The Impact of Homelessness on the

health of our students:

 How can we help?
A presentation for Denver County School Districts

By: Larissa Marceau, Becky Smith & Emily Wolfe

 • Respect
• Homeless youths and their families' knowledge,
culture, assets, concerns & stories
• Honesty
Important • Open exchange in research.  Use of language all
considerations feel comfortable with.   ie. Choice to use the
word homeless word choice.  The community is
when part of the process.
• Care
approaching this • Research & intervention should align to meet
community's needs, not researchers'
conversation: perceptions of need
• Those experiencing housing insecurity have the
knowledge and the tools we are here to support

SAN CODE OF RESEARCH ETHICS. (2017.). http://trust-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/San-Code-of-

RESEARCH-Ethics-Booklet-final.pdf
HOMELESS  The 2019 Center for Homeless Education
(NCHE) further clarifies homeless to include: 
 
According to the 2021 UNSHELTERED (living in cars or outdoors)   
Annual Homeless 3.7%
Assessment Report done
by HUD, homeless is SHELTERED (homeless shelters or
transitional housing)  14.3%
defined as a person who
lacks a fixed, regular and
DOUBLED UP with family or friends 75.8%
adequate nighttime
residence.
            IN HOTELS temporarily  6.6%
 • January 2020, 580,466 people experiencing
homelessness in the U.S.  (HUD, 2021)
Of our students, • 40% of all homeless are families, the majority of
who is most which have young children (Swick & Williams,
affected by 2010)
homelessness?
• In 2019 over 1.3 million school aged children
were homeless in the U.S. (Gultekin et al., 2019).

• Kindergarten – 3rd grade: 34%

•  4 – 6th Grade:  23%
• 7 – 8 Grade: 13.4%
• High School: 27%
 Loss of possessions

How are
Chronic instability

students 
Changes in family and friend relationships (overstaying welcome)

Changes to daily routines

affected?   Poor diet

Increased exposure to toxins

Young children are moving through vital developmental stages which

can be disrupted by the above problems causing further concerns

(Gultekin et al., 2019)

 How do these problems present?

Physical Health Mental/ Cognitive Wellbeing

• Malnutrition • Emotional challenges

• Poor overall health • Difficulty with attachment
• Vision problems  • Delayed literacy
• Asthma • Decreased educational
• Chronic stress outcomes
• Dental problems • Increased psychological
challenges

(Gultekin et al., 2019; Swick & Williams, 2010)

Examples of Increased absences

the physical Decline in academic performance

health impacts
homelessness Increased isolation from peers

can have on Feelings of being misunderstood, schools and

youth: peers often presume students is 'faking' problems
or being troublemakers
“It took a really long time to be
diagnosed.
We were moving around. I kept going to
the
emergency room.…Everybody just thought
I was skipping school.”
—Formerly Homeless High School Graduate,
Class of 2016, New York City
How to be non-exploitative when supporting
homeless youth 

Understand that the homeless

We want to recognize schools as an
community already feels powerless
asset not a solution.
and often without a voice.  

We are not here to tell parents how to

be better parents, or judge choices.
We do not want to judge children or We also seek to engage with the
jump to conclusions about behavior.  families of homeless youth to create a
 We want to recognize the difficulties wider social structure to act as a stable
these communities face, listen to their resource for the entire family system.
needs and be available to provide any
resources we can.
Considerations of Power

• We want to address children because they are the most powerless individuals in
this community.  
• Families function within bigger power structures 
• Rules in shelters, landlords, social service program requirements, non-profit
funders, local legislation
• We recognize that teachers and schools are in a position of power. We hope to act
as allies towards homeless youth with this power.
• As social workers, we understand that intervention could easily become a power
dependent relationship.  This is not what we want. We want to ally with this
community to help meet needs they find important.
 How do you view homelessness?
Ecological Theory

• Highlights the dynamic, interdependent factors involved in

complex issues like homelessness.
• Includes the personal situation, local environment, impact of
policy, larger social influences and ideologies.
• Considers changes overtime 
• Especially applicable in considering the positionality of power with
children. It is important to pay attention to the factors they do not
have agency over but impact daily life. 
 Community Asset Mapping: Strengths of
Individuals - Mothers   
• (Banyard & Graham-Bermann, 1995)
• Participants: Sixty-four mothers who had at least one child below the age of 12 living with
them in a temporary emergency shelter participated. 
• 98% of women could point to at least one strength
• Those reported most often were: 
1) will power and determination to overcome obstacles
2) being a good mother
3) ability to care for significant others 
4) being independent and self-sufficient. 
Community Asset Mapping: Strengths of
Individuals - Mothers Con.

