Hearing the Unheard: Exploring Students' Decision-Making Process for Disclosing Their Homeless Status to Teachers

• In Event: Creating Safe Schools and Strong Relationships for Vulnerable Youth Populations of Color

Abstract

Purpose: The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is designed to help students experiencing homelessness, however, a recent study found that close to 70% of formerly homeless youth feel uncomfortable disclosing their homeless status to people at school due to the negative stigma of being homeless (Ingram et al. 2017). As a result of the negative perception around homelessness, youth facing housing instability tend not to disclose their status to their teachers and are often unable to receive any targeted, in-school support to mitigate the negative social and academic impacts of homelessness (Ingram et al., 2017; Miller, 2011). This qualitative case study analyzes the disclosure patterns of ten youth who experienced homelessness.
Theoretical Framework: This inquiry used the Anti-deficit Achievement Framework (Harper 2010) to uncover and analyze the journeys of youth that experienced homelessness in high school. The framework rests on two significant tenets. The first tenet of the anti-deficit achievement framework is that reversing research questions to focus on identifying successes within marginalized groups rather than relying on questions highlighting their problems can lead to new solutions that mitigate social problems affecting marginalized communities. The second tenet of the anti-deficit achievement framework posits that individuals from marginalized groups who have attained success in a domain where most underachieve are experts with essential experiential knowledge for identifying effective solutions.

Method: The study uses semi-structured interviews with 4 male and 4 female high school graduates who experienced homelessness in Los Angeles County for at least two months while enrolled in high school. The study implements an inductive bottom up approach that deploys three cycles of coding and analysis to identify common themes within each participant’s narrative around disclosing (or not disclosing) their homeless status to teachers (Saldana 2015).

Preliminary Findings: Participants’ narratives highlighted three prerequisite conditions that were necessary for them to disclose their homeless status to teachers. Findings showed that youth disclosed their homeless status to teachers who (1) demonstrated authentic care for all students, (2) created time to talk with students during non-instructional times and (3) established a personal relationship with them. Unfortunately, only three of the ten youth interviewed encountered a teacher that fulfilled the aforementioned conditions.

Significance: This paper provides insight into the under-researched topic of disclosure for students experiencing homelessness. The findings and implications of this paper reveals tangible steps teachers can take to better understand student’s decision-making to disclose their homeless status. More broadly, the paper illuminates the foundational steps to establishing a trusting, caring relationship with students who may be enduring adversity beyond the classroom.

Author

• Earl J Edwards, University of California - Los Angeles