Children on Skid Row
**sorry this is kind of long...
Recently we split off into groups to research our interests surrounding Skid Row. While researching, I found an interesting article speaking to the recent increase of children on Skid Row. The article, titled The Number Of Children Living On Skid Row Has Doubled Since Last Year (https://laist.com/2018/10/31/skid_row_homeless_children.php), speaks about the many children residing in Skid Row. There are organizations and spaces like Skid Row's Union Rescue Mission that are filled to capacity and are struggling to provide a place to be for a homeless family on Skid Row. Why do you think the number of children/families with children on Skid Row has had such a major increase in the last year?
I continued my research to see if there were more organizations providing spaces for homeless families on Skid Row to stay with children. Unfortunately, the article I previously stated above was the only one that revealed itself. It was confusing to me to see that the amount of children on Skid Row presents itself as a problem; however, there doesn't seem to be much concern surrounding it (what I mean is that it doesn't have much information on the internet). Why aren't there more shelters, daycares, or education centers where children can go? Why isn't there more funding going into these resources for children and families in these circumstances?
Going to Poly, education was always presented to us where it was mandatory. It was never a choice whether we were going to learn how to read or whether we were going to learn how to do certain calculations. It has been presented as a right and less of a privilege. Learning is a tremendous privilege we are lucky enough to receive; however, that is not the case for many children living on Skid Row. Online, I found an organization called School on Wheels. It is an organization that "provides academic tutoring to children living in shelters, motels, cars, group foster homes and on the streets in Southern California. [They] provide [their] students with stability in a time of stress and transition and help them achieve educational success so that they may break the cycle of homelessness and poverty." I think organizations like this are extremely important because they stress the importance of education while also showing the excitement that can be attached to learning new things. I think this organization is doing a really important thing and accepts volunteers and donations. There is no specific question attached to this last paragraph of my post but I think education is such an important thing and also helping children get out of the homeless cycle. If you have questions of your own you can ask those, or you can just comment on your own opinions regarding the work they are doing. This is the School on Wheels website if you want to apply as a volunteer or donate: https://www.schoolonwheels.org/.
Recently we split off into groups to research our interests surrounding Skid Row. While researching, I found an interesting article speaking to the recent increase of children on Skid Row. The article, titled The Number Of Children Living On Skid Row Has Doubled Since Last Year (https://laist.com/2018/10/31/skid_row_homeless_children.php), speaks about the many children residing in Skid Row. There are organizations and spaces like Skid Row's Union Rescue Mission that are filled to capacity and are struggling to provide a place to be for a homeless family on Skid Row. Why do you think the number of children/families with children on Skid Row has had such a major increase in the last year?
I continued my research to see if there were more organizations providing spaces for homeless families on Skid Row to stay with children. Unfortunately, the article I previously stated above was the only one that revealed itself. It was confusing to me to see that the amount of children on Skid Row presents itself as a problem; however, there doesn't seem to be much concern surrounding it (what I mean is that it doesn't have much information on the internet). Why aren't there more shelters, daycares, or education centers where children can go? Why isn't there more funding going into these resources for children and families in these circumstances?
Going to Poly, education was always presented to us where it was mandatory. It was never a choice whether we were going to learn how to read or whether we were going to learn how to do certain calculations. It has been presented as a right and less of a privilege. Learning is a tremendous privilege we are lucky enough to receive; however, that is not the case for many children living on Skid Row. Online, I found an organization called School on Wheels. It is an organization that "provides academic tutoring to children living in shelters, motels, cars, group foster homes and on the streets in Southern California. [They] provide [their] students with stability in a time of stress and transition and help them achieve educational success so that they may break the cycle of homelessness and poverty." I think organizations like this are extremely important because they stress the importance of education while also showing the excitement that can be attached to learning new things. I think this organization is doing a really important thing and accepts volunteers and donations. There is no specific question attached to this last paragraph of my post but I think education is such an important thing and also helping children get out of the homeless cycle. If you have questions of your own you can ask those, or you can just comment on your own opinions regarding the work they are doing. This is the School on Wheels website if you want to apply as a volunteer or donate: https://www.schoolonwheels.org/.
