ERIC Number: ED636290
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 143
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3799-0158-5
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Roles, Beliefs, and Actions of Homeless Liaisons in Providing Supports to High School Homeless Students in Public School Districts in New York State
Roopchand, Kelvin
ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Sage Graduate School
According to the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE, 2008), there were 679,724 homeless students in the United States enrolled in schools in 2006-2007. In the 2017-2018 school year, there were 1,508,265 homeless students in the United States (U.S. Department of Education, 2020). In just over 12 years, the homeless student population had more than doubled in the country. In New York State, according to the New York State Education Department (2021), the number of homeless students went from 86,715 in 2009-2010 to 143,533 in 2019-2020, which is an increase of over 83%.The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the roles, beliefs, and actions of homeless liaisons in providing supports to high school homeless students in public school districts in New York State. Using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological framework, the four research questions were focused on the beliefs and roles of homeless liaisons and the support and structures they provided for homeless students including how they monitor progress toward graduation for homeless students. Data were gathered through interviews with homeless liaisons. Key findings showed that homeless liaisons believed there are misconceptions about homelessness. Another key finding showed homeless liaisons roles were primarily about the compliance aspects related to homeless students, transportation being mentioned most often. An additional key finding was that many homeless liaisons did not have a specific way to monitor the supports and structures their district provided for homeless students, including monitoring their progress toward graduation. Several conclusions were identified from the findings. There are misconceptions about homelessness and the definition of what it means to be a homeless student. All the homeless liaisons interviewed had other roles in their district and spent most of their time on job responsibilities other than being a homeless liaison. Because school districts must provide transportation to homeless students but are not required to report or keep track of graduation rates for homeless students, homeless liaisons are more focused on transportation than monitoring progress toward graduation for homeless students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Homeless People, High School Students, School Districts, Social Services, Systems Approach, Educational Attainment, Graduation, Public Schools, Misconceptions, Transportation, Caseworkers
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A