Notes from Janelle Leppa, Family Housing Program Director at
Simpson Housing Services
Are we correctly identifying homeless children ages 0-4 years old?
I would advocate that children retain their status of homelessness beyond initial episode
or episodes. Research is clear that the risk for developmental delays extends beyond
period of specific homelessness.
What needs do homeless children ages 0-4 years old have?
Stability is number and safe housing is a cornerstone of stability. Stress of parent is felt
by child- supporting parents to reduce
Twofold Needs
1. Supporting parent- Supporting both parent(s) and child with a focus on the
relationship between the two. Increasing parents capacity to be responsive to
their young child needs. Parents are eager to do the best they can for their
children, yet trauma significantly impacts our capacity to do our best. We know
that timely, responsive support can significantly increase a parents
understanding of their child development and capacity to respond to the needs of
their young children.
2. High quality, consistent, affordable, and safe childcare environment. Ability to
maintain continuity of childcare regardless of parents activity (working, in school,
or not engaged in either activity).
What barriers or gaps in service exist that limit access for homeless children?
Our support system for the needs of young children is a fragmented system. Even with a
dedicated advocate, we struggle to get people into existing services.
A lot of our services seem to be meant for the people who are capable of obtaining
them. Those with the greatest need, those who are focused on survival, don’t get them.
Child care - Subsidies being linked to a parents activity presents a true hardship for the
development of the young children. The unintended result is too often abrupt and
frequent changes between care providers. Frequent starts and stops of childcare,
despite the quality of that care, is not supportive of healthy development. In addition, the
need for transportation and for high quality non-traditional hour care is significant.
Simpson Housing - Notes to the Homeless Working Group – December 10, 2015
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Early Learning scholarships through Think Small - 30 parents from Simpson applied, two
received it and the rest remain on the waiting list. Most applied the week the
scholarships came out. It is likely that our families were not prioritized because they
already left the shelter, despite most continuing to qualify as homeless due to living in
time limited transitional housing programs. I would recommend that young children who
have experienced homelessness should be prioritized.
Head Start – 1) Paperwork is a long process. Immunization forms, lead, hemoglobin.
2) Once paperwork is complete, not unusual to be on the waiting list for 8 months plus,
often longer in the early head start. Brooklyn Center for example, tends to keep a 150200 plus waiting list at any given point in time. A referral from Simpson, plus a families
homeless and highly mobile status equates for an extra 10 points on the wait list point
system. If a child has a diagnosed developmental delay, they get 90 points. This system
is reactive versus preventive.
Early intervention – 1) Screenings tend to take 4-6 weeks to get an appointment.
Circumstances can change significantly in 4-6 weeks, including readiness to go to the
appointment. 2) Then fear of systems and complications navigating this world. Parents’
lack of understanding of jargon is frequently a concern. Many parents fear being
branded as a bad mother if their child needs services.
Frazier and Washburn have several months waiting list.
Parent support around connecting with healthcare, getting to appointments such as the
food shelf. Supports systems tend to fragmented and inconsistent in availability and
accessibility.
What educational specific services do homeless children ages 0-4 years old need?
Again, twofold approach - parent home visitor to support relationship and healthy
development at home and consistent, high quality learning environment.
Teachers and caregivers to have an understanding of poverty, homeless, trauma and
how these impact development of children and families.
What educational services currently exist to fulfill those needs? What are the gaps?
Head Start - Once they leave the shelter, they lose their spot in Head Start.
High quality, affordable, and safe child care tied to the child and not the parent’s activity.
Targeted to the children who have the greatest need.
More funding in order to embed parent home visitors in all of the supportive housing
programs. Although we know that this makes a tremendous impact in our own program,
we have to privately raise the funds to provide the services and we can’t reach all of the
parents and children due to funding limitations.
Simpson Housing - Notes to the Homeless Working Group – December 10, 2015
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What resources are currently available that provide educational services to homeless
children ages 0-4 years old?
Project Secure - through Head Start - ends when they leave the shelter. We need to
know that this does not end here - what happened prior to homelessness?
As I’ve mentioned, our fragmented system has opportunities, but too often children and
families who have experienced homeless do not successfully access this.
What resources are still needed to fill any identified gaps and where does that funding
come from – the school district, city, county, state, or federal government?
I can’t offer expertise on funding solutions, however I am confident that it will cost an
awful lot of money to the school district, city, county, state and federal government NOT
to provide these services for children who have experienced homelessness.
Contact:
Janelle Leppa
Family Housing Programs Director
Direct Line: 612.455.0844 | Mobile: 612.205.9207
Simpson Housing - Notes to the Homeless Working Group – December 10, 2015
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