https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-skid-row-homeless-children-20161124-story.html here is another article that I found that talks about children on skid row. This article says that most of the kids sleep in the Union Rescue Mission Shelter, which provides them food, shelter, clinics and much more. When they wake up, School on Wheels picks up the kids and takes them to their learning center where they have twice a week tutoring and a gym for the kids to play. Still, twice a week is not enough. I was curious about how many homeless kids attend public school. Apparently in 2014-2015 2.5% of students in U.S. public elementary schools and secondary schools were reported homeless. I wonder how these statistics look in Los Angeles and how they progress through high school.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the tragic number of homeless children is shockingly un-discussed. It seems like people talk about "homeless families" without ever really addressing issues like child care or education. I have a family friend who is a high school teacher, and some of her students are experiencing homelessness, and this makes me wonder about what proportion of homeless children attend school, as obviously there are many boundaries that might make these kids unable to go to school. Along these lines, I wonder if parents experiencing homelessness are often or even can be penalized with truancy charges. In California, a "parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of any student fails to compel the student to attend school" is subject to fines in the range of hundreds of dollars, and I wonder if this may contribute to the cycles of homelessness that families experience.
ReplyDeleteI think that the recent rapid increase of homeless youth on Skid Row must have to do with worsening economic conditions for their families, whether that be from lowered wages, high rent, or something else. I agree with Emma and you in that the prevalence of homeless youth particularly on Skid Row isn’t talked about enough and that the city needs to put more of its resources towards it. It must be incredibly difficult to be a student who wants to learn and be in school but is affected by forces out of their control like homelessness, so the work that programs like Schools on Wheels are doing is incredibly important. I do, however, think that the city itself could put more funding towards homeless students to make sure they are able to be properly enrolled in schools and not drop out/not attend them, rather than relying on third-party organizations to do the work.
ReplyDeleteI found a video from the Union Rescue Mission on YouTube, which follows their youth coordinator Peter as he discusses what they do for the kids on skid row. One of the biggest things that stuck with me was how Peter talked about the walk home from school for kids. He describes how there is drug use, prostitution, people talking to themselves, people sleeping half naked on the streets, and how it is not a good thing for children who are still in elementary school to see. He also discusses how it is important for people to make the kids feel like they matter, and there is a lot of footage of volunteers playing with the kids and teaching them stuff. I think it is important for us to volunteer at organizations such as the Union Rescue Mission, as we should not let kids grow up on their own in such a hostile environment.
ReplyDeleteReally quick, what’s the actual number of homeless children on Skid Row?
ReplyDeleteGoing back to what each of us researched in class, I looked up the annual amount that Los Angeles spends on homelessness. I found that they spend approx. $100 million a year dealing with homelessness, however, as much as $87 million of that money goes to arrests, skid row patrols and mental health interventions. Obviously, the majority of the money is not going towards beneficial things, so I think that that is a major issue. Additionally, I was doing some research, and I know this isn’t directly related to Los Angeles, but I found this organization called the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY). They are dedicated to ensuring educational equality and excellence for children and youth experiencing homelessness. I’m kind of confused what their role is in Los Angeles specifically, however, they are a national organization, so I’m assuming they do something. Here’s the link to their website: https://naehcy.org/mission/
I can't even begin to imagine the endless obstacles that children experiencing homelessness face when trying to attend school. Obtaining school materials is certainly one of them, finding safe passages to school (as Jono mentioned), and filing registrations and paperwork without a permanent address. Speaking of, I know that Midnight Mission provides its residents with a postal address, which makes employment and school enrollment much more possible. Like Emma said, children experiencing homelessness are often grouped into the "family" category.
ReplyDeleteTypes of care and resources vary dramatically based on one's identity, whether you're a man or a woman, child, or family, which is why it's dangerous to lump the specific needs of children experiencing homelessness with those of adults. Over the summer I visited Jovenes, which is a homeless shelter in Boyle Heights serving youths ages 18-25. That's a very specific age demographic that the shelter has identified as having unique needs.
