[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
PICKING UP THE PIECES: STRENGTHENING
CONNECTIONS WITH STUDENTS EXPERIENCING
HOMELESSNESS AND CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY,
AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 19, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-15
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
44-537 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, JOE WILSON, South Carolina
Northern Mariana Islands GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK De SAULNIER, California JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
LUCY Mc BATH, Georgia MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut BURGESS OWENS, Utah
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan BOB GOOD, Virginia
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota LISA C. Mc CLAIN, Michigan
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
MONDAIRE JONES, New York VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas Vacancy
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, ELEMENTARY, AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, Northern Mariana Islands, Chairman
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut BURGESS OWENS, Utah
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona Ranking Member
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK De SAULNIER, California FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
LUCY Mc BATH, Georgia MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan MICHELLE STEEL, California
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York Vacancy
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina
(ex officio)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on May 19, 2021..................................... 1
Statement of Members:
Sablan, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho, Chairman, Subcommittee
on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 5
Owens, Hon. Burgess, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early
Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education............. 6
Prepared statement of.................................... 7
Statement of Witnesses:
Davis, Gretchen, Foster Parent............................... 23
Prepared statement of.................................... 25
Erb-Downward, Jennifer, MPH, Senior Research Associate,
Poverty
Solutions at the University of Michigan.................... 9
Prepared statement of.................................... 12
Lane, James F., Ed.D., Virginia Superintendent of Public
Instruction, Virginia Department of Education.............. 27
Prepared statement of.................................... 29
Linder-Coates, Michelle, M.Ed., Executive Director, School
District of Philadelphia................................... 17
Prepared statement of.................................... 19
Additional Submissions:
Questions submitted for the record by:
McBath, Hon. Lucy, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Georgia....................................... 69
Response to question submitted for the record by:
Mr. Lane................................................. 70
PICKING UP THE PIECES: STRENGTHENING
CONNECTIONS WITH STUDENTS
EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND
CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE
----------
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Early Childhood,
Elementary, and Secondary Education,
Committee on Education and Labor,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:19 a.m. via
Zoom, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Chairman of the
Subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Sablan, Hayes, Grijalva, Yarmuth,
Wilson, DeSaulnier, McBath, Levin, Manning, Bowman, Scott (ex
officio), Owens, Grothman, Allen, Keller, Miller, Cawthorn,
Steel, Letlow, and Foxx (ex officio).
Staff present: Melissa Bellin, Professional Staff; Paula
Daneri, Professional Staff; Rashage Green, Director of
Education Policy and Counsel; Christian Haines, General
Counsel; Sheila Havenner, Director of Information Technology;
Joe Herrbach, Professional Staff; Ariel Jona, Policy Associate;
Andre Lindsay, Policy Associate; Max Moore, Staff Assistant;
Mariah Mowbray, Clerk/Special Assistant to the Staff Director;
Kayla Pennebecker, Staff Assistant; Veronique Pluviose, Staff
Director; Lakeisha Steele, Senior Education Policy Advisor;
Banyon Vassar, Deputy Director of Information Technology;
Joshua Weisz; Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director; Amy Raaf
Jones, Minority Director of Education and Human Resources
Policy; Dean Johnson, Minority Legislative Assistant; Hannah
Matesic, Minority Director of Operations; Mandy Schaumburg,
Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy Director of Education Policy;
and Brad Thomas, Minority Senior Education Policy Advisor.
Chairman Sablan. The Subcommittee on Early Childhood
Elementary and Secondary Education will come to order. Welcome
and good morning everyone. I know that a quorum is present. The
Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on ``Picking Up
the Pieces: Strengthening Connections with Students
Experiencing Homelessness, and Children in Foster Care.''
This is an entirely remote hearing. All microphones will be
kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessary background
noise.
Members and witnesses will be responsible for unmuting
themselves while they are recognized to speak, or when they
wish to seek recognition. I also ask that Members please
identify themselves before they speak. Members should keep
their cameras on while in the proceeding.
Members shall be considered present in the proceedings when
they are visible on camera and they shall be considered not
present when they are not visible on camera. The only exception
to this is if they are experiencing technical difficulty and
inform Committee staff of such difficulty.
So if any Member experiences technical difficulties during
the hearing you should stay connected on the platform, make
sure you're muted, and use your phone to immediately call the
Committee's IT director whose number was provided in advance.
Should the Chair experience technical difficulty, or need to
step away, Mr. Yarmuth, or another majority Member is hereby
authorized to assume the gavel in the Chair's absence.
This is an entirely remote hearing, and as such the
Committee's hearing room is officially closed. Members who
choose to sit with their individual devices in the hearing room
must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes, and distortion
resulting from more than one person on the software platform
sitting in the same room.
Members are also expected to adhere to social distancing. I
understand that there's some feedback. OK.
Mr. Vassar. Mr. Chairman your audio is going to be just
fine online.
Chairman Sablan. Look if the livestream goes down at any
point we must pause immediately. Committee staff will let you
know if that happens and continue on for advice about what to
do. Upon first hearing the livestream is down I will, or the
Chair should interrupt whatever is happening and I shall read
the following, and I will say something at that time.
Mr. Vassar. Chairman Sablan I believe we are good to go to
restart the hearing sir.
Chairman Sablan. Right. So this is again an entirely remote
hearing and as such the Committee hearing room is officially
closed. Members who choose to sit with their individual devices
in the hearing room must wear headphones to avoid feedback,
echoes and distortion resulting from more than one person on
the software platform sitting in the same room.
Members are also expected to adhere to social distancing
and safe healthcare guidelines, including the use of masks,
hand sanitizer and wiping down their areas both before and
after their presence in the hearing room.
In order to ensure that the Committee's five-minute rule is
adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time using the
Committee's field timer. The field timer will appear in its own
thumbnail picture and will be named 001_timer. There will be no
one minute remaining warning. The field timer will show a
blinking light when time is up. Members and witnesses are asked
to wrap up promptly when their time has expired.
While a roll call is not necessary to establish a quorum in
official proceedings conducted remotely or with remote
participation, the Committee has made it a practice whenever
there is an official proceeding with remote participation for
the Clerk to call the roll to help make clear who is present at
the start of the proceeding.
Members should say their name before announcing they are
present. This helps the Clerk and also helps those watching the
platform and the livestream who may experience a few seconds
delay. So at this time I ask the Clerk to please call the roll.
The Clerk. Chairman Sablan?
Chairman Sablan. Present. Sablan present.
The Clerk. Mrs. Hayes?
Mrs. Hayes. Present.
The Clerk. Mr. Grijalva?
Mr. Grijalva. Grijalva present.
The Clerk. Mr. Yarmuth?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Wilson?
Ms. Wilson. Ms. Wilson present.
The Clerk. Mr. DeSaulnier?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Morelle?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mrs. McBath?
Mrs. McBath. Present.
The Clerk. Mr. Levin?
[No response]
The Clerk. Ms. Manning?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mr. Bowman?
Mr. Bowman. Mr. Bowman is present.
The Clerk. Chairman Scott?
Mr. Scott. Chairman Scott is present.
The Clerk. Ranking Member Owens?
Mr. Owens. Owens present.
The Clerk. Mr. Grothman? Mr. Grothman, I think you're on
mute.
Mr. Grothman. Sorry present.
The Clerk. Thank you. Mr. Allen?
