Unaccompanied Youth

An unaccompanied youth is a young person that has no stable place to live and no stable guardianship. They have been forced to leave home because of family problems, economic problems, and residential instability. They live in hotels, motels, cars, parks, campgrounds, or relative or friends house. Living on the streets leaves youth at extreme risk for sexual exploitation, substance abuse, and other mental and emotional problems. These youth face a tumultuous time in their lives and are just trying to make it by.

Unaccompanied youth value their education, perhaps even more than children who have stable homes. They wish to go to school because they recognize the importance and know it is a way to make their future brighter. Yet research shows that the vast majority of unaccompanied youth do not finish high school. 

This can surely be accounted for by the seriousness of homelessness. They have to struggle to ensure they have their basic needs. They have to undergo the severe emotional and physical stress psychologically. 

Now some unaccompanied youth are able to make it through high school, but this is only made possible through assistance from educators and adults and supportive services. They are able to find a place to live and have their basic needs met. While they receive the services however, they may still experience extreme stress and emotional instability because they are unsure or how long the circumstances will last. 

These youth experiencing homelessness need help if they are going to remain in school. First and foremost, their basic needs must be met. They must be able to have the shelter, food, and health services that they need. Additionally, the students need to feel safe in their school environment through the help of mentors, welcoming schools to all minority groups, and revision of legislature. Those unaccompanied youth that have removed themselves from school need to be drawn back through the help of caring individuals that want to help. Welfare policies regarding children need to be revised. Lastly, those agencies that aim to help unaccompanied youth need to work together to provide wrap around service for every child.

Life After High School

Going off to college is an exciting time for most students, you get to leave home, have a new experience and finally be on your own. However for those students that are homeless, this is not the case. They might not ever get to go to college at all, because they cannot afford it. As many of us who have been to college know, it is not cheap to say the least. With tuition, books, housing, and food for expenses, the cost of going to college piles up to be many thousands of dollars. 

Due to the severity of poverty that children experiencing homelessness live in, college education would be impossible without government aid. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is the application that must be completed in order to receive grants, work study, loans, tuition waivers etc. for college. This application requires the student to file financial papers and information about their parents, which they may be unable to get. Because these students do not receive financial help from their parents, it makes it almost impossible for them to complete the FAFSA.  

One exception to this rule is the “independent student.” A student who qualifies as being independent does not have to file financial papers for their parents. In order to be qualified as an “independent student” the student must be an orphan, a ward of the court, a veteran, a graduate student, married, or have a dependent. As someone who is homeless could not be under any of the previous circumstances, they would not be able to qualify as an “independent student.” 

This definition of independent is now becoming amended so that it allows unaccompanied youth to qualify as an independent student. Under the help of a financial aid administrator from the college of choice, a student who is experiencing homelessness is able to college. No longer are the days where children who are homeless must remain in the cycle of poverty. They are able to break the cycle by going to college and not becoming a part of another statistic. 

“I knew that I didn’t want to be homeless for the rest of my life, and I saw education as the sure path to a more secure future. Hard work does not intimidate; a vacuous future does. To succeed in college is to succeed in life, and never again have to live the way I am living now.” Ashleigh, Formerly Homeless Student

Kentucky Ranked High on Homelessness

According to a recent report on the number of homeless children in the United States from the National Center on Family Homelessness, 40,000 children in Kentucky did not have a home in 2010. This puts Kentucky at the highest amount of children experiencing homelessness in the United States behind Oregon. 

Michael Hurysz, with the Northern Kentucky Development District, says that despite the increase in child homelessness, family homelessness has stayed about the same, due to funding that helped families find homes.

Regardless, however, public school districts are faced with a growing amount of students that do not have a permanent place to live. Boone County reported 469 students, Kenton County reported 854 students, and Campbell County reported 324 students that were experiencing homelessness. 

Lack of permanent housing includes anyone who does not have a “regular and adequate nighttime residence,” according to the McKinney-Vento Act. This includes students living in motels, hotels, tents, cars, public places, “doubled up” or “couch surfing.” Many students have been living in one room motels sleeping on two small beds and the floor, living there for months at a time. The number of students living with their grandparents is also on the rise as well. 

The homelessness that these young students are facing, leads them to be susceptible to disadvantages such as hunger, illness, and academic faltering. Action needs to be taken in Kentucky in order to ensure that the issue of homelessness does not get any worse and effect the people of our future any more.

The Affects of Hunger on Children

 It has always been known that hunger has negative effects on the body and mind, however, a recent study has been able to pinpoint the effects hunger has on a child. The study discovered that those families with severe child hunger issues had a higher chance of chronic illnesses. The study also discovered that children who are hungry are more likely to experience anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Previous research has found children who frequently experience hunger issues to have more acute symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches; however, more current research has found it to affect the physical wellbeing more over a period of time. This chronic illness, that many children who frequently experience hunger encounter, is very difficult to pinpoint the cause of. It has been thought that it could be the result of psychological health over time, but the research is inconclusive. 

