Children Matter: Invest in the parents to help the child

By Ryan Blake, Children’s Program Director

Single parent families with young children are among the fastest growing among the homeless populations in the United States. This statistic is consistent with the makeup of many of the families we serve at Community LINC.

The infants and toddlers from these families are at an extreme risk for developmental delay or deviations.  Nationally, an alarming 75 percent of homeless children under the age of 5 have a major developmental delay.  Over half of homeless preschool children score below the first percentile in receptive verbal functioning.  Of these children, 38 percent exhibit emotional and behavioral problems. Chances are these children will continue to struggle throughout their academic career.

Why do these young children struggle so much?

The circumstances homeless families go through challenges healthy infant development and relationships. Parents dealing with domestic violence, mental disorders, substance abuse, and housing insecurity are often unable to recognize and respond to the needs of their young child. Also, young parents experiencing trauma often lack the necessary parenting skills and support they need to form a secure attachments with their child.

The stressful experiences associated with homelessness are toxic to young children as well.  According to the ACE study (Adverse Childhood Experiences); the amount of stress early in a child’s life is a reliable predictor of health and behavior problems later in their adolescent and adult life. These problems include suicide attempts, adolescent pregnancy, heart disease, alcoholism, and violence with their partners. But there is hope.  

A secure attachment with an adult caregiver can act as a buffer from environmental stress and the negative outcomes and the child. A consistent, nurturing relationship serves as a shield from these events which allow children to develop normally. 

One of the key parenting skills that homeless parents often lack is simply how to talk with their child. 

The research  conducted by Betty Hart and Todd Risley of University of Kansas found some shocking differences in the way parents communicate with young children. Their research showed that parents of children in poverty say about 616 words per hour. Children of a working class family experience 1251 words per hour, and lastly, a child from a more affluent professional family hear 2153 words per hour with a much more extensive vocabulary. 

By age 4 the average child in poverty might have 13 million fewer words of cumulative experience than the average child in a working-class family. The differences in the amount of speech and vocabulary attainment affect their brain development. This is the one of the reasons why I see many children who are 4 and 5 years old who can’t speak or have severe speech delays. These children are essentially starting school way behind their peers.

Furthermore, to ensure young children experiencing homelessness are receiving the services they need, it is essential for them to be enrolled with a high-quality early childhood education. The problem is, it’s tremendously expensive.  

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the annual average cost for an infant in center-based child care is fourteen hundred dollars more than the average annual in-state tuition at a 4-year university. 

But what about free head start programs for low-income families? For the entire state of Missouri there are only 2,242 funded slots for Early Head Start and only 15,638 funded slots for Head Start Preschool. This means that only 2 percent of eligible infants and toddlers are able to secure spots at Early Head Start Programs. 

Providing these children with high-quality early childhood interventions are vital for them to succeed later in education. Without them, these at-risk children are 25 % more likely to drop out of school, 40 percent more likely to become a teen parent, 50 percent more likely to be placed in special education, 60 percent more likely to never attend college, and 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime.

For young children who are homeless the problems are many. The good news is there is hope. 

Providing their parents with the skills they need to interact, respond, and to read with their young children supports a healthy attachment that will shield the negative environmental stresses. Also, providing early childhood interventions and referrals helps to ensure that children will start school with the developmental skills they need to be successful.