ReplyDeleteSort of going off of Coco's statistics and what a lot of other people have mentioned, I am really interested in homeless students and how LAUSD/teachers/administrators deal with that. Are there policies in place that help students experiencing homelessness? And what would those policies even encompass? How does age play into that?
Also I think it's important to consider people who live in their vehicles. I think I've mentioned this before, but there's a street literally down the hill from where I live lined with RV trailers that people live in. What are health implications there, and how are policies surrounding that similar/different from tent encampments?
In a similar vein, I've also been thinking a lot about housing insecurity vs. homelessness and how those two things overlap and feed into each other - encompassing other issues like food deserts/insecurity, inequity in public schools (think: South Pas) and public resources and things like that. How can public infrastructure create more healthy space for people who are home insecure/homeless? I know the LA Public Library has taken some really influential steps towards truly being a space for everyone. I wonder how other places can do the same?
Like many others have said, the amount of children who are homeless is alarming and the fact that there isn't much talk of homeless children, the discussion is more focused on Homeless families instead of the actual children. One of my best friends was homeless at one point in her life and she said that she always struggled to feel like a normal kid because she had to think of where she could stay for the night, she usually spent nights at friends houses and is now in a permanent home. I think many people would benefit with more daycare/afterschool care for lower income families because many daycares are way too expensive usually costing hundreds of dollars a month which adds up if a person is also trying to pay other bills and find/keep a job.
ReplyDeleteI did do a little research and found that 20 million was reserved to help the homeless specifically on Skid Row. The majority of these funds will go towards the establishment of new shelters within the area. After reading the article, I couldn't seem to find a date when this new development would actually start. However, I do still think Los Angeles is making an effort to combat homelessness as they also allocated another 80 million for the rest of the city. For the time being, I do think there is a lack of available resources for our homeless population in general. I hope that we'll be able to witness the positive effects of this recent funding within the next few years. For now, I think it's also crucial that we don't just throw money at issue, but try to find the root cause of why more and more are becoming homeless. As Dr. Stogdill noted, 40-50% of the homeless population has some form of mental disability. Most of the funding is being used for shelters, but I do think it's not as simple as just providing housing. During the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in 2018, Garcetti said he supported the county having a mental health worker on every block in Skid Row. Although this may not be very practical or even possible, I do believe some kind of solution to address this problem within the homeless population is necessary before we start witnessing any of these numbers go down.
ReplyDeleteHere's the article I was referencing:
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/20-Million-for-Homeless-on-Skid-Row-LA-Mayor-Garcetti-498452721.html
One reason the number of children/families with children on Skid Row has increased is because of an “overloaded system.” Families are frequently being forced to the streets by rising rents, a factor worsened by the limited and high demand housing supply. Enough help is not provided to these families. Apparently there are at most 4 motels in Skid Row that provide a place to sleep for the homeless.
ReplyDeleteBackground info: Homeless kid and his mother are allowed a place to sleep - conditions are terrible:
“But then the manager changed and the room was hardly ever open. The bathrooms got worse because the janitors weren’t doing their jobs. The toilets would get clogged, there would be water on the floor and the doors wouldn’t lock”
Perhaps people running motels and other shelters are reluctant to share their property because of the fear that the homeless would ruin it:
“Some would go weeks or months without taking a bath. That’s not normal. You go on one floor and it smells OK, then you go on another floor and it smells like somebody died.”
http://www.layouth.com/a-world-apart-i-lived-on-skid-row/
It's tough seeing kids living in poor conditions especially on Skid Row. I think that the LA city government officials should revisit their agenda regarding the homeless. Sophie mentioned that money is being used for arrests and generally negative things that do not uplift the skid row community. Instead, there should be proper funding for healthcare, housing, and of course education for children who have access to none. I would love to have an urban lab and/or discussion or interview with someone who may have influence in Los Angeles' decisions surrounding homelessness and skid row.