 This anxiety and depression that children who experience severe child hunger may encounter can be attested to the fact that children may never know when meal or shelter will come next, so they panic and encounter this anxiety. It could also be attested the mother experiencing anxiety and depression and thus influencing the children as well.

When a child is in school and experiencing homelessness, it can be a lot to deal with, both physically and psychologically. A child who is homeless would be concerned of their next meal and next place to stay. This child may also be concerned of their wellbeing if they frequently are becoming ill. Not to mention the anxiety depression, or other multitude of psychological factors that could be at play. These factors would cause a decrease in academic functioning, poorer attendance rates, and repeated grades.

With many environmental and social factors already at play in any normal student’s life, these additional factors would make any easy task in school seem much more difficult. It is almost assumed that children who experience homelessness would encounter moderate to severe child hunger, therefore leading them to encounter these difficult barriers to education. It is important that these children are not forgotten or “swept under the rug” because they deserve not only to have a right to education, but to not be faced with these negative effects of hunger as well.

Summer 2012 Volunteering and Sponsorships

Faces without Places & Project Connect are hosting the 15^th annual summer program providing

academic and life-enriching activities for children ages 5 to 12 experiencing homelessness.

The theme for this year is “Healthy You, Healthy Me, Healthy’s What We’re Gonna Do!” 

2012 SUMMER SPONSORSHIP/VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

ATHLETIC SOCKS AND SHOES

Total needed: $1,600.00

Sponsor a brand new pair of athletic shoes and socks from Payless Shoes for approximately 140 children and youth experiencing homelessness so they can “Move it” in appropriate footwear. 

SWIM SUITS AND POOL GEAR

Total needed: $3,500

Part of healthy living is exercise, help provide swim suits, beach towels and flip flops for approximately 140 children and youth experiencing homelessness for a fit and fun summer.

EXERCISING THE MIND

Total needed: $4,000

Help us provide educational tools for success for children and youth experiencing homelessness.

HEALTHY EATING

Total needed: $5,000

Students are provided breakfast, lunch and snacks daily. For many of students these may be the only meals they receive each day, and therefore it is very important that meals are nutritional and well prepared.  Help us provide meals, snacks, or make a contribution towards our $5,000 food budget.

Community Lunches

Bring and serve lunch to the children on a Wednesday.

June 13; 20; 27; July 10; 18; 25; Brunch Thursday, August 2nd

A great volunteer opportunity for your company!

Packed Lunches

Provide lunch for a classroom (30) or the whole camp (90) for campers to take on field trips and for activities

June 14; 19; 21; 26; 28; July 3; 5; 10; 12; 17; 19; 24; 26

Fresh Produce, Healthy Snacks, Bottled Water or Juice Boxes

Provide funds or inkind donations to support the children’s healthy eating habits.

LET’S MOVE CINCINNATI STYLE

5 Minutes in the morning—get the heart pumping!

Select a kid appropriate song with a beat, design a workout to match that song then lead our children in their 9:00 am Movin’ It time.

Week 1 June 11-15; Week 2 June 18-22, Week 3 June 25-29, Week 4 July 2-6, Week 5 July 9-12, Week 6 July 16-19, Week 7 July 23-27, Week 8 July 30-Aug 1

Join us any morning for a light workout!

HEALTH FAIR

It’s the kids’ last day reporting to our 2011 location and the most special because of the amount of family and community supporters attending.

Find out how you can help – healthy snack stations, activities for the children (bouncing house, balloon artists, etc)

For more information contact:

Beth Griffith-Niemann beth@faceswithoutplaces.org  or (513) 389-0805

Faces without Places is a 501c3 and donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

www.faceswithoutplaces.org

Faces without Places is Hiring!

About Faces without Places: Faces without Places was founded in 1998 to support children experiencing homelessness in Greater Cincinnati. $5,000 was raised to provide a bus to bring children experiencing homelessness to a summer program. Faces without Places provides enrichment, summer programming, transportation, uniforms, supplies, field trips, and specialized services to over 3,000 children experiencing homelessness each year.

Member Duties : The Faces without Places VISTA will increase both awareness of education issues surrounding homeless children, and resources to remove barriers and foster school stability for homeless children. Specifically, the VISTA will continue the Change 4 Change program in Greater Cincinnati Schools. Students learn about homelessness and the undertake service projects to benefit those children and families. Increase resources and volunteerism by outside groups (corporations, organizations, classes, individuals). Manage the Faces without Places image by managing the website, Facebook, and Twitter accounts and writing and distributing newsletters. Conduct grant research to help find new funders for Faces without Places and children experiencing homelessness. 

Program Start/End Date 07/13/2012  -   07/12/2013   Full-Time

Applicants can email beth@faceswithoutplaces.org for more information but must apply through the AmeriCorps Portal https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?fromSearch=true&id=45064