By Farah Jimenez
One of the many tragedies that unfolded after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were the historic levels of homeless children and families in 2006.
A man-made disaster made the situation worse. The Great Recession has left one in 45 American children homeless, an increase of 38 percent from 2007 to 2010.
These figures come from Dr. Ellen L. Bassuk, president of the National Center for Family Homelessness, which released this month its annual America's Youngest Outcasts report. The study ranks the effectiveness of state efforts to end homelessness among children and offers specific policy solutions.
"There must be no further cuts in federal and state programs that help homeless children and families," Bassuk says. "Deeper cuts will only create more homelessness and cost us more to fix in the long run."
Soon after the first Youngest Outcasts report was released in 2009, the People's Emergency Center brought Bassuk to Philadelphia to meet with Donald F. Schwarz, deputy mayor of health and opportunity. One of Bassuk's key recommendations was to address the emotional and behavioral health needs of children and youth.
That meeting jump-started the Children's Work Group, a regional partnership that connects family service providers with the Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing (OSH).
The goal was true social innovation, and great progress has already been made.
The Children's Work Group has developed and implemented cross-agency strategies to prevent children from becoming homeless and to address the needs of children in emergency, transitional, and supportive housing programs.
The city's OSH launched a training initiative called the Sanctuary Model, which helps more than 20 agencies provide the safest environment possible for the 1,600 families who enter emergency housing every year in Philadelphia. When families walk into a shelter in Philadelphia, they more likely feel safe and secure.
Service providers developed a "train the trainer" parenting program, the Family Care Curriculum, to help parents in emergency housing improve their caregiving skills. In the last year, OSH funded this training for 53 case managers and key staff who work with parents from more than 20 emergency and transitional housing programs. When a mother enters a shelter, she is more likely to provide better care for her children.
