In the Poudre School District alone, there are 80 identified homeless high school students, and significantly more in foster care. Of those who are in foster care, only 2% will graduate from college.
Three years ago, the Catholic Charities shelter in Fort Collins turned away 80 people. Two years ago, they turned away 300. Last year they turned away 900. The problem and prevalence of homelessness is growing.
This is a population that is often overlooked and, if they are able to attend college, have significant and under-resourced needs. These unaccompanied youth have significant academic, transition, and access needs.
Insider Higher Ed reports that institutions have a better ability to identify these students thanks to the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. However, admissions departments do not generally seek this information from incoming students. For groups that try to support these students, they often have a hard time identifying them. With Pell, Chafee, and other grants, students have more opportunity than ever to attend college. However, they still face hardships of providing food, shelter, and health insurance. NPR reports that students, wanting to fit in, often hide their hunger and homelessness.
How do we support this unique population? I believe it starts with identifying students who are unaccompanied youth, either because they are homeless or because they aged out of the foster care system. Schools should develop committees or work groups that reach out to these students, especially during holiday breaks when they might be displaced from their residence halls. Committees may be able to help waive the cost of a student ID, apply food stamps to a meal plan, and connect students to financial aid resources.
We need to implement support systems for this population both before they come to college and while they attend. Students in foster care change high schools an average of 7 times in four years. One student I met with was in 15 different foster homes in 12 months (read another students' story here). This group doesn't have the opportunity to build a lasting relationship with a high school counselor. They need admissions staff who connect to them and help them believe they can attend college. This is part of the mission of the Chafee College Connect Conference, a three day experience (on a college campus) that helps foster youth to see college as part of their future. I had the opportunity to attend this conference this summer and the stories, drive, and potential in these students are inspirational and largely untapped.
Unaccompanied youth need staff from financial aid to recognize their unique needs and help them write grants, apply for scholarships, and identify academic supports. We have a poor job retaining this group of students. Of the 47,204 college students that self-identified as homeless in 2009, half of them dropped out.
Homeless college students are a growing population our college campuses. We need creative and collaborative solutions to reach out to these students. We can recruit and retain them better as we identify them and their unique challenges.
**I am involved with Fort Collins Homeward 2020 ten year plan to make homelessness rare, short lived, and non-recurring. Specifically, I am part of the youth advocacy task force and volunteer with the Matthews House in their work with unaccompanied youth. Some of the information in this blog comes from research based in that group. You can read more about that group here, and more about the Matthews House here.**
Beau I appreciate your post and the work you do with this student population. I believe many universities are not only unaware of this population but also do not know what their needs are. I did some consultation work with the independent population at UNC and it became clear that one possible reason universities have a difficult time serving these students is because their needs are so diverse. This may not be a surprise to most but I believe it creates some hesitancy. University staff members and service providers want to stay away from any possibility of marginalizing these students. I appreciate others' concern and enthusiasm about advocating for independent students and I think we need to also be aware that not all of these students want help. I agree we need to have better identification procedures. I agree we need to locate additional resources. I also agree we need to find ways to make higher education more accessible for independent students. However I believe we need to be sensitive to each individual's desire for assistance. With that said, I believe this student population is more prepared to be successful in college due to their resiliency and ability to find resources. I understand this can be a generalization and I agree with Beau when he said we need to help independent students believe they can come to college. College is not only for them, they are perhaps more prepared to be successful.
ReplyDeleteBeau I appreciate your post. I have recently witnessed a horrific incedent where police offiers arrived on scene where the homeless were seeking shelter. The officers poured out drinks and told the group to "get a life." It is evident that our community is in need of some education on how we can assist the homeless in a healthy manner.
ReplyDeleteAt the university setting, I beieve support groups would serve as a way to build camaraderie among students who are identified as independent (Beau, perhaps this is what you meant by work groups?). I trust that these groups would provide some comfort for students in knowing that they are not alone in their struggles. As Beau mentioned, often times these students are hesitant to reach out for help due to a number of different variables that come into play. Support groups would allow these students to build rapport with peers and support staff. I understand that this is a complex issue that requires interventions beyond suport groups. However, I believe that this is one way institutions can offer assistance to these students.
You both raised good points. Lisa, I like this statement you made, "However I believe we need to be sensitive to each individual's desire for assistance." Homeless students may have other identities that make them hesitant to self-identify as homeless. For example, what if a homeless student has a parent who is an illegal immigrant? For many of the foster/homeless students I've worked with, they have a criminal record or may even be on parole - maybe that don't want that stereotype or information shared. Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDeleteBeau, the focus of your post is near and dear to my heart as I am part of a coalition on my campus to raise awareness and educate staff and faculty about the rising number of college students who find themselves in housing insecure situations. It has become the mission of the coalition to educate any campus employee with student contact what constitutes as housing insecure in order to make appropriate referrals for students who may meet the criteria as an unaccompanied youth in order to apply for financial aid as independent status.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the stigma associated with being homeless, students often do not self-identify because they do not realize they meet the criteria. They may be couch surfing at the mercy of friends and family, but because they have a roof over their head they do identify as "homeless." It is for this reason that campus employees must be educated and cognizant of students who may meet the criteria for the Unaccompanied Youth legislature. It may be the English professor who discovers the student's situation in a reflection essay. It may be the academic advisor, the Student Life staff, or the admissions counselor. In addition to identifying students, employees must be trained in how to ask probing, follow up questions in a sensitive and respectful manner for the student's unique situation.
Adding to the challenges faced by this particular population is the documentation required for admission. When a student has been couch surfing or living in their car, maintaining possession of government issued identification or documentation proving they meet Colorado residency status provides yet another obstacle for these students.
http://www.naehcy.org/higher_ed.html
Thanks for a great post, Beau! I believe that student homelessness is a huge problem on our campuses, and definitely one that gets overlooked. When I was working with our student food bank, I would hear many stories from my student employees about students who were homeless, or living in their cars, just to be able to go to school to try to make a better life for themselves. While the food bank was just a small service, it helped these students to be able to focus more on their classes, and less on their situation. We also worked as a referral service to community agencies, connecting students with the help that they needed, in order to survive.
ReplyDeleteThis population is mostly silent and overlooked. When our institutions begin to recognize the problem, and start to look at ways to serve these students, we are going to have to seek them out. Many students were embarrassed to even use the food bank. Their pride may keep them from seeking other services as well.