Mr. Allen. Allen's present.
The Clerk. Mr. Keller?
Mr. Keller. Keller's present.
The Clerk. Mrs. Miller?
Mrs. Miller. Miller present.
The Clerk. Mr. Cawthorn?
[No response]
The Clerk. Mrs. Steel?
Mrs. Steel. Steel present.
The Clerk. Ms. Letlow?
Ms. Letlow. Letlow present.
The Clerk. Ranking Member Foxx?
[No response]
The Clerk. Chairman Sablan that concludes the roll call.
Mr. Vassar. Mr. Chairman you're on mute sir.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(c)
opening statements are limited to the Chair and the Ranking
Member. This allows for us to hear from our witnesses sooner
and provides all Members with adequate time to ask questions. I
now recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening
statement.
Today's hearing is focused on our responsibility to support
the education of children who are homeless or in foster care.
Children without stable homes start at a disadvantage that can
follow them for the rest of their lives, denying them the
opportunity to achieve their full potential as human beings and
Members of society.
That is a tragedy for them and a loss for us all. This is
not an insignificant problem. Prior to the pandemic the
Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 430,000
children were in foster care. More than 1.3 million school
children lack the stable and adequate place to sleep during the
2018-2019 school year according to the United States Department
of Education.
More than 1.4 million children under the age of six
experience homelessness. Recent research in Michigan suggests
almost one in 10 public school students will be homeless at
some point before graduation from high school. One in 10.
And of course, youth homelessness reflects other persistent
inequities in education and across our society. Black children,
Native American children and students with disabilities,
English language learners, and LGBTQ children are all more
likely to experience homelessness and foster care than their
peers. And the outcomes are clear. In 2018 the graduation rate
for homeless students was 68 percent nationwide.86 percent for
those with stable homes, and the pandemic has only made the
problem worse. We all know how hard it has been for our
constituents to keep their children on track with their
education during the pandemic. Even children with stable homes
have faced difficulty.
For children who are homeless or in foster care, moving
from place to place is difficult to some, even more severe.
Research indicates from 1 to 3 million children have not
attended school since the pandemic began, and principal among
them are students experiencing homelessness or in foster care.
This does not simply mean lost classroom time. The pandemic
has jeopardized access to clothing, to adequate nutritious
food, to healthcare and other critical aid schools provide. The
consequences of this gap in the care of homeless children will
be felt by all of us long after the pandemic is behind us.
And this is the not to say Congress has been idle. The
American Rescue Plan, which we passed in March, provides a
combined 2 billion dollars to strengthen Head Start programs,
which holistically help young children deal with the many
challenges of experiencing homeless and foster care.
This funding is designed not only to cover the increased
costs of providing education during the pandemic, but also
where possible to help children catch up on lost instruction
time. Our American Rescue Plan includes 52.5 billion dollars
for the Child Care and Development Block Grant with new
flexibilities so families experiencing homelessness can access
childcare.
The American Rescue Plan brought 130 billion dollars to
communities nationwide for K to 12 education and includes 800
million specifically to help homeless children and secure the
staff and resources for homeless children to remain connected
to school.
What challenges are school districts facing in identifying
and serving students experiencing homelessness and children in
foster care? How are school districts using COVID relief funds
to ensure this unique population of students are connected to
the services they need to be successful? What more can we do?
And even what more should we do?
Our witnesses today will help answer those questions and
provide feedback on how the investment we make in the American
Rescue Plan and other relief legislation are helping vulnerable
students make it through the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those
investments will help protect these children in the future from
the trauma of experiencing homelessness, and in the foster care
system.
[The prepared statement of Chairman Sablan follows:]
Statement of Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Chairman,
Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education
Today's hearing is focused on our responsibility to support the
education of children who are homeless or in foster care.
Children without stable homes start at a disadvantage that can
follow them for the rest of their lives, denying them the opportunity
to achieve their full potential as human beings and Members of society.
That is a tragedy for them and a loss for us all.
This is not an insignificant problem.
More than 1.3 million school-aged children lacked a stable and
adequate place to sleep during the 2018-2019 school year, according to
the U.S. Department of Education.
More than 1.4 million children under the age of six experience
homelessness.
Recent research in Michigan suggests almost one in ten public
school students will be homeless at some point before graduation from
high school. One in ten.
Prior to the pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services
estimated that 430,000 children were in foster care.
And, of course, youth homelessness reflects other persistent
inequities in education and across our society.
Black children, Native American children, students with
disabilities, English language learners, and LGBTQ children are all
more likely to experience homelessness and foster care than their
peers.
The outcomes are clear: In 2018, the graduation rate for homeless
students was 68 percent nationwide and 86 percent for those with stable
homes.
And the pandemic has only made the problem worse.
We all know how hard it has been for our constituents to keep their
children on track with their education during the pandemic. Even
children with stable homes have faced difficulty.
For children who are homeless or in foster care, moving from place
to place, those difficulties have been even more severe. Research
indicates from 1 to 3 million children have not attended school, since
the pandemic began, and principal among them are students experiencing
homelessness or in foster care.
This does not simply mean lost classroom time. The pandemic has
jeopardized access to clothing; to adequate, nutritious food; to health
care and other critical aid schools provide.
The consequences of this gap in the services that homeless children
have been able to access will be felt by all of us long after the
pandemic is behind us.
This is not to say Congress has been idle.
The American Rescue Plan, which we passed in March, provides $1
billion to strengthen Head Start programs, which holistically help
young children deal with the many challenges of experiencing
homelessness and foster care.
This funding is designed not only to cover the increased costs of
providing education during the pandemic, but also, where possible, to
help children catch up on lost instruction time.
Our American Rescue Plan includes $39 billion for the Child Care
and Development Block Grant, which provides flexibilities so families
experiencing homelessness can access childcare.
The American Rescue Plan brought $130 billion to communities
nationwide for K-12 education and includes
$800 million, specifically, to help homeless children and secure
the staff and resources homeless students need to remain connected to
school.
What challenges are school districts facing in identifying and
serving students experiencing homelessness and children in foster care?
How are school districts using COVID relief funds to ensure these
unique populations of students are connected with the services they
need to be successful?
Our witnesses today will help answer those questions and provide
feedback on how the investments we made in the American Rescue Plan and
other relief legislation are helping vulnerable students make it
through the COVID-19 pandemic and how those investments will help
protect these children in the future from the trauma of experiencing
homelessness and in the foster care system.
I now turn to the Ranking Member, Mr. Owens, for the purpose of
making an opening statement.
______
Chairman Sablan. I will now turn to the Ranking Member Mr.
Owens for the purpose of making an opening statement. Mr. Owens
you're recognized.
Mr. Owens. OK how's that?
Chairman Sablan. There you are sir.
Mr. Owns. OK one second, hold tight.
Chairman Sablan. No problem.
Mr. Owens. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For over a year
students across our country have been negatively impacted by
school closures. This has been an even greater impact on the
foster, homeless and housing insecure youth. For these children
school is so much more than a place to learn.
It's a place that provides meals, structure, and safety
they don't necessarily receive anywhere else. The most
frustrating part of this situation is that the research
demonstrates, and has demonstrated for months, that school age
children are less likely to transmit the virus to others,
including adults.
Further reducing these risks, nearly 80 percent of teachers
have received at least one dose of the vaccine by the beginning
of April. There is absolutely no reason for schools to remain
closed, and yet half of the school districts across this
country are still not receiving full-time in-person
instructions.
