In the United States, definitions of homelessness help determine who can receive shelter and assistance from certain health and social service providers. The McKinney- Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 defines a homeless person as any individual who lacks housing, including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility that provides temporary living accommodations, or an individual who is a resident in transitional housing (Polgar & Watson 2012). Essentially, homelessness is a term used to define an individual who lacks regular as well as adequate nighttime residence. The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty currently estimates that each year at least 2.5 to 3.5 million Americans sleep in shelters, transitional housing, and public places not meant for human habitation. At least an additional 7.4 million have lost their own homes and are doubled-up with others due to economic necessity (NLCHP, 2016) . It is important to realize that the people who experience homelessness are much more than these numbers and a definition. Homelessness is not just a matter of lack of shelter or lack of abode, a lack of a roof over one’s head. It involves deprivation across a number of different dimensions – physiological (lack of bodily comfort or warmth), emotional (lack of love or joy), territorial (lack of privacy), ontological (lack of rootedness in the world, anomie) and spiritual (lack of hope, lack of purpose). It is important to recognize this multidimensional character, not least because homelessness cannot be remedied simply through the provision of bricks and mortar – all the other dimensions must be addressed (Somervile 2013). As a social worker it is important to be able to properly recognize and define homelessness and identify who makes up the homeless population, in order to understand the causes and work towards a solution for those that endure homelessness.
More specifically, the number of families experiencing homelessness is rising. The National Alliance to End Homelessness found that one-half of the homeless population is composed of families (mothers with children). The National Coalition for the Homeless and the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported that families with children comprise 33% of the homeless population. In contrast to homeless families, very little research has captured the school experiences of unaccompanied youth who are eligible for services under the McKinney-Vento Act provisions. The transient nature of homelessness combined with the self-perceived need for unaccompanied minors to evade police to avoid detection can make it extremely difficult for researchers to get an accurate picture of the prevalence of homelessness in youth (Etzal et.al., 2014). According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (2012), it is estimated that there are 1.7 million unaccompanied youth below the age of 18. Furthermore, it is estimated that the greater majority of this population has had experience with the foster care system and or a parent who has a drug problem (Schaefer 2008).
Most youth who end up unaccompanied come from families that currently suffer from housing instability and poverty. Young adults who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds are often required to find their own housing while attempting to support themselves. Some must “double-up” temporarily with various extended families or friends to avoid living on the street. Those youths who are forced or feel forced to seek independence at early ages are particularly at risk for becoming homeless due to lack of familial financial support in the event of job loss or illness. Furthermore, experiencing homeless increases a young adults rates of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems compared with you who are not homeless. Additionally, these youths experience a multitude of school related issues. Research indicates that students who are homeless have lower erading and math scores. Moreover, the lack of high school education perpetuates the cycle of disconnection and marginalization of homeless youth in society. (Etzel etl. Al., 2014). With that being said, it can be concluded that when taking both a public policy and social justice perspective into account that something should be done to increase achievement levels in this highly vulnerable group.
During the early 1980s, the government viewed homelessness as a local issue. President Reagan felt that this was an issue that did not require federal intervention. It was not until 1983 that the first federal task force was constructed to gather information on how the federal government could obtain property to address this issue, although no policy or programs were adopted. Following this, advocates began to demand that the federal government acknowledge and act to fight the homeless epidemic. In 1986, after intense advocacy and campaigning came the Urgent Relief for the Homeless Act. Later in the year 2000, President Bill Clinton renamed the legislation the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, after the death of Representative Bruce Vento, a strong, original supporter of the act. The McKinney-Vento Act originally was comprised of fifteen programs that strived to provide a range of services to the homeless community including, shelter, transitional housing, job training, primary health care, education, and in some cases permanent housing. The legislation consists of nine titles. The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Education Improvement Act of 1987 protects the rights of homeless children and youth in the United States and ensures that homeless children receive a free and appropriate education and the major goal of the McKinney-Vento Act is to address barriers that prevent homeless children from attending school or receiving educational services (Title VII B-McKinney-Vento Act). The McKinney-Vento Act is designed to address the challenges that homeless children and youths have faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. This particularly vulnerable population of children has been increasing; from the 2006-2007 school year to the 2013-2014 school year, the total number of homeless children and youths approximately doubled from 679,724 to 1,301,239 students, according to EHCY program data.2 Under the McKinney-Vento Act, State educational agencies (SEAs) must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as other children and youths. Homeless children and youths must have access to the educational and related services that they need to enable them to meet the same challenging State academic standards to which all students are held. The current McKinney-Vento Act has been amended four times, all of which have for the most part, expanded the scope and strengthened the provisions of the original legislation.
As of October 1, 2016, the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program and Title I Part A provide students experiencing homelessness with protections and services to ensure they can enroll in and attend school, complete their high school education, and continue to higher education — their best hope of avoiding poverty and homelessness as adults. Unfortunately, there is no legal practice to measure the compliance and achievement of the McKinney Act, the meaning of “appropriate education” for homeless children is determined by educational professionals, parents, and specialist like community members, homeless advocates, and school board trustees
In conclusion, experiencing homelessness can be devastating, but it can be even more of a daunting experience for youth and young adults. Parents and children who are homeless may not be aware of their right to an education. School’s have a responsibility to the homeless community and part of that responsibility is informing them of their rights.. Markward, suggests that enforcement of compliance with the McKinney Act may cause homeless families to under use educational services to keep from being stigmatized (Markward, 1994). I however disagree with this point. I believe that if the schools or communities held forums to inform the public of the aid that is available, then the negative stigma can be removed and that way the public can become allies.