Stable Families (Poverty)

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"Communities in Schools" is a national organization existing to serve families whose children are considered vulnerable to low academic success based on research of drop-out rates across the country. In Franklin County, they created, in conjunction with the Homeless Shelter Board, the Stable Families Program in order to identify families who are in the process of being evicted from an apartment/house. They intervene and try to keep the family from being evicted, offering financial assistance up front, then bringing in case management if they succeed in "stabilizing" the family. "All of the families involved in the Stable Families Program will be assisted in the process of accessing community resources, budgeting, crisis planning, increasing family income, increasing quality of housing, and utilizing school policies to keep children stable in school." This all comes from the evidence-based knowledge that when a child is uprooted and moves to a different home, he/she is de-stabilized, creating emotional stress and anxiety - which increases exponentially if a child also transitions into a new school because of a new living situation - and more so if the family must utilize a homeless shelter before establishing a new residence.

According to the research, we know that children who have a stable, dependable, safe living environment void of housing transitions (which is possible to have, even in a low income neighborhood), have a greater rate of graduation from high school, than do children in an unstable housing environment.

Children develop an actual attachment to the space around them. They develop a “relationship” to the physical space in which they live. This attachment comes from consistency and dependability which makes a child “feel” safe. In transition, children have lesser capacity to anticipate a new living space (pros/cons). All they know is now - regarding living environment. They can adjust to a transition, but it is often a much longer process than it is for adults. In part, this is because there is a real grief process for children, who have just severed an attachment. Also, there is anxiety caused by the “new” space, which can severely increase symptoms of disorders like ADHD. Elementary age children have been known to revert to toddler practices like urinating in pants or in bed because of anxiety. The child, like a toddler, has to redevelop a sense of identity with a shifting environment, as well as learning to relate to the other family members in this new space.

Most of the above information lies outside the context of relationships within the family. However, the issue of debilitating anxiety can still be better or worse depending on how safe and stable the relationships are among the members of a particular family. Canaan has obviously survived and even thrived despite living in four/five homes within two years. However, pre-school was very difficult initially, which began in midst of transition. Things got much better through winter and spring as we stabilized (even with Francis as newborn - another transition). Regardless, I believe the real issue with poverty, transition, and lack of academic interest is inside the home, wherever that happens to be. Transition simply makes it much worse. ...and with poverty, the loss of the home itself, along with losing the comfort and consistency of the school building and classroom are the most significant back-breakers - because on some level, children learn to expect adults to come and go frequently, and that they cannot be depended upon. Often, siblings live with their mother or grandmother, who often have a revolving door of boyfriends and friends who live in the home for a certain amount of time.

This kind of environment produces kids like Q (the child I still tutor), who are sent to kindergarten without knowledge of letters and numbers. It is February and we are still learning the alphabet, but we have seen significant strides to his credit. If he were to stay in kindergarten next year, he could certainly learn to read! But without support at home (he has reported abuse more than once), and with looming transitions in the future, it is hard not to expect anti-social behavior leading to school drop-out in middle or high school.

Hopefully that all makes some kind of sense. Next post will be relevant to upper/middle-class families who experience transitions of divorce and remarriage. They may not be subject to financial poverty, but definitely to relational poverty.

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