To the children who have gone hungry, whose abuse have gone
unnoticed, or who have had no recourse from the streets, I
would like to explain what has kept our schools closed for so
long, and it's not the science. The Biden administration has
lagged too much on the desire of teachers unions causing
unnecessary prolonged closures, that continue to inflict real
harm on children lacking a home or a stable family life.
We finally heard last week from the President of the
American Federation of Teachers, the same union that lobbied
the CDC to keep our schools closed, that schools should reopen
in-person learning 5 days a week in the fall. I'm ecstatic that
we're finally in agreement on this issue, but that's not good
enough.
Schools should have reopened full-time months ago. This
wasted time has caused irreparable damage to millions of
children and students nationwide. In fact we'll hear from one
foster parent about how these closures left their children
without the attention and instruction they needed to be
successful in the classroom, and how countless other children
facing abuse and neglect were denied the lifeline offered by
in-person instructions.
My democratic colleagues love to argue that throwing more
money at this problem is a solution. We will spend this hearing
today highlighting President Biden's America Rescue Plan
release scheme, in which 20 percent of the funding of
elementary and secondary school emergency relief fund must go
toward addressing learning loss.
They talk about money for homeless education. This is the
third hearing on the impact of the pandemic, and each time they
have highlighted their desire for more money, instead of our
children's need to get back to classroom. The fact is no amount
of money will fix the harm that's been done and continues to be
done to these children and their families.
What our children need is to get back to school in-person
full-time. None of these so-called relief funding will go
toward the reopening of schools this spring. What are the
children who are homeless, housing insecure, or in foster care
supposed to do until then? Democrats have no answers.
Sadly, my friends across the aisle are willing to ignore
the needs of vulnerable children pretending that the dollar
signs and hearings are a significant response while our youth
are falling further and further behind. They do not know where
the next meal will come from, and they're desperate for
structure and normality during a once in a century pandemic.
House Republicans will not stop fighting to reopen schools
across this country until every one of them has unlocked their
doors. We know this is the best way to help our Nation's
children. Thank you and I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Owens follows:]
Statement of Hon. Burgess Owens, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Early
Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For over a year, students across our country have been negatively
impacted by school closures. This has had an even greater impact on
foster, homeless, and housing insecure youth. For these children,
school is so much more than a place to learn; it's a place that
provides the meals, structure, and safety they don't necessarily
receive anywhere else.
The most frustrating part of this situation is that the research
demonstrates--and has demonstrated for months now--that school-aged
children are less likely to transmit the virus to others, including
adults.
Further reducing this risk . . . nearly 80 percent of teachers had
received at least one dose of the vaccine by the beginning of April.
There is absolutely no reason for our schools to remain closed and yet,
half of school districts across the country are still not offering
full-time in-person instruction.
To the students who have gone hungry, whose abuse has gone
unnoticed, or who have had no recourse from the streets--I would like
to explain what has kept our schools closed for so long. It's not the
science.
The Biden administration has relied too much on the desire of the
teachers unions, causing unnecessary, prolonged closures that continue
to inflict real harm on children lacking a home or stable family life.
We finally heard last week from the President of the American
Federation of Teachers--the same union that lobbied the CDC to keep our
schools closed--that schools should reopen for in-person learning 5
days a week in the fall . . . I'm ecstatic that we are finally all in
agreement on that issue, but it is not good enough. Schools should have
reopened full time months ago. This wasted time is causing irreparable
damage to millions of students nationwide.
In fact, we'll hear from one foster parent about how these closures
left her children without the attention and instruction they needed to
be successful in the classroom. And how countless other children facing
abuse and neglect were denied the life line offered by in-person
instruction.
My Democrat colleagues love to argue that throwing more money at
this problem is the solution. They will spend this hearing today
highlighting
President Biden's American Rescue Plan ``relief'' scheme, in which
20 percent of the funding for the Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief fund must go toward addressing learning loss. They'll
talk about money for homeless education. This is the third hearing on
the impact of the pandemic and each time they have highlighted their
desire for more money, instead our children's need to get back in the
classroom.
The fact is that no amount of money will fix the harm that has been
done and continues to be done to these children and their families.
What our children need is to get back into school . . . In-person.
Full-time. None of the so called ``relief'' funding will go toward
reopening schools this spring. What are the children who are homeless,
housing insecure, or in foster care supposed to do until then?
Democrats have no good answer.
Sadly, my friends across the aisle are willing to ignore the needs
of vulnerable children, pretending that dollar signs and hearings are a
sufficient response for our youth who are falling further and further
behind. They do not know where their next meal will come from, and are
desperate for structure and normalcy during a once-in-a-century
pandemic.
House Republicans will not stop fighting to reopen schools across
this country until every one of them has unlocked their doors. We know
that this is the best way to help the Nation's children.
Thank you, I yield back.
______
Chairman Sablan. Yes, thank you very much Mr. Owens,
Ranking Member Owens. Now without objection, all other Members
who wish to insert written statements into the record may do so
by submitting them to the Committee Clerk electronically in
Microsoft Word format by 5 p.m. on June 2, 2021.
I will now introduce our witnesses. Ms. Jennifer Erb-
Downward is a Senior Research Associate at Poverty Solutions at
the University of Michigan where she oversees research projects
and assists with the analysis and translation of research
findings regarding family homelessness to inform local, State,
and Federal policy.
Ms. Erb-Downward has extensive experience in policy
analysis, program implementation and best practice research
around family homelessness, behavioral health, chronic illness,
and the reduction of health disparities. She is passionate
about addressing child homelessness in Michigan where she grew
up.
If I'm misstating your name, please forgive me. Ms. Erb-
Downward holds a master's degree in public health from New York
University.
Mrs. Michelle Linder-Coates serves as an Executive Director
for the School District of Philadelphia's Office of Early
Childhood, and is responsible for the implementation and
oversight of Federal, State, and locally funded pre-
kindergarten and Head Start programs serving 8,000 children in
more than 100 community-based early learning centers in
Philadelphia.
She's also a Member of Pennsylvania Early Learning Council
which works to expand and improve early learning and
development services for young children and their families
across the State. Ms. Linder-Coates has been an educator for
more than 25 years, and was a Head Start parent and student
herself.
She holds a master's degree in education and administration
and serves on a number of advisory committees that are
instrumental in shaping and elevating the importance of early
childhood education in Pennsylvania.
Ms. Gretchen Davis is a mother to three children, two of
whom are biological, and one adopted through foster care. As a
foster family in Arlington County for over 8 years, Ms. Davis
often speaks in community forums for the Arlington County
Department of Human Services, encouraging others to consider
fostering.
Prior to fostering Ms. Davis served as an elementary and
middle school teacher for 15 years in both Tennessee and
Washington, and as an assistant to the Deputy Undersecretary of
Education during the Bush administration. In light of COVID
related school closures, Ms. Davis began her involvement in
Arlington Parents for Education, a local group advocating for
the immediate return to an in-person education for all
students.
Ms. Davis holds an undergraduate degree and a master's in
education from Vanderbilt University.
Dr. James F. Lane, Doctor of Education, serves as an
Executive Officer of the Virginia Department of Education which
is the administrative agency for the Commonwealth public
schools. In this role he oversees 132 divisions for the
Commonwealth public schools, and also serves as the Secretary
of the State Board of Education.