ReplyDeleteChildren have developing minds that require environments in which they can learn, acquire skills, as well as play and get their energy out. I think, like others have said, it would be really interesting to look at how young children are able to learn and grow in homeless environments that really don't allow the space for that. On the other end, I would also be interested to know how homeless children’s brains grow and develop, seeing as they are forced to see and experience things that most children their age would never imagine witnessing.
ReplyDeleteTo your question about why do you think the number of homeless children/families have grown in the past year or so, I don’t have an exact answer and I’m not really sure why. However, I would be intrigued to look at how homeless immigrants and immigrant families play a role in the increase of homelessness in LA under this climate (in terms of our current administration, but also on a completely different note -in terms of the increasing gentrification in Southern California). I read an article (https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/07/14/62582/immigrants-a-largely-hidden-segment-of-la-s-homele/) about homeless immigrants that talks about immigrants who work in construction or in restaurants who find themselves homeless due to the lack of opportunities and extremely high rent in LA. The article discussed reasons that attributed to the growing homeless immigrant population, some of them being that undocumented immigrants do not have access to public benefits (federal housing subsidies and/or food stamps), and, in general, that rents in LA are too high and wages are too low. So yeah, I can see that maybe our administration and the fact that LA is super expensive and gentrifying really quickly are contributing to the recent increase in homeless children/families.
Sadly sexual assault and physical violence are prevalent within homeless shelters (https://www.springsrescuemission.org/a-hidden-side-of-homelessness-why-women-avoid-homeless-shelters/) which is a deterrent for many women. Additionally I think the reason that construction of shelters that specialize in the care of young children and families has not taken place is because it would draw attention to a problem that is often never talked about. In other words if you created a solution for a problem that is not covered it forces people to actually have to deal with it instead of simply disregarding the issue. Reflecting on my own experience at Poly I can point to numerous occasions where I complained about school work or tests without even thinking about the thousands of opportunities and lessons I have learned through school. It is disheartening to think about the thousands of children who are eager for the opportunities that I take for granted on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the timing on this– I got home late and had done my other roundup response in advance yesterday because I knew I'd be home late, but this post wasn't up then so I didn't realize there were two. I think the mission of School on Wheels definitely targets a huge barrier/challenge facing homeless children and families in the US, especially considering that higher levels of educational attainment (so a GED or more degrees) can help create economic mobility for the children of low-income families. I agree that LA should revisit many of its homelessness policies, and should also put more resources into affordable housing and building/designating new affordable housing units for whole families to occupy. As we've discussed throughout the year, families are being forced out of their homes by rising rents and stagnating wages in entry-level or minimum wage jobs, and obviously that may create a lot of instability surrounding childrens' education– they may be moving around and not able to get to school every day, or not have access to school supplies or other resources. I think creating better long-term solutions for financially struggling families would help address this problem in educational access, and is necessary as part of any long-term solution, because the movement and unpredictability that comes with homelessness and constantly looking for a place to sleep disrupts the educational cycle.
ReplyDeleteFor Luke: As it is with other groups in our society that lack worth in the eyes of our nation, homeless children come under the umbrella of invisibility. When we think of the homeless, we tend to ascribe blame to them for their status in a country where we are asked to believe that if you just work hard, you can achieve the American dream. We roll up our windows as we approach stoplights where we encounter people begging for money, and turn our head away from what we do not wish to acknowledge. We grow annoyed with the tents, shopping carts, and cardboard boxes that represent their shelter and the extent of their possessions, as the homeless epidemic spills into the streets and parks of our neighborhoods. Not even the plight of homeless children move us to address this growing epidemic, as they suffer the indifference that we demonstrate toward this vulnerable population. You ask why there is such an inadequate response to the plight of the homeless and specifically the children? Because like so many groups in our society, they just don’t matter enough. Many of the people on the street suffer from mental illness. Our society has little mercy for them. Others are runaways, many of which become involved in drugs, another reason to write them off. Those on the streets are considered by many to be throwaways and not worthy of our efforts no matter their age. This is the sad reality of the culture that we have created, a country that has failed from its birth to live up to its creed.
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