It would be less expensive for society to provide permanent housing for homeless families than to bear the high cost of homelessness and its long- term effects.” 17 Dr. Koch’s Conclusions: *considering healthcare, social services, education, administration and transportation, penal system and lost income due to graduate rates.
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Themes Dearth of Programs Targeted to Homeless Students with Results Collaboration Between School Districts and Nonprofit Service Providers Essential Best Lessons Available Come from Research and Work with Poor and At-Risk Students Reading proficiency by 3 rd grade Prevention of summer learning loss Out-of-School Time (OST) programs Holistic approaches 18 Education Research
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19 The ForKids Education Pilot Project
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Hybrid of Charlotte Model and FK “Hot Meals & Homework” Hot Meals and Homework plus Remediation 2 elementary schools in Norfolk Public Schools Outreach Family Case Manager, Licensed Educator & Part-time Education Assistant in each school 20 ForKids Educational Pilot
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Goals: Connect families with community services Address immediate needs of children (uniforms, school supplies, etc.) Assess MV student educational needs Provide remedial assistance Close achievement gap for MV students Track and monitor progress of MV students 21
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Structure Outreach Family Case Manager (FT) Connects parents to community services; shelter/housing; arranges transportation Licensed Educator (FT) Tracks grades, attendance, assessments, discipline, and behavior Develops Academic Plans and creates lessons Collaborates w/teachers & advocate for students Part-time Education Assistant Assist only in afterschool tutoring Dinner/Supper Program 22 ForKids Educational Pilot
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Things We had to Figure Out… Fast Barriers/How We Work Through Them Faculty Buy-In Security, Background checks Space Technology Food Assessments Transportation Consistent Identification 23
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Continued Challenges Data Releases Grades Attendance Behavior Discipline Assessments Transportation Continued student migration 24
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Norfolk Public Schools Total Student Population 32,000+ Economically disadvantaged71% 33 Elementary Schools 8 Middle Schools 5 High Schools 26
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Norfolk Public Schools – Scope of MV Problem 2012-20132013-20142014-2015 Unsheltered/Other69511 Sheltered755242 Shared/Double Up341342160 Hotel/Motel11712982 Unaccompanied Youth*10178 Total602 (Sept – June) 574 (Sept – June) 285 (Sept – Dec) *also counted in doubled up
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Norfolk Public Schools – Associated Costs Transportation - $25,000 for cabs (split w. cities) - $4,000 in bus tokens Backpacks/Supplies- $50,000 University Tutors Inc.-$25,500 Summer Reading Books- $17,000 Green STEM Camp- $5,000 28
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Norfolk Public Schools – Community & Internal Support Partners Shelters, City, Schools, Faith Based, Stores, Project Hope etc. Supply Drives Coats, Holiday Gifts, Food etc. Training for Staff Annual McKinney Vento Training for Enrollment Staff Supplemental Training from Project Hope 29
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Public Private Partnership 30 Keys to Success Senior-level support (superintendent) Seed Funding! Faculty buy-in All the players around the table (technology, data, HR, principals, servicers, etc.)
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Timeline Pilot Initial Funding (40%): 6/10/14 Balance of Funding: 6/12/14 1 st Mtg w/ Norfolk Public Schools: 6/26/14 1 st School Identified: 7/7/14 Mtg with Principal: 7/10/14 2nd School Identified: 8/12/14 Staff start at School #18/25/14 Staff start at school #29/2/14 31
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Lessons Learned What Matters: Being in the schools Identifying homeless kids consistently Remediation by skilled educators based on assessments HOUSING 32
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