Another One For The "No Shit" Drawer

Those Canadians are on the ball - or street, as it were - when it comes to researching issues related to the Homeless and while those of us who work with them on a daily basis could easily provide enough anecdotal "evidence" on the hardship being homeless causes a student, it's nice to have something official to point to. I wasn't homeless as a child but I did move around quite a bit; I attended something like 6 schools while in the fifth grade, if memory serves me correctly, and I know just how difficult it was to cope with these comings and goings to new schools. I can't imagine what it would have been like to try and deal with the hassles and pressures of entering new schools and then come home to.....a garbage dumpster or a tent under a bridge or a bench on Church Street..... We ought to consider a study on the educational levels of individuals who are now adults but were homeless at any time during their school age years. I'll wager we'll find significant dropout rates, illiteracy and a severly impacted ability to think critically. Meanwhile, the numbers of Homeless children continue to rise....

Homeless kids have trouble settling at school: study

CTV.ca News Staff

Homeless children are slipping though the cracks of the city's education system, suggests a new study by the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto and the Aisling Discoveries Child and Family Centre.

The report, titled Lost in the Shuffle, found the majority of homeless children, between the ages of six and 12, frequently changed schools throughout the year. That resulted in them missing some of the curriculum.

Children who live in unstable living conditions can change schools about 10 times before reaching high school and many of them suffer from emotional trauma.

"Neither the school system nor the shelter system is equipped to systematically help them through," said Ann Decter, the report's author and researcher.

"And yet we know the steps we can take to make sure homeless children stay on track with their education without massive new spending. Teachers need help to keep these kids on the right track, and the kids need the support of a trained professional -- a guardian angel on their side."

The report looked at a national study that was released in 2004 that showed 88 per cent of children in shelters were escaping abusive circumstances at home.

According to the report, witnessing, or being subject to abuse, disrupts learning in many ways including:

• increased depression, aggression, and anxiety
• suffering from separation anxiety and mood swings
• showing symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder
• developing general mental health challenges

The report says liaison officers who are employed by non-profit agencies, help make all the difference when it comes to bridging the gap between school and the shelter.

"They also work with shelter children on emotional and behavioural problems that can otherwise send an entire class out of control," the report says.

"The school liaison worker is professionally equipped to deal with the effects of the trauma the child has experienced, and to assist in reducing the impacts of that trauma on the child's education and the classroom."

Besides being therapeutic for the child, liaison workers are also trained to step into a parental role if the parent is unable to help their child with the transition.

Since 1990, there have been thousands of homeless children living in Toronto's shelters. The number has been as high as 7,000 children to no less than 3,500 kids.

The study was funded by the United Way of Greater Toronto.