Feature Article: Answering the Call: Facilitating Responsive Services for Students Experiencing Homelessness

“Do Whatever you Can to Try to Support that Kid”: School Counselors’ Experiences Addressing Student Homelessness

“…To address the emotional needs of students experiencing homelessness, school counselors can provide socioemotional services such as counseling interventions (Strawser, Markos, Yamaguchi, & Higgins, 2000). They can also support students' academic needs by developing school-based programs such as tutoring (Grothaus, Lorelle, Anderson, & Knight, 2011). These diverse functions pose an unexamined set of challenges for school counselors working to meet the needs of students experiencing homelessness.…”

“…School-level services include facilitating interventions such as individual and group counseling and parental consultation and education (Baggerly & Borkowski, 2004). School counsel-ors may assist with student enrollment and facilitate transitions by gathering records from students' prior institutions (Grothaus et al, 2011). They also play a key role in identifying students who are experiencing homelessness (Walsh & Buckley, 1994) and supporting their basic needs.…”

“…School counseling interventions can be effective in addressing the needs of students experiencing homelessness (Baggerly & Borkowski, 2004;Grothaus et al, 2011). However, survey research has indicated that school counselors report low levels of engagement in interventions specifically recommended to support students affected by a loss of housing (i.e.…”

“…By clarifying these roles, students will have a clearer system of support. For example, the school counselor may engage in any or all of the following: coordinating services; connecting with parents; and providing brief supportive social/emotional counseling, academic support, and career and college planning (Grothaus et al, 2011). At the same time, school social workers can assist with identifying and tracking of students, engaging in community outreach and grant writing, and linking parents and students to community services and agencies (Jozefowicz-Simbeni & Isreal, 2006).…”

Leadership Practices Linked to Involvement in School–Family–Community Partnerships

“…Hence, school counseling scholars emphasize the importance of school-family-community partnerships in tackling students' mental health challenges (Kaffenberger & O'Rorke-Trigiani, 2013); promoting college readiness and access (Bryan, Young, Griffin, & Henry, 2016;P. L. Hines & Lemons, 2011;Holcomb-McCoy, 2010); addressing systemic issues that affect students, such as poverty (Amatea & West-Olatunji, 2007;Cole, Cowan, & Craigen, 2015;Grothaus & Cole, 2010) and homelessness (Grothaus, Lorelle, Anderson, & Knight, 2011); and closing academic achievement gaps (Trusty et al, 2008). Indeed, recent research demonstrates that school counselors' leadership resulted in a school-family-community partnership program that contributed to gains in urban elementary school students' reading achievement and developmental assets (Henry, 2014;Henry et al, 2017).…”