Lateef doesn’t know what to tell friends at school who ask where he lives. Mom said to tell them he lives with his aunt. But he can’t invite them over.
Like a growing number of New Haven schoolchildren, Lateef lives in a homeless shelter — and his family is benefiting from a stepped-up effort to help them.
Lateef (pictured), a sixth grader at Truman School, has a wish and a plan. His wish is to have his own room, and not have to share one with his mom in a shelter for homeless families in the Hill. His plan is to become a firefighter. So he’s been meeting his role models at the fire station down the street on Howard Avenue.
Lateef came with his mom, Verta Douglas, to live at Martha’s Place, a shelter run by New Haven Home Recovery, on Sept. 8, just a week after school started. Douglas said she’s been essentially homeless for five years, doubling up with a relative on and off in an unsatisfactory situation. Lateef had been living with her mother in North Carolina. He moved back to New Haven in June.
Last school year in New Haven, 174 students from pre‑K through 12th grade were identified as homeless, making all of them eligible for services under the McKinney-Vento Act, the federal law addressing homelessness. The year before there were 139. The district’s total enrollment has remained steady at 20,000.
The number of homeless families with children in New Haven jumped 33 percent between January 2008 and January 2009, said Chisara Asomugha, New Haven’s director of community services.
Kelley Traister (pictured) works out of New Haven Home Recovery and is the community liaison for all homeless students in the public schools. It’s a new position.
In addition to working with school staff, Traister counsels parents on their rights under McKinney-Vento. She said the official figures likely don’t include many families who are doubled up or others who just don’t wish to be identified as homeless.
Under the Act, homeless children have a right to continue attending the school they were in before becoming homeless, if feasible; to have transportation to school; to participate in all school programs; and to receive assistance with clothing and school supplies. They can also access tutoring and get fee waivers for school activities.
“Over the past two years New Haven’s been working on developing this program. As a district, they’re really committed to providing these services and making sure that the needs and rights of homeless children are addressed in the school system, Traister said. “I’ll be presenting at every school in the district on McKinney-Vento, on the needs of children living in temporary, transitional settings, and on the services available to them, to provide teachers with a lot of education so if they identify a student who they suspect is homeless they know how to address the situation.”
On a sunny late afternoon last week, she introduced a reporter to two families staying at Martha’s Place.
Douglas (pictured) has had many jobs over the years, including as a community health advocate. She’s been unemployed for the past year. She said she is determined to be working — and to have a home — by Lateef’s 12th birthday next June.
Mary Rodriguez has two children, Vanessa, who’s 15, and Anthony, who’s 9. (Pictured below; their names have been changed to protect their privacy.) Rodriguez became unemployed a year ago after an injury forced her out of her job as a supervisor at Target in Orange. The family became homeless in June and was able to move right into Martha’s Place. She’s getting physical therapy and hopes to be able to work again within the year. “I’m too young to just be sitting around,” she said.
Vanessa’s a freshman at Wilbur Cross High School. She’s confided her situation to her friends, who have been sympathetic. She said she knows she could be worse off. “I like having somewhere to sleep that’s stable and better than living in the street and not having food,” she said. But she chafes under the 9 p.m. curfew. She wishes she, a self-described “computer freak,” had more access to a computer.
Anthony attends fourth grade at Truman School. He shares one room with his mom and sister. He said he has lots of friends at school, but they don’t know where he lives, and he doesn’t plan to tell them. “It’s embarrassing,” he said.
Both families are covered by the state’s HUSKY program for health insurance. All except Lateef are receiving mental health counseling. Vanessa was previously diagnosed with depression; she said becoming homeless made it worse.
Traister said each school has a homeless liaison, and the district as a whole has one.
All three young people said they don’t think their school performance has suffered due to being homeless. Vanessa had to repeat a year but she’s now in a special program that offers an opportunity to get back on grade level next year.
Both moms said the shelter staff has been wonderfully supportive. They said Traister helped register their kids for school and got bus information; the kids got book bags with supplies. Rodriguez said Anthony got a uniform. “My son was able to go to school and not feel uncomfortable,” she said.
Asked what they hope for the coming year, Lateef responded, “Harder schoolwork. They give me kindergarten homework. I was doing seventh-grade work in fifth grade down in North Carolina.” His mom said she was hearing this for the first time. She said she intended to follow up with the school to see if some accommodation could be made.
Lateef said one goal he filled immediately was joining the safety patrol at school. “We got a green belt and a badge,” he said proudly.
Anthony’s hope, on the other hand, is “no homework.” His career goal is to become a SWAT police officer.
Vanessa, who wants to be a surgeon someday, said she hopes to continue doing well in school, “and hopefully, things get better for me and my family, like something good happens.”