Educational Services for Children in Domestic Violence Shelters: Perspectives of Shelter Personnel

Abstract

Thousands of school age children across the United States reside in emergency domestic violence (DV) shelters on any given day. Little is known about how DV shelters address educational needs of child residents. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act specifies educational rights of children experiencing homelessness and requires that school districts employ liaisons to help them enroll and succeed in school. This mixed methods survey of 55 Texas DV shelters obtained shelter personnel perspectives on the quality of educational services provided to child residents and information on how shelters facilitated educational access (e.g., on-site schools, district schools). Quantitative and qualitative findings revealed high levels of satisfaction overall regarding educational services, including relationships between shelter staff and school liaisons, with barriers described by only eight respondents. Barriers concerned transportation, delayed enrollment, safety from DV perpetrators at school, and shelters' lack of knowledge of homeless education policies. We discuss implications for future research and shelter and school practices.

Children’s Rights and Their Life Situation in Domestic Violence Shelters—An Integrative Review

“…These barriers concern arranging transportation to schools in other districts, difficulty getting the children admitted to new schools because of a shortage of available school places, enrolment delays due to missing documents, and concerns about children's safety at school. Obstacles like these have caused children to have periods of absence (e.g., Bracewell et al, 2020;Chanmugam et al, 2015;Johnson, 1984;Mullender et al, 1998;Øverlien, 2011b, 2012Selvik et al, 2017;Vass & Haj-Yahia, 2020). Most children that moved to shelters had to leave their school of origin and reported being absent from school for up to 9 months at a time, and many were subjected to multiple shelter stays that led to repeated periods of absence (Bracewell et al, 2020;Chanmugam, 2011;Øverlien, 2012;Selvik et al, 2017).…”

“…However, this means that the children's time is taken up by school and traveling, and that they have little time for themselves or for doing homework (Selvik et al, 2017). Children who cannot participate in regular school activities can sometimes receive distance education, education at the shelter, or a personal tutor for a short period of time (Bracewell et al, 2020;Chanmugam et al, 2015;Selvik et al, 2017). On one hand, Chanmugam et al (2015) study, which is based on the perspectives of shelter staff in the USA, shows that staff are pleased with the education the children are offered while living at the shelters.…”

“…Children who cannot participate in regular school activities can sometimes receive distance education, education at the shelter, or a personal tutor for a short period of time (Bracewell et al, 2020;Chanmugam et al, 2015;Selvik et al, 2017). On one hand, Chanmugam et al (2015) study, which is based on the perspectives of shelter staff in the USA, shows that staff are pleased with the education the children are offered while living at the shelters. On the other hand, Selvik et al (2017) study from Norway and Bracewell et al (2020) study from the UK show that children are less positive about their schooling, with many describing that they received no or only insufficient support.…”

“…They stated that it was difficult to establish and maintain relations with all the schools the children received placements in. Still, several respondents had experiences of shelters that had good collaborations with local schools and specific individuals who facilitated them (see Mullender et al, 1998;Chanmugam et al, 2015). Good collaborations can improve children's chances of having their educational needs fulfilled.…”