Mentor A Promise

  As with many other societal problems, solving our city’s crisis of homelessness can seem like an insurmountable task. This is especially true when one considers New York City’s most vulnerable residents: The 146,000 homeless students in our school system. However, each one of us has the ability to make a difference in the lives of these children and youths. This blog post will explore five small ways everyone can help homeless NYC students.  Be Kind and Respectful  Homelessness can be a dehumanizing and alienating experience. So, the simplest - and, in many ways, most effective - act that you can perform is to treat homeless students with the same dignity you would afford any other person. That is, by acknowledging their presence and needs without judgment. If you encounter a homeless student, you should consider any or all of the following acts of kindness: Offering a smile Engaging in conversation  Providing food and resources  Donate Clothing  If a hom...

  As you’ve no doubt gleaned from our previous blog posts, being homeless is incredibly stressful for the individuals living through it. While distress never benefits anyone, it is especially damaging to those whose brains are still developing, i.e. children and youths. Indeed, toxic levels of stress, such as that brought on by lack of stable housing, can lead to profound developmental delays, which can have lifelong effects. This blog post will examine the correlation between high levels of stress and developmental delays in homeless NYC students as well as what can be done to remedy them.  What Constitutes a Developmental Delay in Homeless NYC Students? As they grow up, all children are expected to reach specific milestones at specific intervals when compared to same-age peers. For example, by the age of 24 months, a child should be using about 50 simple words on a regular basis. [ 1 ] Every child develops differently, so a delay in one area one time does not, in and of itse...

As we’ve discussed in previous blog posts, homelessness is frighteningly common among, and particularly debilitating to New York City students. Such unfortunate children and youths are at much higher risk of having emotional and behavioral problems, developmental delays and learning disabilities. As schools are already ill-equipped to deal with homelessness, the challenges are magnified when a student has a disability necessitating placement in a special educational program. This blog post will discuss why there are so many homeless NYC students in special education.  How Many Homeless NYC Students are in Special Education? Of the 938,189 students enrolled in the New York City school system, approximately 23 percent - or roughly 213,787 - live with one or more disabilities eligible for placement in special education. [ 1 ] As previously mentioned, 146,000 city students lack permanent housing. Sadly, there is a great deal of overlap between these two cohorts. By the latest estimates...

In our previous blog posts, we have discussed how and why homeless New York City students might not be mentally present while in the classroom. Today, we will discuss how and why they might not be present altogether. Chronic absenteeism is a national epidemic, but it is especially prevalent among homeless students. As a result, it is a major driver of their poor academic performance and the heightened rate at which they dropout of school. To combat the larger issue of homelessness, we must understand why homeless NYC students are chronically absent from school.  How Does a Homeless NYC Student Qualify as Chronically Absent?  The United States Department of Education defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent or more of school attendance. Simply put, if a student misses one in every ten days of school, he or she will count as chronically absent. That’s one absence in every two-week period.  According to that same source (U.S.D.O.E.), the national rate of absenteeism...