Despite stereotypes to the contrary, homelessness is as prevalent in rural as urban areas. This digest examines the implications of homelessness for rural children and youth and discusses possible actions by rural educators. An estimated half of the rural homeless are families with children. Compared to urban counterparts, rural homeless families…

Rwanda faces tremendous challenges as it tries to fight off insurgents, rebuild its infrastructure, reintegrate refugees, and assist genocide survivors. This report details an investigation which assessed the protection and assistance needs of Rwandan women and children. Part 1 of the report contains the executive summary, key findings, and the…

This book is intended to assist literacy program administrators, coordinators, instructors, and volunteers in the design and implementation of literacy programs for homeless adults. Chapter 1 discusses barriers to instruction when serving homeless adults, including shelter environment, impermanence of location and opportunity, and the effects of…

This report examines homeless families, isolates similarities and differences between homeless and poor but stably-housed families, identifies paths along which families slide into homelessness, and recommends policy changes. The report uses a body of data collected in 1987-1988 on two groups of poor families in Los Angeles (California) half of…

This report presents the results of a federally mandated study done to determine the best means of identifying, locating, and counting homeless children and youth, for the purpose of facilitating their successful participation in school and other educational activities. Several alternative approaches to obtaining consistent national estimates of…

The plan describes a continuing effort in Illinois to improve access to education and school success for homeless children and youth. The Illinois plan was revised to meet the requirements of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1987 by reforming the original document into sections that highlight the major requirements of…

Thirty-five state plans for the education of homeless children and youth as mandated by the 1987 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act are reviewed and analyzed in this report. Specifically, the act requires that states designate agency authorization for a child's educational placement, procedures for placement dispute resolution, assurances…

This document presents a report on the educational needs of homeless children in New York City. Data were analyzed from the following sources: (1) review of the current literature on the impact of homelessness on the physical and emotional well-being of children; (2) field-based interviews with 277 families in New York's shelters and hotels; and…

This assessment of the needs of homeless runaway youth in Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) indicates the need for a cooperative intergovernmental, interdepartmental, and interagency initiative incorporating prevention, intervention and protection, and repatriation. Information was gathered from the Winnipeg Police Department, interviews with 127…

Homeless children confront abject poverty and experience a constellation of risks that are having a devastating impact on their well-being. This paper reviews research linking homelessness among children to hunger and poor nutrition, health problems and lack of health and mental health care, developmental delays, psychological problems, and…

This paper identifies the educational problems confronting homeless children, describes the Federal response to these problems, and discusses challenges for the 1990s. Although homeless children want to go to school more often than their permanently housed peers, they typically confront significant obstacles to access because of local enrollment…

This report reviews a variety of approaches for working with homeless students. Information was gathered from state Coordinators of Education for Homeless Children and Youth, regional coordinators of homeless programs, and national and local organizations. The programs described are organized into five categories. The first concerns educating…

The Attendance Improvement/Dropout Prevention (AI/DP) Program is a six-component program involving selected high schools, middle schools, elementary schools and nontraditional school settings in New York City. This study of the program included site visits, examination of student records, staff interviews, and analyses of information from the…

Despite the positive contributions of the 1987 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (the McKinney Act), Federal emergency aid has failed to keep pace with the growing need for assistance. Less than one year after the passage of the McKinney Act, progress has been made toward meeting the emergency need for food, shelter, and health care…

This publication describes services of selected American Red Cross chapters to the homeless and the hungry. Chapter profiles provide information on how chapters of various sizes develop, fund, and implement programs in response to their communities' needs. Program descriptions detail the chapters' fund-raising from private, public, and voluntary…