While the intention of the McKinney-Vento requirement is laudable— it is well documented that providing a stable classroom setting can reduce the negative impacts of homelessness on children—wouldn’t it be more effective to prevent or limit homelessness in the first place? Shouldn’t available resources be directed to providing housing stability rather than cab fares? The King County Housing Authority (KCHA) is exploring how it can cost-effectively help address these twin challenges. “Providing long-term stable, affordable housing has the effect of stabilizing the lives of formerly homeless students at home and at school,” says Casey Trupin, attorney with Columbia Legal Services and one of the editors of the study Beds and Buses: How Affordable Housing Can Help Reduce School Transportation Costs, commissioned by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. “Researchers have demonstrated that rehousing homeless children in stable, affordable housing allows them to ‘make up’ the learning and development they may have lost while homeless.” Working as a partner in the Road Map District Consortium, a network of seven school districts in King County collaborating on educational initiatives under a federal Race to the Top grant, KCHA is developing a program that links schools and housing. A pilot Rapid Rehousing Demonstration with one of these partners, the Highline School District—where 900 students were homeless during the 20122013 school year—is just getting underway. Rapid rehousing is increasingly being seen across the country as an effective strategy for returning homeless families to permanent housing.
Technical assistance on program design is being provided by CSH. Building Changes, a local non-profit that supports homeless family initiatives, is providing funds for employment connection services. Additional client assistance funds from the United Way and other community foundations are expected to expand the reach of the program. If the demonstration program is successful, KCHA hopes to expand the initiative to the other school districts in the Race to the Top consortium.
The first day of school for students in the Highline District
The initiative is being evaluated by an outside consulting firm. KCHA and the Highline School District will be looking at four outcomes: 1) Reductions in the length of time families are homelessness; 2) The success of the program in utilizing short term assistance to facilitate long term housing stability; 3) Reductions in the use of educational funds for transportation costs; and 4) Improvements in classroom stability and academic outcomes for the youth assisted.
Increasing Access to Stable and Affordable Housing
Using the flexibility provided under its Moving to Work (MTW) contract, KCHA’s program will provide short-term rental assistance to rapidly rehouse 40 homeless families who have at least one child attending school in the Highline School District. The District’s McKinney-Vento school liaisons will identify and screen eligible families for referral to the pilot program. These families will be connected to rental subsidies, client assistance funds, employment, and other resources. Neighborhood House, a service provider with deep roots in the south King County community, will provide support as needed through housing search assistance, job training, employment, and financial case management. The expectation is that targeted families will only require assistance for a limited period of time (six months or less). The goal is to stably rehouse these families within the catchment areas of their existing schools.
Highline’s Kindergarten Jump Start program
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