Program Matters: Are We Helping or Harming?

By Jeannine Short, Senior Director of Programs and Operations

 

As the face of homelessness continues to evolve from disheveled men sitting on street corners to entire families sleeping in cars; also evolving are the ways in which homeless services programs and systems are realigning delivery models aimed at housing the homeless more quickly, efficiently and effectively. 

 

Included in this realignment is the emerging “harm reduction” philosophy which focuses on the need for housing, rather than the reasons for homelessness (i.e. substance abuse, mental illness, etc.).  Too, it emphasizes the concept of screening homeless persons into programs, rather than screening them out.

 

While it is a reasonable assumption that social service practitioners would readily espouse these “housing first” philosophies, the challenge is shifting traditional mindsets which perpetuate the assumption that all homeless families and individuals must be made “housing ready” by “successful” participation in a myriad of interim supportive services.

 

While it is true that some would indeed benefit from such services, is it fair or even ethical to assume that one-size-fits-all?   

 

Therapy Matters: How much a parent means to a child

By a Children's Mental Wellness Therapist

One of our single mom's expressed her concern about her 6 year old daughter's poor behavior in school, her poor behaviors with other children and her struggles to take guidance and instruction from adults. 

One of our Children's Therapists began working with the little girl on behaviors to help her understand the importance and severity of bullying.  Because the little girl was receptive and seemed to enjoy working with the therapist, Mom observed a change in behavior at home and in school after only three sessions.  

The therapist helped Mom assist in changing her daughter's behavior by giving her a simple task - eating at the table for dinner to discussing the day's activities and using that time as bonding time.  

Mom had never done that before.  

After two weeks, Mom reported that sitting with her children to eat dinner was life changing.  

She said her children had never opened up to her in that way before, and they all were very talkative and extremely happy.  

The family now has established a ritual that no one eats unless everyone is at the table together.

Jobs Matter: Barriers to ending homelessness

By Constance Taylor, Employment Services Job Coach

The U.S. economy lost nearly six million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Kansas City alone lost nearly 70,000 jobs since 2007. Government estimates show that from August 2010 to August 2011, only the Atlanta area lost more than the 120,000 jobs lost in the Kansas City area. Both on a numerical and percentage basis, the area ranks second worst among the 127 major U.S. cities where employment shrank over the year.

In such a competitive environment, the difficulties of job-seeking as a homeless person can be almost insurmountable barriers.

For those with limited skills or experience, there aren’t many opportunities to find a job that pays a living wage.

All segments of the homeless population, especially heads of family households, face significant and multiple barriers to employment. These barriers are personal, programmatic, and systemic.

People who are homeless often lack stress management, social interaction, independent living and vocational engagement skills, as well as a place to live and financial resources. On top of that, many members of the homeless population have to combat barriers, such as limited transportation and reduced access to educational and training programs.

The digital divide remains a deep void for homeless populations. Competing for jobs today requires some understanding of and competency in information technology. Lack of computer knowledge and fear of failure can prevent these populations from seeking to use computers available through public access. These limitations contribute to poor labor market outcomes for homeless people.

To equip our formerly homeless clients to overcome their barriers, we provide job readiness classes and job coaching.  We work with each family to assess educational and vocational needs. And, we seek relationships with employers to establish a broad support system for the families we serve.

On the positive side, about 70% of adults are employed when they exit to their own homes. Less encouraging is that the average wage is $9.39 per hour. That’s an annual income of less than $20,000 a year.

Hopefully, the very low income population will soon share in the gradual improvement in the economy. 

Families Matter: Putting her children first

By Frenchie Pulluaim, Family Coach

One of our past residents stopped by the office to say hello and thank Community LINC for all of the assistance and support we gave her family.  Shauna and her 3 sons found a permanent home back in 2011.

Shauna came to us with a lot of barriers. She had few skills and fewer resources. She was under employed and lived with family in between short stays in her own apartment. Although she worked, it wasn’t enough to afford housing and provide for her boys. 

Shauna was a victim of generational drug abuse. She was living with her mom and grandma who are both substance abusers. Their lifestyle and influence contributed to Shauna’s lack of motivation and unwillingness to address issues that were keeping her from becoming self-sufficient. 

Entering this program gave Shauna and her boys stability, and the support system to break a generational cycle. 

She was frustrated and it took her a while, but she found a part time job with the KC School district that eventually became full time.  Shauna paid $3031.33 in past debt and left the program with a savings of $1,212.86.  When she came to visit, she talked about continuing to rely on the budgeting skills she gained while in this program.