“Being there for my little boy, you know, even though I'm going through an ordeal trying to get
myself back straightened out. I mostly have to be there for him and that's what makes me
strong, is my kids.”
Community
Asset Shayla – 11 Years Old
"She is so creative and comes running into the
Mapping: room each Saturday morning to help me set up.
Shayla has such an amazing attention span...you
Strengths of give her a project, she becomes completely
enthralled in it, and stays with it for a long time."
Individuals - (Grineski, 2014)
Children
 Family Voice Council – Denver, Colorado
Community Asset
Mapping: Strengths • "I am a single mom to a delightful preschool-
aged child. ... The voices that I bring to the
of Individuals – Family Voice Council are homelessness,
addiction recovery, single parenting and
Families in Denver  •
home visitation."
(Colorado Department of Human
Services, 2022)
Denver Stories
• “As for Maya and Theo, they found their place at Warren Village through Kids’
Club. They found activities they both love—art for Maya and building for Theo—
and continue to connect with other children in the Warren Village community.
Maya has taken a particular interest in running as a result of her participation in
Girls on the Run Rockies (GOTRR). Maya has participated in multiple training
seasons and is extremely dedicated to her training and participating with her
team and coaches on the lesson plans that are part of this physical activity-based
positive youth development (PA-PYD) program designed to develop and enhance
girls’ social, psychological, and physical competencies to successfully navigate life
experiences. GOTRR is one of our programmatic partners, organizations like this
provide services that elevate and enhance our program.”
• (Warren Village, 2021) 
 Started by & led by people who have
experienced homelessness
• Denver Homeless Out Loud (Denver Homeless Out
Loud, 2022)

Volunteer • Denver Voice (Denver Voice, 2022)

Groups & Mutual Aid Organizations

• Mutual Aid Monday (Mutual Aid Monday, 2022)

Networks • Several Others 

Other organizations
• Denver Rescue Mission (Denver Rescue Mission,
2022)
• St. Francis Center (St. Francis Center, 2022)
Governmental & Non-Governmental
Organizations (Bautsch Dickhoner & Valis, 2021)
Government & Non-Government
Organizations
Governmental Non-Governmental

• Denver Public Schools • Colorado Coalition for

• Homeless Education the Homeless – 105.9
Network (Denver Million in Government
Public Schools Equity Funding
and Engagement, (Bautsch Dickhoner &
2022) Valis, 2021)
Economic Assets
• Governmental: Denver (City & County of Denver, 2022)
• Limited short-term housing
• One-time emergency financial assistance 
• Colorado Works/TANF
• Colorado Child-care Assistance Program (CCCAP)
• Medicaid
• Child Health-Plan Plus (CHP+)
• Informal: Family Transfers (Schoeni & Koegel, 1998)
• Population as underused economic potential (Heim,
2009)
 (Manuel, 2021)
Physical Assets
Physical Assets, con.
• Colorado Coalition for the Homeless Clinics (Colorado Coalition for the
Homeless, 2022)
• School-Based Clinics (Offered through DPS & Denver Health)
• Denver Health
• (Denver Public Schools, 2019)
Recommendations:
How can educators and school staff help? 
Community to reduce social
Community Development Model Community for care
isolation
• Bottom up, broad participation, • Multiple service providers must • Build trust with families
collaborative community.  collaborate to make a difference •  (California Department of
• Relationship building to reduce • Build solid connection to Education, 2019)
isolation, process-based. Mckinney Vento Liaison • Address the alienation families
• Denver's Road Home – goals and • Stay up to date on local policy that may experience and empower
failures  affects homeless families them to be a part of the change
• (Denver Human Services et al., • Within a school: all staff process 
2015) awareness, school social worker, • (Rutenfrans-Stupar et al., 2019)
• Coordination across programs free lunch programs, health
clinic, transportation, anti-
bullying programs
• Partnerships outside of the
school: consider creating
resource folder, medical clinics,
therapy providers, food
pantries, affordable housing or
shelters, social services,
insurance
 Thank you for attending
our presentation to spread
Feel free to contact us
awareness about the
with any questions or
experiences of our youth
ideas.
that experience
homelessness
References
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