Dr. Lane holds a Doctorate in education from the University
of Virginia, a master's degree in social administration from
North Carolina State University, and a master's and bachelor's
degree in teaching from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
We appreciate the witnesses for participating today and
look forward to your testimony. Let me remind the witnesses
that we have read your written statements and they will appear
in full in the hearing record.
Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(d) and Committee practice,
each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation to a five
minute summary of your written statement. Before you begin your
testimony please remember to unmute your microphone. During
your testimony staff will be keeping track of time and a light
will blink when time is up.
Please be attentive to the time. Wrap up when your time is
over and remute your microphone. If any of you experience
technical difficulties during your testimony or later in the
hearing, please stay on the platform, make sure you are muted,
and use your phone to immediately call the Committee's IT
director whose number was provided to you in advance.
We will let all the witnesses make their presentations
before we move to Member questions. When answering a question
please remember to unmute your microphone. The witnesses are
aware of the responsibility to provide accurate information to
the Subcommittee, and therefore we will proceed with their
testimony.
I will first recognize, I hope I'm getting your name right.
Ms. Erb-Downward.
STATEMENT OF JENNIFER ERB-DOWNWARD, MPH, SENIOR
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, POVERTY SOLUTIONS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Ms. Erb-Downward. You're getting my name perfectly right
thank you.
Chairman Sablan. OK.
Ms. Erb-Downward. Chairman Sablan, Ranking Member Owens,
and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to testify at this important hearing. I come
before you today to share my research and what we know about
the educational implications of homelessness, housing
instability and foster care among children in the United
States.
Data from my work in Michigan, New York City and nationally
corroborates a growing body of evidence that shows housing
instability to have negative educational, developmental, and
health consequences for children. I'm also here today to share
with you information on the impact the pandemic has had on
homeless children and youth, and to talk about opportunities
that funding through the American Rescue Plan brings to address
these challenges.
Before I begin, I want to be clear though, that when I talk
about homelessness, I am referring to children who are homeless
as defined by Federal education law under the McKinney-Vento
Act. Pre-pandemic roughly 1 in 16 children under the age of 6
years were estimated to be homeless.
An additional 1.4 million homeless children were identified
in K through 12 schools. The vast majority, 77 percent of these
children, were staying doubled up in another person's house,
and therefore were not eligible for HUD housing or shelter
supports.
Among children in foster care roughly 440,000 were in
placements of most recent point in time count. These numbers
are of concern to this Committee because homeless children face
significantly worse educational outcomes than their peers, and
these challenges persist even after stable housing is found.
My analysis of both Michigan and New York City educational
data shows this to be true across educational indicators. Third
through eighth grade students who were formerly homeless had
almost the same grade level proficiency rates in English and
math as their currently homeless peers.
And like their peers who experience homelessness during
high school, one-quarter of students who experience
homelessness in middle school dropped out. While housing is
critical, housing alone does not close the educational gaps
faced by students who've experienced homelessness.
No national estimate for the number of children who
experienced homelessness at any point during their K through 12
education exists. But for perspective in Michigan 1 in every 10
students will experience homelessness by the time they graduate
or leave high school. This is roughly five times the annual
rate.
The risk is even greater for black and Hispanic students
with roughly 1 in 7 experiencing homelessness at some point
during their K through 12 education. While children in foster
care face different structural challenges than their homeless
peers, entering foster care is a form of instability, and
children in foster care face educational set-backs similar to
those of their homeless peers.
Further, a strong intersection exists between homelessness
and the risk of entering foster care. Children who were
homeless the prior year had 14 times the risk of entering
foster care compared to their peers who were not homeless
during the same year.
I want to be clear that we're not just talking about
numbers today, we're talking about children. Brittney is a
student from Michigan who was homeless when she was 10 years
old. She was a straight A student, somehow managing her
schoolwork while living in her family's car with her mother.
Like so many other children who are unstably housed, just
getting to school was a challenge.
She was frequently late and missed more days than school
attendance policy allowed. As a result, she was suspended for
150 days. At that time there was no one to advocate for her. No
one to help connect her to the school transportation supports
she had a right to under McKinney-Vento law, and no one to work
with her school to remove the suspension.
This did not have to be the case for Brittney. She was not
identified by her school as homeless, and therefore she did not
receive the educational supports that she needed. The COVID
pandemic has increased the number of homeless children facing
challenges like those described by Brittney.
Survey responses from school homelessness liaisons suggests
that there has been a 28 percent decrease in the number of
homeless students identified by schools prior to the pandemic.
This equates for 420,000 fewer students who are homeless being
identified and supported by their schools.
The good news is that the American Rescue Plan recognized
this problem and has provided 800 million dollars in targeted
funds to meet the educational needs of homeless children. The
pandemic has caused hundreds of thousands of children who are
homeless to slip through the cracks. We now have the
opportunity to find and support those children.
Among the many other things these dollars can be used to
support transportation solutions to help homeless children get
to school, provide service and housing navigators to support
early education and college transitions, and to increase
homeless liaison capacity, particularly in 75 percent of local
education agencies that currently do not hold a McKinney-Vento
sub-grant.
Thank you again for giving me the time to speak at this
hearing, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Erb-Downward follows:]
Prepared statement of Jennifer Erb-Downward
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Sablan: Well, thank you Ms. Erb-Downward. And
perfect timing I must say. Thank you. We will now hear from
Mrs. Linder-Coates. Ms. Coates please unmute your microphone
and you have five minutes.
STATEMENT OF MICHELLE LINDER-COATES, M.Ed., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA
Ms. Linder-Coates. Thank you. Greetings Chair Sablan,
Ranking Member Owens, and other honorable Members of the
Committee. Thank you for this opportunity for me to testify at
the hearing today. My name is Michelle Linder-Coates, and I am
the Executive Director of Pre-K Partnerships for the School
District of Philadelphia, which provides Head Start programming
to over 6,500 three and 4-year old's across the city of
Philadelphia.
As you know many of our students and their caregivers face
great adversity. Our office works to combat this adversity and
impact of poverty through a comprehensive support model that
addresses the various conditions students and families face
outside of the security of the Head Start classroom,
particularly families experiencing housing challenges and
children who receive foster care.
I am honored to speak with you today about the work we have
done these past 14 months to support Philadelphia's families in
need. In our program servicing families protected under the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act starts with
identification and recruitment. Our recruitment and
identification efforts have been successful through the
establishment of strong partnerships with many of
Philadelphia's social services agencies, including forming
relationships directly with city shelters.
Monthly we participate in early childhood workshops that
focus on overseeing relationships and fostering relationships
with city shelter staff and early childhood staff together,
which enhances our collective ability to service our families.
We also attend and host pre-K enrollment fairs at shelters
which also allows our staff to inform parents about Head Start
and inform them of all of the services that we offer, and also
at the same time enroll their children.
Through this close relationship with shelter staff we've
also been able to co-complete a self-assessment tool to improve
services. We like to hear from our families how we are doing
and how we can better service them. Based on the results of the
assessment we've changed our Head Start application, all of our
marketing material, to be more inclusive and eliminating the
word ``homeless'' as most McKinney-Vento eligible families do
not identify as such.
