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.

Hope for the children

Every family becomes homeless for reasons that are uniquely their own. Some become homeless because of a change in situation or circumstance. Others are born into families that have been in poverty for generations.

Ruby Payne, PhD, writes in Bridges out of Poverty “It is the hope… that 100 years from now poverty will no longer be economically viable. Two hundred years ago slavery was thought to be an economic necessity. It was not. One hundred fifty years ago it was believed that women were not capable of voting. That also was not true. We fervently hope that by 2100 individuals and society at large will no longer believe that poverty is inevitable.”

Because our Children’s Program Director always has great insight into the lives of our children, I asked him if he could share something that would help paint the picture of a child who came to us homeless because of generational poverty. He shared the following.

“Research paints an extremely bleak picture for children born into generational poverty and their chances of upward mobility. These children are statistically dealt a hand that suggests they will never leave poverty.”

“The negative impacts of generational poverty on children are extensive and long lasting. Statistically these children are more likely to have poor diets, be subject to violent situations, change where they live many times, and struggle academically.”

“These statistics hold true for many of the children we serve at Community LINC. Many of our families come from neighborhoods that are food-barren areas. Due to lack of transportation and scarcity of grocery stores, children often eat food that is within walking distance. When I ask students what their favorite foods are an overwhelming number of them say chips, soda, and candy. All of which can be purchased within walking distance across the street at a gas station.” 

“Furthermore, many of our children have been subject to violent situations. Recently I was teaching a class to a group of 4th and 5th graders. I asked who in the room had ever been in a fight, everyone raised their hand.”

“I then asked who knows someone who has been shot; all but one raised their hand.”

“The last question I asked was how many of them had seen a physical fight at home between family members, everyone kept their hand up. Often times our children believe violence is a way to handle problems because that is what they have been exposed to.”

“Many of our children are very transient, meaning they have changed where they live many times. I recently spoke with a client about how many schools her children have attended in the past. She told me that for the last 7 years they have changed where they live between staying with friends and family, shelters, motels, and cars. She said that they usually move 2-3 times a year. This amount of housing instability causes children to have higher stress rates, more emotional and psychological disorders, and more physical health problems.”

“This rate of mobility is also one of the contributing factors to why our children often struggle in school. Another harsh reality is that the schools that our students attend are failing to meet their needs because they lack the necessary resources. Our students often express concerns about their safety and educational needs not being met by their schools. Also, many of our students face additional responsibilities at home that hinder their education.  Due to lack of family resources many students are required to contribute financially. Right now we have a 16 year old girl who works full time at a restaurant on top of being a junior in high school.”         

“Despite the difficult situation our children go through I would describe them as amazing kids. Their ability to express concerns about their future and their needs being met shows a desire to make the right choices, and a hunger to learn.”

We share Ruby Payne’s hope for these amazing kids.

Making sure school isn't a roadblock for a homeless child

Studies tell us that the academic performance of a homeless child is hindered both by poor cognitive and non-cognitive development and by the negative circumstances of being homeless. 

Homeless children are 4 times as likely to suffer from a developmental delay as other housed children.

By age 4, the average child in poverty might have heard 13 million fewer words than the average child in a working class family.

Constant mobility paired with chronic illnesses leads to extreme absenteeism. As a result, 75% of homeless children perform below grade level in reading, 72% below grade level in spelling, and 54% below grade level in math.

Homeless children who experience academic difficulties are more likely to drop out of high school.

Although homeless students are more likely to need special education services only 38 percent of students with learning disabilities receive assistance for their disabilities compared to 75 percent of housed children with learning disabilities.

These ongoing issues are noticeable when you consider that homeless children are twice as likely to be held back a year in school compared to other children.

So, what can we do to help in a short period of time?

Our Children’s Program Director teaches us that there are several things we can do to help kids academically. They boil down to (1) helping the parents navigate schools and services so that they learn to help their children and (2) teaching the students life skills to equip them to manage themselves at school.      

     

Lessons and skills taught in the Children’s Program are designed to be practiced in schools.

a.            Anger management

b.            Perseverance

c.            Goal setting

d.            Learned optimism – to have an open mind and a positive attitude towards school.

He goes on to share, “Students have difficulty thinking about the future and how their actions now are having an impact on their lives later in their life.  I have seen how goal setting lessons help students to think about the big picture.”

“In one lesson students make a road map with graduation at the end. Students determine their own personal roadblocks.”

“A 7th grader named Janelle had roadblocks like getting pregnant, doing drugs, skipping school, and fighting at school. Her roadmap was covered with encouraging words to herself.”

“The next lesson was based around where student saw themselves in 10 years. She wrote on her poster “I see myself in 10 years as a respectful, responsible young lady. I want to be in college or out of college. I want my mom and dad and family to be proud of my outcomes. But most of all I want to be proud of myself. I want to be happy.”

Next month, more about breaking the cycle of generational and situational poverty for children.

What homelessness does to the health of a child

Homeless children have more physical problems than children with a home.

Studies show that inadequate diets, poor access to health care, poor living conditions, and stress cause homeless children to have more health issues.

An inadequate diet causes it to be six times more likely that the growth of homeless children will be stunted  and seven times more likely that they will have iron deficiencies.

Half of homeless children experience two or more illnesses per month. They are twice as likely to have a respiratory infection as a child in a home. Frequent illnesses contribute to extreme absenteeism in school, which in turn leads to poor academic performance.

