Educating Homeless Children in Chicago
A Case Study of Children in the Family Regeneration Program
Amy Dworsky
2008
This report highlights the results of a study that examined the educational needs of a group of homeless children in the Chicago Public Schools. The research involved both qualitative interviews with key informants familiar with the problems facing homeless families with children in Chicago and quantitative analyses of administrative data from Inner Voice, an agency that provides services to chronically homeless families, and the Chicago Public Schools. Generally speaking, the educational experiences of these children were characterized by high levels of school mobility, academic difficulties, and special education needs. The implications of these findings for how public schools and homeless shelters can work together to better address the educational needs of homeless children are discussed.