by Chris Harris
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
Too often, one’s vision of the homeless is limited, seeing them as single adults sleeping alone somewhere on the city streets.
Yet school personnel face a very different reality daily — homeless children.
Sonya Wilds, assistant superintendent of Pulaski County Schools, told the Commonwealth Journal that homelessness is a challenge for many students in the school district.
The numbers are sobering — over 200 homeless students reported to the state every year, just in the Pulaski County School System.
Contrary to the constant stream of bad news about the economy, the trend seems to be waning. In 2008, a staggering 257 homeless students were reported by Pulaski County Schools; that number dipped to an even 200 in 2009 (2010 figures are not yet available). Still, that’s 200 too many, as far as Wilds is concerned.
“I think some people are unaware of the complexity as well as the scope of these types of problems in even our small community,” said Wilds. “We (as a school district) are in a unique position that allows us to directly experience and understand many of our community’s issues in our efforts in supporting our students and their families.
“School is sometimes the only place where families know to seek help, and sometimes school is the only entity able to do the reverse — intervene and advocate on behalf of our kids.”
Homelessness in Pulaski County became a lightning rod for controversy last week when Somerset City Councilors discussed the issue during their regular meeting. Councilor Jim Mitchell stated that he didn’t think homeless families should be allowed to walk along the city’s roadways. He believes the city should offer to provide shelter for those individuals — but if they don’t want to accept that help, officials should “take them to the county line.”
Interestingly, it was homeless families that were being discussed — not individuals. Families, of course, can involve children, perhaps the very children going to school each day and eating their only whole meal of the day during lunch period.
In Pulaski County Schools, students and families who are identified as being homeless are referred to the Family Resource or Youth Services Center (FRYSC) at the school in which the child is enrolled. The FRYSC staff makes face-to-face contact with the family to determine their individual needs and develop a plan of assistance.
“It sounds very ‘business-like’ but the individual stories and the heart and soul school staff invests in these families is something that is hard to express,” said Wilds.
Some of the modes of assistance the school system offers are:
• monetary assistance with rent or supplies from the FRYSC allocations if funding is available;
• referral to community services, such as the Housing Authority of Somerset, homeless shelters in surrounding counties, Department for Community Based Services, Adanta, Pulaski Emergency Relief Ministry, Lake Cumberland Community Action Agency, Migrant Services, God’s Helping Hands, St. Mildred’s Outreach and Clothing, and local churches;
• transportation to and from the school of origin provided by the school district while the students’ families are in the process of finding stable, consistent living arrangements;
• a coordinator for homeless students (Lori Hall, the district’s support services coordinator) who is available to provide support and counseling to homeless children and families, monitors and tracks the number homeless students in the district, and maintains an undated list of resources available to assist homeless students.
“Homelessness in its simplest definition means not having a stable place to live,” said Wilds. “Fortunately, many of these homeless children find housing with relatives and friends of the family which often cause great financial and emotional burdens on these households that take them in.
“Many however find shelter in garages, ‘out buildings,’ and even tents with no suitable plumbing or electricity,” she added. “These are the families we most try to support with community resources and our own resources in an attempt to improve a child’s living condition to where they can do the best that they can in school.”
The definition of “homeless,” according to the school system, means students who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. This includes children and youth who are:
• sharing housing due to loss of housing or economic hardship;
• living in motels, hotels, dilapidated trailers or camping ground due to lack of alternative adequate housing;
• living in emergency or transitional housing;
• abandoned in hospitals;
• awaiting foster care;
• having a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodations;
• living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations;
• migratory students who live in housing described above.
Wilds provided a map of Kentucky counties showing approximately how many homeless students each reported in the 2008-09 school year. Pulaski County ranked surprisingly high — only 11 school districts were ranked as having significantly more homeless students according to the chart.
(Somerset and Science Hill were both ranked in the lowest category for homeless student population, though both districts have substantially fewer students enrolled than Pulaski County.)
Wilds noted that the 200-plus homeless students reported annually does not include the adults associated with these children.
“It would be shocking to many people the wide range of difficulties our kids experience,” said Wilds. “We often get weary trying to do all we do for kids ... when our basic mission is education. But we know it is the right thing to do and the thing we have to do for our kids to succeed.”
