Homeless Children & Academic Achievement: What Do Adults Who Experienced Homelessness As Children Believe Teachers Can Do To Ensure Their Homeless Students Achieve Academic Success?
Abstract
This qualitative research examined what adults who experienced homelessness as children believe teachers can do to ensure their homeless students achieve academic success. Objectives of the study was to interview participants who experienced homelessness as children, report on recent research regarding academics and homeless children, and suggest ideas to assist students in achieving academic success. Interviews were conducted with three adult participants who experienced homelessness as children. Results of the interviews were interpreted through thematic analysis to isolate identifying themes. Five themes were identified within the participants’ interviews: Lack of Compassion/Need for Compassion, Lack of Friends, A Lot of Change in Living Situations/Schools, Effects on Student’s Academics, and Need for Intervention. The participants’ interviews revealed the following findings to what they believe teachers can do to ensure students’ academic success: be more involved in student’s home life, get to know your students, do not stereotype, have compassion for your students, provide students with reading material, provide family literacy activities, understand they have a lot of adult worries, and allow more flexibility with schoolwork. Participants were in agreement there needs to be intervention for these students to succeed, and that with intervention homeless students can achieve success.Related items
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Randomized trial of critical time intervention to prevent homelessness after hospital discharge.Objective: This study assessed the effectiveness of a previously tested model, critical time intervention (CTI), in producing an enduring reduction in the risk of homelessness for persons with severe mental illness who were discharged from inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities. Methods: A total of 150 previously homeless men and women with severe mental illness and who were discharged from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization to transitional residences on the hospital grounds were randomly assigned to receive usual care or usual care plus CTI at the point of discharge to the community. The nine-month intervention aims to gradually pass responsibility to community sources for providing ongoing support after the intervention ends, thereby leading to a durable reduction in risk of future homelessness. After participants were discharged from the transitional residence (length of stay six to 937 days), their housing status was assessed every six weeks for 18 months via participant self-report collected by interviewers blind to study condition. Results: In an intent-to-treat analysis, participants assigned to the CTI group had significantly less homelessness at the end of the follow-up period (the final three six-week intervals) than those assigned to the control group (odds ratio=.22, 95% confidence interval=.06-.88). Conclusions: A relatively brief, focused intervention for persons with severe mental illness led to a reduction in the risk of homelessness that was evident nine months after the intervention ended. This work suggests that targeted, relatively short interventions applied at critical transition points may enhance the efficacy of long-term supports for persons with severe mental illness who are living in the community.
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