Creating Policies to End
Childhood Homelessness
Mary’s Story
Mary has four children
The father of the children left the household six months ago
Mary has a job but was unable to sustain the current housing
Eviction proceedings
Sheriff locked the doors
Mary has her oldest son with her and he is obviously affected
What does it look like?
When we think of the homeless population a specific picture
comes to mind and it generally does not include children
Many diverse stories of homelessness with many different
family structures including children
Single parent with children
Two parent households
Grandparent(s) with custody of grandchildren
Teenagers on their own – 20 – 40% homeless youth identify
as LGBTQ1
How do we create positive
change to social policy?
If we are going to help the children we must help their
parents and guardians
Knowing current policies
Education on current issues in homelessness
Scarcity of affordable housing
Scarcity of jobs providing a living wage
Collaborative efforts between individuals, organizations and
government agencies
Statistics
Division of State Government accountability
2442 children under age of eighteen were homeless at some
time in 2015
Of those children, 253 were individually homeless without a
parent or guardian
Monroe County Schools report
A different category of homelessness
Doubled up or “couch surfing”
2197 students during the 2014-2015 school year 2
McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act
A child is guaranteed a public education regardless of
homeless situation
Prevents a child from having to change schools multiple times
during a homeless situation
Bussed to school district of last permanent residency
Will not be denied entry into new school district without
appropriate paperwork if they do have to change schools
HUD does not consider being doubled up a homeless
situation - not eligible for funds to help them out of the
situation 3
Doubling Up Review
Not counted in homeless counts
Counted by schools as a homeless category
Protected educationally
No funding to help permanently house
Serious risk for potential abusive environment
Can be told to leave at a moments notice
A Basic Review of State Policy
and Process
Family goes to a shelter or Department of Social Services
Determined homeless
Sent to a shelter, transitional housing or a motel
If parents are sanctioned by DSS
Must house below 32 degrees per executive order
Must house parent of child if they have custody of child
The Five Whys
Six Sigma concept to help determine root cause of problems4
I use when interviewing during intake process
Consists of five “why” questions
Cannot help someone out of their situation if we do not
know why they are there
Cannot create new policy if we do not know the root cause
of the many cases of situational poverty
Mary’s Five “Whys”
Mary, why are you homeless?
I cannot afford my rent
Why can’t you afford your rent?
My husband left us. I have no idea where he is at. My job does not
support the house and family.
Mary, I know this is personal but why did your husband leave?
He developed a drug and alcohol addiction. He chose that over us.
Why did he turn to drugs and alcohol? Was it always a problem?
No, it was not always a problem. He couldn’t handle the grief
anymore.
Mary’s Five Whys
Why was he grieving?
Our son, the identical twin of my 11 year old passed away last
year.
Mary and her husband did not receive counseling
Now there is more insight to the emotions of the eleven year
old son
Family was immediately set up with counseling and other
services in addition to housing assistance
Making Change Happen
Finding the root cause of homelessness is the beginning of
creating change in policy
There is no one single root cause
Change cannot occur by fixing a symptom
Change must occur at the root cause of homelessness to
produce any lasting results
Change occurs at an individual, organizational and
governmental agency level
As Individuals
Servant or Savior?
Servant helps marginalized people find solutions to complex problems
“Savior” complex is a god-like mentality of being better, knowing more and coming up with answers to problems no one else can answer
“Savior” complex is damaging to collaborative efforts of many 5
Being informed about the community
Geographically-where are the organizations
Socially-what these organizations do
Politically-attend a city council meeting
Finding your voice and knowing its power
As an Organization
An organization cannot change policy unless they get
involved politically
Will not lose nonprofit status over raising issues
Make sure your advocacy aligns with the mission of the
organization
Do not fear making the voices of the served communities
heard on all levels
Welcome and invite people who are in a homeless situation
to the conversation
As a Community
Working together as individuals, organizations and
government agencies
Collaborative effort exponentially more effective
The people making policy in the local and state government
levels may not know what the true issue is until they hear the
collective voice
Homelessness is hidden
Homelessness is invisible
In Review
There are homeless families walking around and interacting
with community members in Rochester
Know the state and local policies and procedures concerning
homeless families in order to give better direction
Getting to the root cause of situational poverty is important
Do not stop at one or two “why” questions
Five is the magic number
You are a servant not a savior
The individual voice is important and powerful
In Review
The voice of the homeless population is equally as
important. Listen clearly
Organizations should not be afraid to get political or
encourage members to do so in support of their mission
The government doe not know the problems with a policy or
the negative impact unless we tell them
Collectively working together in community produces the
best and longest lasting results
Bibliography 1 N. Ray, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth: An Epidemic of Homelessness. (Washington
DC: National Coalition for the Homeless, 2006).
2 Thomas P. DiNapoli, Office of the State Comptroller, Homeless Shelters and Homelessness in New
York State, (Division of State Government Accountability, 2016) 47-53.
3 United States Department of Education, Homeless Education, 2004,
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg116.html accessed April 10, 2017.
4 iSixSigma, Determining the Root Cause: 5 Whys, 2017, https://www.isixsigma.com/tools-
templates/cause-effect/determine-root-cause-5-whys/, accessed April 10, 2017.
5 Sarah S. Benton, Psychology Today, “The Savior Complex: Why Good Intentions May have
Negative Outcomes,” February 6, 2017, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-high-functioning-
alcoholic/201702/the-savior-complex, accessed April 10, 2017.