We know that utilizing more common phrases used by families
such as temporarily living in housing with relatives or
friends, or are new to the country and looking for housing is a
softer indicator that families may be McKinney-Vento eligible,
and it sits better with our families. Once identified, families
are given top priority as we support families through an
expedited transition process to school, and addressing
immediate needs such as clothing, school supplies, temporary
transportation, and those things that families identify as
their immediate needs.
During the pandemic, many families did not feel safe
participating in face to face options that the district
offered, and we were unable to participate in many cases in
helping families understand why it is important for their
children to attend school.
So we partnered with our Department of Health, and we
offered some town hall meetings to help educate families,
specifically our families who were experiencing homelessness
and who were in foster care, understand why it is important to
come back to school, return to school, and understand all of
the safety protocols that we've put in place in order to
support them in face to face learning.
To support our virtual learning, because many of our
families chose to do digital learning, we ensured that we kept
students connected by purchasing necessary technology and
digital curriculums for the teachers, consumables, and non-
consumable learning materials for families to use at home, also
using funds to train teachers on the use of technology, and
helping them understand how to best support our youngest
learners, and our most vulnerable learners in the virtual
environment.
For our foster families specifically, we expedite services,
and also make sure that our social services team establish
working relationships with and provide contact information for
the family assigned case manager. Our social services team work
with the case managers to make sure that they're making
progress toward the set goals established by the foster
agencies.
We also partner with community agencies to provide
resources to our children in foster care and in families
experiencing homelessness with healthcare, food, clothing, and
the like. We saw the impact of the pandemic, as families in our
program, the homeless families were decreased. I'm sorry.
I know that was my timer as well. Thank you. I was
concluding and wrapping up with the idea that we are working
diligently each day to make a positive impact to assure our
neediest families have the opportunity for life-long success.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Linder-Coates follows:]
Prepared statement of Michelle Linder-Coates
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Sablan. Thank you, Ms. Linder-Coates. That was the
first time I've ever heard that tuba, thank you for your
testimony. And next we will hear from Ms. Davis. Ms. Davis
please unmute your microphone and you have five minutes.
STATEMENT OF MS. GRETCHEN DAVIS, FOSTER PARENT
Ms. Davis. Good afternoon Chairman Sablan, Ranking Member
Owens, and Members of the Early Childhood, Elementary,
Secondary Education Sub-Committee, Early Childhood. Thank you
for the opportunity to speak to you today as you address the
impact of COVID-19 on students experiencing homelessness and
children in foster care.
My husband and I have been foster parents for over 8 years
in Arlington, Virginia. We have adopted one child through
foster care who is now 7. We have had 22 other children ranging
in age from 4 days to 14 years in our home. Being a foster
family has been the most rewarding, and also the most difficult
endeavor we have undertaken.
In March 2020, a week after quarantine began, two girls
ages 4 and 5 joined our family. We welcomed these scared and
sad little ones into our home, and over the following days
began to figure out school for five kids, our own three and two
foster children. We set up a makeshift classroom and began
using activities and iPad programs provided by the schools.
The girls adjusted well in our home, but as often happens
with kids who have experienced trauma, we saw they were very
behind in school. Addressing the girls' educational needs was a
top priority for me, and as I emailed with their teachers it
was clear the schools were unable to provide the same supports
these girls would have received if they were in person.
Instead they were provided a few daily activities totaling
30 minutes, and a Microsoft Teams call twice a week. From March
to June the girls made some progress, but not without a lot of
supplemental tutoring from me.
I remember last spring what would keep me awake at night
was not actually my own children's struggles during the
pandemic, but the damage being done to vulnerable children,
students who were homeless, in foster care, English language
learners, families in crisis whose children would not, or could
not log on, or interact with school through a device.
Basic academic goals of reading, writing and problem
solving for many came to a standstill. I had the resources and
time to support the kids in my care, but what about those who
did not. The girls returned home in November. Life is not easy,
but their mother is resilient and has made great strides to
keep her kids safe.
The girls are in hybrid education, and they go to school 2
days a week from 9 to 2:20. Their mother, who needs a job to
keep her subsidized housing has had a difficult time finding
work with this abbreviated school schedule, and no extended
daycare provided. Currently I help her by picking the girls up
from school, so she can work a full day. I'm glad to help her,
but once again I lay awake at night thinking about those
families who do not have that community support.
Another devastating effect of COVID-19 is the absence of
mandatory reporting. As a foster parent I'm a mandatory
reporter. When I notice child abuse or neglect, I'm required by
law to report it, so that the concern can be investigated.
Mandatory reporters are a critical safety net.
We have in the United States for vulnerable children
teachers, administrators and staff are also mandatory
reporters. When students are stuck at home and not allowed to
be out in society, mandatory reporting cannot happen. How can a
teacher see bruises on a student over a Microsoft Teams call?
How comfortable will a student feel confiding in a trusted
adult about sexual abuse over a Zoom call? As a foster parent
and former teacher, it concerns me that one of the consequences
of staying shut down for so long is under-reported child abuse
and neglect.
I would suggest to you as we look back on how we handle
COVID-19, and how we handled it as a Nation, that best
practices going forward ensure that just as grocery stores and
hospitals need to be open, schools also offer critical
lifelines for communities. All are staffed by essential
employees.
Just like hospitals care for sick people, schools care for
children who are among the most vulnerable populations we have.
Teachers have always been on the frontlines for children. I was
a teacher for 15 years and never questioned that for a minute.
Why now all of a sudden are many teachers hidden away, and not
able to do what they do best, which is to care for and educate
children.
Many public-school systems have yanked stability and
support from children and handed them iPads and free Wi-Fi. In
my experience as a teacher, a mother, and a foster mother, I am
convinced that a good education is a lifeline for all children.
Schools have been closed way too long.
What began as an important step to flatten the curve and
protect people from an unknown virus became over a year of
excuses and panic to make everything just right, and 100
percent safe before reopening.
Vulnerable children do not have the luxury of this time.
Many local educational agencies, including my own, have not
prioritized return to school for vulnerable children. The
services they have provided during the past year have been
insufficient. Our children deserve much better. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Davis follows:]
Prepared statement of Gretchen Davis
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Davis, for your
testimony, and finally we'll hear from Dr. Lane. Dr. Lane
please unmute your microphone and you have five minutes.
STATEMENT OF DR. JAMES F. LANE, Ed.D., VIRGINIA
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Mr. Lane. Thank you. Chairman Sablan, Ranking Member Owens,
and Members of the House Educational and Labor Subcommittee I
am pleased to have this opportunity to be here this morning to
share how this pandemic has uniquely impacted our youth in
foster care and students experiencing homelessness, and how we
have responded.
One of the most market insights to come from the COVID-19
pandemic is just how critical a role our schools play in every
aspect of our students and families' lives. Schools are more
than the educational experiences they provide. They also serve
as safe havens, reliable sources of food, connection, and
stability.
Over the last year our students without stable housing,
reliable access to devices or broadband, or difficult home
environments felt the effects of the pandemic most profoundly
due to interruptions in their connection to these vital
services and supports.
For multiple reasons Virginia has worked hard to encourage
or offer safe in-person learning to our students. Schools have
risen to the challenge and consistently continued to expand in-
person learning opportunities, while prioritizing the needs of
students most disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
This has been made possible only with the financial support
from the Federal Government to help schools cover all costs
from all manner of health and safety, including educational
technology and student support services.
