William H. Bentley
Helping Homeless College Students Find a 'Home' During Holiday Breaks.
By William H. Bentley, Associate Commissioner, Family and Youth Services Bureau
We’re heading into the holiday season, a time when college students typically head home to be with their families during their schools’ winter breaks. But not all young people are fortunate enough to have homes to which they can return. Homeless youth, some of whom have aged out of foster care, don’t always have a place to go when their schools close for three to four weeks during breaks.
I was reminded of this challenge recently when I attended the November 2015 Family and Youth Service Bureau’s (FYSB) Runaway and Homeless Youth Program training and technical assistance conference. I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Jessica McCormick. She was a presenter at the conference. This impressive young woman has become a major advocate for homeless college students. These are youth who need safe and stable places to stay during academic breaks.
As a homeless high school senior, Jessica was encouraged to attend college by youth workers at Arbor Circle, a Runaway and Homeless Youth Program provider in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After Jessica was accepted at nearby Aquinas College, Arbor Circle helped her secure financial aid. The center also helped get on-campus housing to make her matriculation possible. But when on-campus housing became unavailable, those school breaks were tough. It was always a struggle for Jessica to find a place to stay. At one point, she even found herself sleeping outside in the cold Michigan winter.
As a senior at Aquinas, Jessica started a petition on change.org
. The petition called on colleges and universities to help their homeless and foster care students keep a roof over their heads during school breaks. Now that call has been taken up by four of FYSB’s nonprofit partners—the National Network for Youth, Covenant House, National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, and National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY )—through their 2015 Home for the Holidays Campaign
.
Academic institutions can heed this call by permitting homeless and foster care youth to remain in their dorms or in international student housing during school breaks free-of-charge, as Western Michigan University does.
Schools can also help homeless and foster care students find housing in the community during breaks. West Chester University, for example, provides housing for these students and also works with local shelters to assist them with housing needs. The University of Central Florida helps homeless students apply for a tuition waiver which, if approved, enables them to apply any financial aid they have received to housing. Grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Support Services can help academic institutions pay for this housing. Or colleges can join schools like Kennesaw State and Wayne State Universities in hosting fundraisers and events to help homeless students pay their temporary living costs.
A necessary first step in helping students who experience homelessness is letting them know whom to contact for assistance. Many schools have designated a single point of contact to help homeless and foster care students find the resources they need. NAEHCY offers a tip sheet (DOCX) to help institutions of higher learning set up a single point of contact and provide other assistance for homeless youth.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, estimates that there are some 58,000 homeless college students in the United States. NAEHCY believes that number has increased in recent years. If more youth with homeless and foster care backgrounds are able to pursue higher education, that’s great news. Let’s show our support for these motivated young people by removing this extra barrier to higher education and doing all we can to help them succeed and thrive.
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