Today she is assistant manager in food Service at one of the public schools. She still needs a subsidy to provide a home for her boys, so her Section 8 voucher helps her afford a 4 bedroom home here in the inner city.  She also got all of her children situated in school and in programs they need to be successful.

Shauna calls back periodically with family issues - things that once would have stopped her in her tracks. But, today she is able to say no to her family and think about her children first.  She no longer feels the guilty for not providing for adult family members who continue their chaotic lives. 

I believe that Shauna succeeded because there was something inside her that wanted to succeed.  Lifestyle was the problem.

She was an enabler for her dysfunctional family because she couldn’t say no.  She no longer feels guilty, because she recognizes that her family didn’t cause her to become homeless, her inability to say no to them did. 

Now she understands that she is not responsible for solving her family’s problems. And, she is armed with resources (United Way 211), that they can use to address their own problems, if they choose.  She knows that she is in control of her life and the lives of her children. She has gained the skills to advocate for her family. She has learned that her primary responsibility is to her boys, and her extended family will change in their own time.

Volunteers Matter: Youth Impacting Change

By Kate Nevins, Volunteer Coordinator

The Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) of Kansas City recently spent four days volunteering at Community LINC. While they were here, they set up two apartments for new families to move into, painted the hallway of one of our buildings, worked on beautifying the grounds, cleaned the Children’s Programming areas, washed windows, and got started digging and moving dirt to install a patio in between buildings 2 and 3.

Thanks to the youth of YVC, who chose to give back during their summer vacations!

Culture, poverty and homelessness

Back in 2010, there was a Congressional briefing called Reconsidering Culture and Poverty based on a special issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

I found it after reading a quote from Michael Goodwin, a FOX contributor, stating “the problem that struggling Americans receiving SNAP benefits (food stamps) have isn't really hunger or poverty. It's that they're not ashamed enough about taking the help.”

I realize that commentators take controversial positions to get attention. What worries me is that “policy makers and the public still tend to view poverty through one of two competing lenses. As Michèle Lamont, an editor of the special issue of The Annals, said: ‘Are the poor poor because they are lazy, or are the poor poor because they are a victim of the markets?’”

Or more formally, Michael Laracy, Director of Director of Policy Reform and Advocacy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said, “Too often, discussions here in Washington ... revert to sort of sterile, default positions with liberals wholly blaming structural issues such as the economy or racism while conservatives too quickly fault our culture and our poor families for counterproductive behaviors and attitudes.”

The positions are so far apart it’s hard to find any middle ground.  If, as liberals believe, the economy and racism cause poverty and homelessness, it feels like there is no solution. The only thing to do for poor families is offer assistance like food stamps. If, as conservatives believe, all poor families are lazy, then they mustn’t deserve assistance.

Around Community LINC, we operate on the assumption that there is indeed a culture of generational homelessness and poverty. Representative Lynne Woolsey of California captured it best when she said, “What a concept. Values, norms, beliefs play very important roles in the way people meet the challenges of poverty.”

But, we don’t share the belief that people should be condemned for what they didn’t learn growing up in poverty.

Instead, we believe in teaching the coping skills, behaviors and attitudes needed to hold a job, stay in school and create better lives for themselves and their children.

We believe that equipping someone willing to learn with knowledge they need is good not just for them, but for the community.

Can you imagine having your child taken away because you're homeless?

One of our board members called late on a Thursday afternoon to tell us that one of his pediatric partners had a newborn patient whose parents would have to live in their car when they left the hospital.

Until our case manager told me, I didn’t realize that the hospital social worker would be obligated to call child services. The baby would be taken away from the parents, because they couldn’t provide a home. She told me another of the mothers already in our program lost her kids to the foster care system because she became homeless.

It happens more than you might guess. According to The National Center on Family Homelessness, 12% of homeless children are placed in foster care, compared to 1% of other children.

And, that isn’t good news for their future.  The National Center on Family Homelessness also tells us that “Foster care placement has been identified as a childhood risk factor that predicts family homelessness during adulthood.” It perpetuates a cycle.

It just so happened that we had an Immediate Housing apartment available, so the family moved in over the weekend.

Last year, Health and Human Services funded pilot programs in five cities to address the problem by creating partnerships between child services and homeless service providers. Let’s hope the pilot programs provide some solid models for keeping homeless children out of foster care.

They have enough strikes against them without losing their families.