Index Homelessness and childrenDescription of the problemStatisticsReal exampleConclusionWorks CitedHomelessness and childrenHomelessness is an individual who lacks housing. For example, living in shelters, temporary housing (with family or friends), living on the streets, abandoned buildings, in a vehicle, children awaiting foster care, an individual or family who has received an eviction notice within 14 days , any unstable and non-permanent situation. I will explore the effects homelessness has on children. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Description of the Problem Many children in the United States face the trauma of homelessness. Homelessness is defined as a person without a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. This vulnerable population is many times overlooked, but is actually at high risk for future problems. “A homeless child is at high risk for malnutrition, mental health disorders and poor academic achievement, among other social and developmental problems.” (Canfield, 2014, p. 165) The population of homeless children is very vulnerable because they are very disadvantaged compared to their housed peers. The biggest disadvantage of homeless children is the lack of education. When homeless children reach school age, homelessness affects their social, physical, and academic lives. These children face unstable living conditions, transportation issues, proof of residency issues, health insurance, and lack of funds. You may be wondering why the education of homeless children is suffering. These children are faced with unexpected changes in schools, which result in poor attendance and cause children to fall behind their peers. Many times, when children fall behind academically, they become embarrassed and stop engaging in class or not attend school at all. Due to their lack of education, they may be misdiagnosed with mental disorders. When in reality these homeless children lack the attention, affection and attachment they need. They get used to constantly moving from one place to another and tend to be distant from everything around them. With the absence of normalcy, homeless children are exposed to much more than their sheltered peers, and this causes delays in the child. “Children experiencing homelessness are at risk for developmental delays, especially in language functioning, and social-emotional challenges.” (Haskett, Armstrong, & Tisdale, 2016, p. 123) During the developmental stage of the elementary years (ages 8-12) homeless children face many challenges. The social skills, attachment skills and learning abilities of homeless children are affected. At this age, they are too young to fully understand, which leads to emotional distress. Families facing poverty, violence, or income inequality cannot interact with their children the way families living in affluence do. Their social skills are compromised because they are constantly moving between shelters, family homes or apartment to apartment. Because of the constant movement, they have little interaction with caregivers, other children, teachers or social workers. Their attachment to people loosens with the constant proximity of strangers. I think school should be their safe zone, but even at school kids feel distant. Many times, “homeless children do not wish to seek services for fear of being discovered, which means their peers will find out about their situation. Reluctance to admit that they are homeless therefore hinders thempractical efforts”. (Canfield, 2014, p. 166) Homeless children's disconnection from school results in poor attendance, failure to develop new interests, lack of relationships with peers, delays in reading and academics, and malnutrition. “Homeless children and youth performed below grade level on math, reading and spelling tests compared to those students who do not experience homelessness.” (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 58) Students who come from well-organized families do not face many of the challenges of homeless children. Their caregivers can sit at work and interact with their children. When these children go to school, they get enough sleep to receive good grades and keep up with their studies. Furthermore, hosted children have normal and healthy relationships with caregivers and teachers and can easily make friends. Unlike homeless children, they do not experience the feeling of being overwhelmed and helpless. Children in homes do not go to bed at night worrying about where they will sleep tomorrow, nor watch their parents suffer day after day. So much pressure and stress is put on homeless children at such a young age causing psychological problems in the child. Statistics “The United States is facing an epidemic in which one in 30 children and youth in this country experiences homelessness.” (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 57) According to the State Department of Education, in July 2016 the majority of homeless students in New York State resided in New York City. For example, between 2014 and 2015, New York State had 118,639 homeless students, and 86,694 lived in New York City. The risk of health problems begins before birth. Chavkin, Kristal, Seabron, and Guigli (1987) compared the reproductive experience of 401 homeless women in New York City welfare hotels with that of 13,249 women in public housing and with all live births in New York City during the same period of time. Significantly more homeless women had low birth weight babies. Infant mortality was also high: 25 deaths per 1,000 live births among homeless women, compared to 17 per 1,000 for poor women and 12 per 1,000 for women citywide. Young homeless children often suffer from emotional problems. Homeless children cry more easily, react more intensely when upset, tend to overreact to small things, and get angry easily. One in five homeless children between the ages of three and six demonstrate extreme emotional distress that requires professional intervention. 