So I want to recognize the heroic efforts of teachers,
support staff, school counselors, nurses, principals, and
administrators and thank them all for their commitment and
dedication to students. The pandemic has also strained the
systems that support these students in unprecedented ways, and
the strain on the system has been two-fold.
First, we have seen increased demand for services. Families
in Virginia have suffered from the economic repercussions of
the pandemic. The same economic disruption, stress, trauma, and
logistical considerations of the pandemic have disrupted
existing foster families and created conditions that will
likely increase the number of youth in need of foster
placements.
These factors are interrelated, and the compounding effects
against spikes in both rates of student homelessness and
housing instability, and unique strains on the foster care
system.
The second major strain on the system has been related to
limitations on quickly identifying and serving families, remote
learning, virtual family visitations, fewer home visits have
disguised some of the telltale signs that students are
struggling.
But Virginia has a solid foundation upon which to build
because of the previous State and Federal investment in the
systems that support homeless and foster youth, including our
highly regarded work with Project Hope, Virginia's program for
the education of homeless children and youth.
However, even before the pandemic resources were
insufficient to meet the demand of families in need, so we've
worked collaboratively to strategically leverage new Federal
resources, to scale existing programs, and meet the needs in
new ways.
Our department sought to bring many partners into the
conversation around supporting homeless students. This has
included bi-weekly calls with local McKinney-Vento liaisons so
they could receive updates, ask questions, and share challenges
and success stories. That collaboration has informed new
technical assistance, including videos for liaisons, social-
emotional learning quick guides, and new grants to scale work
to meet the need.
This collaboration is focused on sharing best practices,
and planning for the strategic deployment of the remaining
America Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth Funds when they
are made available to states.
Additionally, the joint agency team has continued to meet
through the pandemic to provide guidance, policies to foster
family connections, and communication across agencies and
jurisdictions. Virginia and our localities have funded
mechanisms such as virtual visitations, reimbursement for
COVID-related testing or treatment, and virtual training and
support for foster families.
Even though we all want in-person learning, the virtual
communications environment has its unique benefits for some
foster youth. For instance, one student in foster care was able
to visit a relative in another State for a week due to virtual
learning helping support family connections that are crucial to
the well-being of children in foster care. The local department
that shared this story also stated that they have felt an even
stronger relationship and more support with their local school
divisions around children and youth in foster care during the
pandemic.
They specifically said they have seen a shift from,
``That's not possible,'' responses to, ``How do we make this
work,'' perspectives in their conversations.
In conclusion, the response of our agency and local school
divisions, COVID-19 has made possible through additional
Federal funding intended for pandemic relief. As we begin to
emerge from the pandemic, we know that the impacts will ripple
through communities for years to come.
As such, sustained and flexible resources will continue to
be necessary to ensure that states can be responsive and can
provide the services necessary for these students to succeed.
On behalf of Virginia students and school leaders, thank you
for the significant investments that have been made in our
schools and our students.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lane follows:]
Prepared statement of James F. Lane
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much Dr. Lane. All the
witnesses are just almost perfect in their timing. I just would
like to say that only if we could figure out a way to just
eliminate homelessness and foster care for school children and
it's possible even to just remove poverty from the Nation.
Now we'll go to Member questions. I will ask staff to bring
back the bell if necessary, but under Committee Rule 9(a) we
will now question witnesses under the five-minute rule. I will
be recognizing Subcommittee Members in seniority order.
Again, to ensure that the Member's five-minute rule is
adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time and the timer
will show a blinking light when the time has expired, and maybe
bring back the bell if necessary. So please be attentive to the
time, wrap up when your time is over and remute your
microphone.
Now I would like to begin recognizing Members questioning
by recognizing a teacher, a National Teacher of the Year Mrs.
Congresswoman Hayes. Jahana please unmute your microphone and
you have five minutes.
Mrs. Hayes. Thank you, Chairman, Sablan, and thank you for
having this hearing. And thank you to all the witnesses. I have
remarks prepared, but I just want to start by saying it is
incredibly exhausting on this Committee when hearing after
hearing we're having conversations as if we don't all recognize
the importance of getting kids back to school.
I think both democrats and republicans share that. We've
tried to do that safely. We're handling a once in a generation
pandemic that none of us asked for, that none of us can account
for, and we've all just tried to do the best that we can to
protect students, families, teachers, and I say this in every
hearing, to hear over and over teachers' unions berated.
I remind you of the irony in the fact that those unions are
made up of teachers, the same people that you're saying your
children need to go back to because they are the life blood,
and they are the ones who invest in them, and nurture them and
they are the ones who are the mandated reporters.
Those same teachers are listening to these hearings and
being demoralized over and over and over again as if they're
lazy, and too demanding, and only thinking of themselves. And I
can assure you having been in the classroom for 15 years,
there's no teacher that wakes up and does that job every day
that doesn't first think about their students and children.
So it's just worth saying that we want kids to go back to
school. We want every school to open. We want kids to grow and
thrive and learn in those environments, but enough of this,
Democrats don't want kids to go to school. That is just not
true, and it is the reason why we voted overwhelming for
funding and support and resources to assist with those
openings.
So my question for you Ms. Erb-Downward, we've heard about
all of these students and I worked very closely with McKinney-
Vento in my school district, and we were a Title I school
district with so many children who lived in poverty. My
Connecticut State Department of Children and Families reports
that most of the families that are struggling with homelessness
also report poverty conditions, being disconnected from
services, and these underlying things that are not abuse.
So at a time when poverty could be the underlying factor,
and not abuse, especially coming out of this pandemic. We're
going to see so many families who are dealing with just
different ripple effect issues. How can we be sure that those
families are not subjected to unnecessary investigations, and
rather are helped by safety net programs that can help them to
stabilize their families and get out of poverty, even though it
may present as you know what someone else might call neglect or
abuse.
Ms. Erb-Downward. Thank you so much for this question. I
think it's a really, really great one, and it comes up
frequently among both community organizations and among
families. There is a great fear among families that if they
acknowledge their homelessness that they will be at risk of
losing their children.
I think the statistics that I shared, that you know there's
a 14 times greater risk of children who are homeless entering
in the foster care in the next year than their peers who are
housed, is really telling of you know that challenge.
One critical piece there, so the first thing is I think
that we need to understand that more, and we need to
acknowledge that intersection. And I think we need to have more
frank conversations about the fact that homelessness and
poverty alone are not reasons that a child should be removed
from their family. That is in the guidelines mandatory
reporting guidelines. You know I recognize that as a mandated
reporter, this can be a very challenging thing to disentangle.
But homelessness of itself, by itself, is not abuse. So how
many children could we potentially be preventing from removal
if we were actually just addressing the underlying instability
there?
I think right now with the American Rescue Plan there are
some resources that exist that can be used to help families and
one of the great things about the 800 million dollars that's
been allocated to serve homeless families, is we have an
opportunity to reach those families and bridge some of those
gaps.
So for example, 77 percent of families are not eligible for
HUD or shelter supports because they're living or staying
doubled up temporarily with another family. You know this
really cuts people out of services, but we have the opportunity
because these dollars are flexible in their funding that we can
bridge those gaps.
So for example, a homelessness liaison could use dollars to
temporarily put a family up in a hotel. Now this is not
supposed to be the money supplanting other dollars for hotel
stays or shelter, but if you take that money and help that
family into a hotel for a few days, they can be eligible for
HUD housing supports. That's giving them access without any
student assists.