Children who have stressful childhood experiences also have major health problems in their adult life. They are 2 ½ times as likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, twice as likely to have heart disease, and twice as likely to have hepatitis as an adult.

One of our goals is to alleviate the impact of homelessness for children. We provide mental wellness therapy to help our children deal with the trauma and stress they have experienced in their lives.

Another way we help is by diverting the parents from using an ER as the primary form of medical care. So we hold a monthly wellness clinic for the children of the homeless families we serve.

Our volunteer pediatrician and his staff see firsthand a microcosm of the physical problems caused by homelessness. He shared several anecdotes about the kids he has seen at the clinic recently.

The older children in a family from out of state all had asthma, but none had inhalers. They were all having symptoms, but had no regular doctor. Because they came into our clinic, we were able to get them prescriptions for their inhalers.  

A couple of other examples of diversions from the ER:

• A child who came in turned out to have a fever. 
• Another child put a bead in his ear. Mom had no idea and the child wasn’t about to tell her. Our doctor could see it, but the little boy said he didn't put anything in there. The doctor not only prevented the ER visit, he prevented complications from an undetected foreign body. 

We provide the parents with samples of over the counter medicine. Plus, because of our partnership with Reach Out and Read, every child gets to pick out a book when the appointment is over.

What we do may be on a small scale, but it can be a big help to a homeless family. It isn't easy to haul a sick kid on a bus to go wait in an ER. Plus, a diversion from the ER cuts the hospital costs not covered by Medicaid coverage for homeless children.

"So that homeless children will be successful now and the rest of their lives"

Last month, I blogged about some of the things homelessness does to a child. The impact is undeniable, but there is good news, too.

First, the bad news.

As our Children’s Program Director wrote, “Homelessness influences every aspect of a child’s life from the moment they are born all the way into adulthood.”

“Homeless children are often confronted with stressful situations and traumatic events that lead to severe emotional distress which is evident in their emotional and behavioral development.”

“Chronic stress has such a tremendous impact on the anatomy of a child’s brain because the younger a person is, the more malleable their brain is. These changes harmfully affect functions like self-regulation and impulse control, goal oriented behaviors, the ability to plan, and to persevere. These character traits aren’t an indication of IQ, but they are a better determinate of success in adulthood.”

Now for the good news.

“Unlike IQ, these character traits are learnable, and the outcome is that students do better academically.”  And, that is the purpose of our Children’s Program.

Again, from our Children’s Program Director, “We decrease the tremendous negative impact that poverty and homelessness have on a child’s life. We give children hope for their future by providing them with the skills and resources they need to be successful now and for the rest of their lives. What I personally try to do for our kids is to help them become caring ethical decision makers. So no matter what is thrown their way, they know the right way to deal with it.”

He shared one story of the impact on one child. “We were able to work a lot with this particular student because she spent the days she was suspended from school with us.”

“One of our major topics that we discuss with our students is anger management and impulse control. Many of our students struggle with understanding how their actions now will have negative consequences later. This was the case for one of our previous 7^th graders named Tina. Tina attends a very rough school and is picked on a lot because of her height. She has shared stories with me about being spit on, made fun of, and beaten up. Tina’s grades have suffered tremendously because she has been suspended many times for fighting at school. The last conversation we had with Tina she told us a story about an altercation with several girls after school.”

“She explained when the bullying started she wanted to fight them but thought about the advice she received here. She said she knew it would just lead to another school suspension and she was able to walk away from the confrontation.”

“I think she felt empowered knowing that she now has a choice of how to react (she always thought fighting was the only option), and proud of herself knowing that she was able walk away. She has also told me that she knows her younger sisters look up to her and that she wants to be a better example for them.”

What homelessness does to a child

We’ve always believed that part of the “hand up” we provide is a safe, stable place for a homeless family to live while they regain their footing. We see it as a respite for the parent from all consuming financial pressures.

But we’re also providing respite for the children. One of the young men who went through our Teen Program while his mother went through the Adult Program told us, “Prior to being accepted into the program at Community LINC my family stayed in shelters and with friends and family. I hated the thought of having to change schools again.  I was a good student and always thought about having the opportunity to attend college.” Because of the instability in his life, he didn’t think he would ever have that chance.

To paraphrase a research paper by our Children’s Program Director, “Homelessness influences every aspect of a child’s life from the moment they are born all the way into adulthood. Worrying about where they will sleep and what they will eat creates an enormous amount of distress for a child. The overlying problem is that traumatic situations connected with being homeless cause children to have abnormally high levels of stress in their lives. Although there are many factors that culminate to negatively influence a homeless child’s life, stress is the main contributor. Much less, about a quarter of all homeless children witness domestic violence.”

“Repeated stress changes the way the brain develops by changing pathways in the prefrontal cortex. Children in poverty show similar brain patterns to what is seen in patients who suffer from lesions to the brain caused by strokes. Chronic stress has such a tremendous impact on the anatomy of children’s brains because the younger a person is the more malleable their brain is.”

Julius, the young man who wanted to go to college, but was afraid it wouldn’t be possible, is in college now. Both he and his older brother have broken with the cycle their mother has experienced in her life.

Next month, I’ll share more about how children can learn to overcome the damage homelessness has done.