12% have clinically diagnosed anxiety, depression and withdrawal problems, and 16% have behavioral problems demonstrated by severe aggression and hostility. Real world example: I witnessed a homeless child firsthand. While this child was homeless he faced many problems. When my godson was only 6 years old, his mother was in an abusive relationship. The day he finally decided he had enough was the same day the family became homeless. Her mother changed the locks on her doors, resulting in the man kicking down the door and attacking her. He found the courage to call the police and they arrested the man. Her landlord was angry about the broken door, so he asked her to move. She was admitted to a home for abused women with her two children. She and the two children shared a room with all their belongings. Their belongings were minimal because they could only carry what they could carry. He left behind furniture, clothes, household items and children's toys. The children have changed schoolstwice during this move. After being moved from the house, she was transferred to an agency called the Center for Safety and Change which was a women's shelter. Their absences became alarm signals and caused the children to be late. The children cried saying they didn't want to go to school because they had no friends and they didn't want anyone to know where they lived. They became even more angry when they found out they couldn't invite anyone. The shelter provided legal assistance and group sessions where there were people just like her who she could relate to. She was too ashamed of herself because she felt like she had let her children down. She met with the Department of Social Services to get information about housing, but finding permanent residency was beyond her. During this experience I watched my godson become so quiet and distant right before my eyes. He lost interest in his education. He stopped showing his love for reading books aloud. His teachers explain that he would not concentrate in class and may have learning difficulties. His mother sent him to therapy because he didn't want to talk to anyone. I think therapy did a lot for him. He opened up and built a relationship with his social worker. He expressed to the social worker that he hates moving all the time, has lost all his toys, and misses his old home with his old friends. Many times, parents or adults do not realize that homelessness affects children drastically. My godson didn't have a learning disability, he just didn't know how to express his feelings. Today their family is in a better situation. After 9 months they left the house and found a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment. He is in third grade and is excellent. He will continually tell you how much he loves his room and his toys. A policy known as The McKinney Vento Homelessness Assistance Act was put in place to help homeless children succeed. This policy aims to help homeless children succeed in all 50 states. “The federal government enacted the McKinney-Veto Homeless Assistance Act to provide schools with services to alleviate the many obstacles homeless students face in pursuing educational opportunities.” (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 57) This policy ensures homeless children have equal access to free, public education. School workers face issues related to transportation, vaccinations, residency requirements, lack of birth certificates, school records and guardianship issues. With this policy, they keep homeless children in the same school to reduce the amount of travel and encourage friendships and relationships. The act was originally authorized in 1987 and was reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and reauthorized in 2015 as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In 2016 it was reauthorized under Education for Homeless Children and Youth. The McKinney Vento Act provides funding to schools to help homeless children achieve success by any means. For example, these grants are used for school meals, transportation, after-school programs, school supplies, violence prevention counseling, etc. and young people who experience encounters with the homeless”. (Wilkins, Mullins, Mahan, & Canfield, 2015, p. 58) The MVA also assists children in smaller classes to help them focus on the child's learning difficulties. Other important policies put in place are federal benefits. These benefits include grants forpublic workers, food stamps, and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. More adequate and continuous benefits with greater provision will prevent families from becoming homeless. This policy affects social workers in many ways. We have the opportunity to make a change. Social workers need to be aware of as many opportunities as possible to better serve people. A school social worker can help educate school staff about policies like the McKinney-Vento law in hopes of helping more students. Many times people forget that being homeless does not take away basic human rights. In the field of social work, there are micro, mezzo, and macro interventions that can be effective in helping homeless children with their developmental challenges. For example, at the micro level some interventions can be entrusted to social workers who work individually with children. Social workers can begin counseling the child and family. Help them receive the resources available to them. This may include funds associated with the McKinney Vento Assistance Act, finding stable housing, resolving health insurance issues or income inconsistencies. At the intermediate level, social workers can help homeless children by holding workshops for parents who are dealing with trauma that causes homelessness. These workshops can help a population of homeless families begin applying for jobs, housing and social service benefits. In New York State, medium social workers can be found in social service agencies, hospitals, schools or therapy sessions. Under the McKinney Vento Assistance Act, the local education agency is responsible for helping homeless families. This agency has the right to find homeless students and assist them with all their needs. They help families with tutoring, special needs, school lunches, referrals to medical, dental, mental health, transportation services, application fees and training programs for parents of homeless children. On a macro level, policies within New York State are put in place to help the entire population of homeless children. New York State provides support programs to ensure that homeless children and youth have equal access to free public education. The Head Start program is part of the macrosystem, free kindergarten is entitled to those families who cannot afford to pay for education. Another example is shelters for homeless families, social workers who help get families to and from appointments, school and work. The macro level of social work focuses on helping the entire population of homeless children. They want to advocate, create nonprofit organizations, research problems to solve them, create programs, and educate the community. In my opinion, for the population of homeless children, work should be done on the macro level. This population is largely overlooked and social workers should advocate and create more ways to help. I believe more shelters should be built, which means macro social workers should start supporting and creating programs that aim to raise money for the cause. A protective factor for helping homeless children may be additional care for relatives. Children who watch their parents struggle with stressful situations may use social support that could provide stability and protect the children. “Children and adolescents report greater satisfaction in contact with relatives, are less psychologically distressed in conditions of stress and, 77(9),