Mrs. Hayes. I'm sorry my time has expired, but I so
appreciate your comments because that is the exact intent of
the legislation that we passed in the American Rescue Plan to
hit those core poverty issues and lift our children out of
those situations. Mr. Chair I'll submit the rest of my
questions and with that I yield back. I'm sorry for going over.
Chairman Sablan. OK. Now I understand that the Ranking
Member of the full Committee Dr. Foxx please unmute, and you
have five minutes.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you Mr. Chairman I appreciate it, and I
appreciate our witnesses being here today. My questions are for
Ms. Davis. Ms. Davis thank you for your testimony and thank you
for your family's willingness to participate in the foster
system and love these children.
I truly hope there's a place in heaven for you all. I like
when witnesses bring recommendations to our hearings, and
you're the second parent to testify before the Subcommittee
about the essential nature of schools. Many of us agree the
initial closures last spring were reasonable given what was not
known about the Coronavirus at the time.
But you argue for treating schools like hospitals and
grocery stores that never close. Could you explain that in more
detail?
Chairman Sablan. Ms. Davis, I think your microphone.
Ms. Davis. I'm sorry. Thank you for that question. I just
quite simply believe that schools are just as critical as
hospitals. Learning is so critical for students and online is a
poor substitute for in-person. It's important to have face
time, and I'm not talking about the app. I'm talking about face
time with teachers.
It's important for schools to provide as we've said over
and over again the many other supports to families. My precious
family that we are still very close with even though the
children are not in our home anymore, they struggle daily
because school is not open, and mom is struggling to figure out
how to work on abbreviated hours, and figure out how to manage
when the supports that she relies on dropping her child off at
8 a.m. and picking them up at 5 after daycare, has just been
stripped away.
And what baffles me is the disconnect in knowing what we
need to do and seeing districts around the country that have
done it, that have gone back in October and figured it out. Put
on their masks, figure out social distance guidelines, and went
to work. They figured out how to do it, yet there are so many
communities like my own, in my own school district, Arlington
Public Schools, that are just stuck and paralyzed.
And it just baffles me, and it has frustrated parents in
the communities when we see the solution. It's not rocket
science. Teachers want to do the best job they can, and they
know that it's in person. I have to be honest the teachers have
made lemonade out of lemons in this situation, but they're not
able to do what they need to do because they're not in-person.
Ms. Foxx. I agree with you. I think most teachers want to
be there and they have good hearts, they want to do it. And God
bless you for continuing to work with the mother of the foster
children. We've been critical of teachers unions that have
resisted efforts to reopen schools. Again, there's a difference
between the teachers unions and the teachers themselves.
In response we've been assured their resistance is really
based on the desire to protect the health and safety of
children. But it sounds like you believe the opposite is true,
that keeping schools closed has been harmful to kids. Do you
believe long-term closure of schools was the best way to
protect the health and safety of children?
I think your answer to that is not, correct?
Ms. Davis. Correct.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you. You also discussed in your testimony
the role of teachers and other school personnel as mandatory
reporters when abuse is suspected. You also talk about the
problem of under-reporting of abuse during the pandemic because
of virtual learning.
From your experience as a foster parent, and a teacher, why
is in-person interaction so important in identifying potential
abuse, and what do you think will be the long-term implication
of the reduced reporting?
Ms. Davis. Quite simply you can't report what you don't
see. And I know that teachers, I have heard lots of amazing
stories of teachers who have caught abuse online and sent
school officers over and CPS got involved and those families
were helped. But that is only what they see at that moment in
time. And the amazing thing about teachers is that they are
very intuitive, and they rely on face time with students,
watching students carefully, interacting with students
personally to pick up on subtle issues and problems.
Pediatricians have said there's going to be a huge mental
health crisis. We've seen reports by even the CDC it's better
for them to be in school. I mean it makes sense. And I do worry
about raising a generation of children who have been scarred
for 1five months by this pandemic when really things could have
been back to normal back in October.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman I yield back.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Foxx. I now
recognize Mr. Yarmuth. Mr. Yarmuth please unmute you have five
minutes sir.
Mr. Yarmuth. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman, and thanks
also to all of the witnesses. This is a topic that I have a
great personal interest in. My district is the founding place
of National Safe Place. I was the author and principal sponsor
of the Runaway Homeless Youth Act, so I've got a lot of
background in the challenges that we face.
And I also just want to mention because it's related, but
not directly on point, that my district has one of the largest
school systems in the country 100,000 kids, and like in most
urban school districts we have over the course of a year 50
percent of our students change school one or more times. And
it's been an amazing experience talking to the teachers who are
being held accountable year after year for teaching moving
targets.
And this is something again related because I think that
there is some point the lessons we have learned through this
pandemic, the ability to use technology might have some
relevance to this question of mobility in the school systems as
well. And I was going to ask the question that actually Ms.
Erb-Downward addressed, the significance of the 800 million
dollars through the American Rescue Plan in dealing with these
issues.
And I'm wanting to ask Mr. Lane about that if he can
elaborate on Ms. Erb-Downward's answer, and also talk about the
potential for technology to deal with some of these other
issues, including mobility because most of those students who
are mobile are essentially homeless. They're living with an
aunt, they're living with a grandmother, they're shuffled off
to different people and that's where they end up just
disconnected from many at school.
Mr. Lane. Thank you Representative Yarmuth. The 800 million
dollars is absolutely essential to supporting our needs to
recover from the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Virginia
struggled to secure sufficient funding to meet all of the
requests from school divisions, especially when McKinney-Vento
funds were awarded on a competitive basis.
So in order to address the significant new needs as you
said, the American Rescue Plan provided nearly 800 million
dollars and in Virginia this means our award will go from 1.7
million dollars a year, and increase by an additional 13
million dollars. This will allow us to scale up programs,
support more programs in localities through grants, reach many
more families and communities in the Commonwealth, and continue
to create endeavors for improving outreach.
The funding from the ARP will not only allow us to mend the
gap and provide services to programs and initiatives that have
been under resourced but is also an opportunity for us to shift
our thinking from being reactive to proactive because our
funding at the level it was at really required a reactive
approach. And so addressing that now alongside planning for
ongoing implications.
And of course as it relates to technology, many of our
localities, many of our school divisions have taken that
funding that we've been able to provide in grants and in other
ways, and incredibly expanded technology opportunities.
So technology has allowed us to identify students as
homeless or youth in foster care to receive educational
services and supports from their home school, and technology
allowed us also to continue the education for students when we
could not. This population of students can experience
heightened levels of transiency, so technology has been an aid
in ensuring stability for students as they move from place to
place, so they can continue their education and stay put in
their home school.
Mr. Yarmuth. Great. Thank you for that response, and I just
wanted to add you know unfortunately, there's been so much
politicization of this issue about schools staying open or not
open. I know in my State of Kentucky the Governor has been
taking flak from a lot of people basically on the other side of
the partisan aisle about keeping schools closed, but schools
have actually been open in many parts of our State since last
fall.
I was talking to a school superintendent in eastern
Kentucky, and they've been open since last September or
October. The problem is that half the kids, the families refuse
to send their kids to school even though they were open and
available in the classroom.
So this is not as cut and dry of an issue as it may seem as
to whether we open or close schools, there's a lot of elements
involved there, but my time is expired, and I yield back and
thank you for your response.
Chairman Sablan. All right. Thank you very much Mr.
Yarmuth. I now would like to recognize the Ranking Member of
the Subcommittee Mr. Owens. Sir you have five minutes. I think
you need to unmute your microphone.
Mr. Owens. Thank you once again Mr. Chair and all those who
are testifying. I'd just like to say before I start my
questioning, there's a difference in the teachers that love
their profession, love the teaching, and those that are leading
these unions that obviously have a different agenda. My dad
taught as a professor for 40 years, my mom was a junior high
teacher.
I understand what it is to be in a home where education is
paramount and is loved by those who are teaching. So kudos to
those teachers out there trying to do their best, but at the
end of the day we have the data now my friends. There's a
difference in the way the blue states and red states have
approached this, and many people in the blue states are leaving
because they want their kids to go to school and have a normal
life, and not be traumatized by this process.
And until today we still have with all the data, we still
have people they have districts, and do not have the good
options for these children to go back to school. I just want to
make that point. Ms. Davis you talked in your testimony about
the academic struggles of foster children you care for during
the pandemic.
A parent colleague of yours testified before this
Subcommittee a couple weeks ago, and one of his frustrations
was a lack of planning within the school system to address the
learning loss that has occurred. And then according to a press
report just last week, Arlington County Public Schools sent a
letter to parents saying that too few teachers are willing to
teach summer schools.
This leaves many elementary students not able to
participate and to catch up. How frustrating is it for parents,
and what do you think will be the long-term consequences to our
children?
Ms. Davis. Thank you. That is a great question. I was
shocked when I heard that my public school system was only
going to offer summer school to 38 percent of the children
eligible and was going to send the rest of them to virtual
Virginia. I know for my foster daughter who will be in need of
serious summer school services, I pray she's one of those 38
percent, because I went through summer school with her last
year, and it was a disaster online.
Young elementary school students do not learn well sitting
in front of a screen. Elementary, as many of your know,
teaching is you're moving, you're going to centers, you're
around the classroom, you're trying things, you're hands on,
you're doing all kinds of things to learn to read, write and
problem solve that are kinesthetic and tactile, and to sit in a
screen and to go to chat rooms and to be on computer programs
just doesn't work.
And I am worried about the achievement gap, the widening of
the achievement gap in our country as a result of not choosing
to be in-person, and not letting teachers do what they know
they need to do to educate, especially elementary kids.
I had three children in my home who were learning to read
on a screen. And it actually has prompted me to go back to
school to learn to teach reading because I was shocked at how
ineffective the online education was. And these teachers were
trying their hardest, but they know, and I know, that they need
to be in school.
I worry about kids not being able to catch up sir. I worry
about the dropout rate, kids getting so frustrated, and when
they can dropout they're gone. I worry about kids not being on
grade level. And you know if my school district is any
indication, and they're only able to educate 30 percent to play
catch up in the summer, that's a real problem.
Mr. Owens. Thank you. And I just want to say that we are
talking about foster children, homeless children, and housing
insecure children. We're not talking about the kids that you
and I, all of this on this conference. Not your children, not
your grandchildren, these are kids who are already starting off
behind, and they're not allowed to go to school.
This is a travesty my friends, and there's a difference.
The data will show, and we'll look back on this year and see
that there was a different way to approached this, and there's
no excuse for us to put these kids at risk and have them go
through the trauma they will be dealing with over the coming
years.
So I just wanted to make that point and thank you so much
Ms. Davis truly for your efforts and everyone else here on this
panel who is really trying to make this thing work and I yield
back.
Chairman Sablan. All right thank you Ranking Member Owens.
Let me now recognize Mr. DeSaulnier. Sir, unmute and you have
five minutes.
Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I really want
to thank you and the Ranking Member for having this hearing and
our Chairman and Ranking Member of the full Committee. And I
want to thank all our panelists as well. Ms. Erb-Downward I
spent a lot of time when I was in local government as a county
supervisor in the Bay area on these issues, and the continuum
of care for at-risk kids.
A lot of those strategies that we did in partnership with
this Committee actually, my predecessor who was the former
Chair of this Committee, we worked with crisis as what we are
talking about today, and these kids, but then continuum of care
is family planning, prenatal care, reduction in teen
pregnancies.
In California we're very proud of the fact that we were
able to do that significantly. The whole country has. But the
dysfunctionality of the system was always painful. So you talk
about stress and trauma, Federal statistics Ms. Erb-Downward,
what I want to ask you is it shows that most kids are actually
in the system for not a long period of time, like 50 percent of
the time, but we know the struggle of having a CPS worker going
out to a house in urban areas of California the retention rate
for CPS workers is 50 percent.
A young person goes in, gets a master's degree, knows what
they're getting into and still leaves. Retention is a problem.
So getting the system to work and the stress on those kids in
the system again is a continuum of care issue.
I wondered if you could give us, the Committee, what you've
experienced in your research about fixing the system, but the
short-term situations where kids are put in and out of the
foster care system. And then second to that family unification
which we all want isn't successful often times, so maybe you
could tell us a little bit about the research on that and best
practices to avoid that.
Ms. Erb-Downward. Sure that's a great question. One thing
that I would like to start off with though is that you know in
the research that I shared in my testimony it shows that there
are incredibly negative outcomes educationally for homeless
children and for foster care students.
But that does not have to be the case, and I think that is
the point of this hearing today. You know what we see in the
data is that it's the instability that causes negative
outcomes. So for example, transferring schools mid-year, every
time a student transfers school mid-year it's estimated that
they are set back academically by up to 6 months.
Currently you know both in foster care and under McKinney-
Vento law, children have a right to school stability, and that
is really critically important. Yet in the homelessness data
we've seen, 20 percent, 1 in 5 students transferring schools
mid-year.
So that means that the system is as you say not working.
But if we can identify kids, if we can identify kids and if we
can provide them that point of support and connection, somebody
to help them along their way, those outcomes don't have to be
negative.
So there was a story of a young woman in Michigan. She was
homeless prior to entering foster care. She entered foster care
when her mother passed away. She transferred schools 18 times.
She's attended 18 different schools prior to graduating. But
the point is she did graduate, and the reason she graduated was
because she had an educational mentor who was working with her
and helping her through those transitions.
In the end she did end up finishing high school through a
virtual program. That doesn't mean that virtual programs are
the answer to every situation, but it was the ability of that
person working with her, that person who knew her transitions,
who knew her continuously across those points in time that was
able to help her overcome these huge obstacles, recover credits
that she was losing in high school every single time she
transferred schools.
So I guess the bottom line in terms of your question is
that what we need to address is we need to find kids before the
experience the instability. We need to make sure that if you
identify a child when they're homeless, when they're in foster
care, if the school is engaged there, and you could prevent
that child from transferring, that is going to reduce their
risk of being chronically absent from school.
Chronic absenteeism as everyone here knows, one of the
biggest predictors of grade level proficiency and graduation
rates. So we have to be active early, and that is what you know
the funding here that Dr. Lane was talking about, really allows
us to do. We have been in a reactive situation for years and
years where, even prior to the pandemic, we were not close to
identifying all of the children who are homeless. And now we
have an opportunity to do that.
Mr. DeSaulnier. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Sablan. Yes. Now I'd like to recognize Mr.
Grothman. Sir, you have five minutes.
Mr. Grothman. Thank you. I will talk to Gretchen Davis
again. First of all thank you for all you've done. It sounds
like you touched a number of children's lives since you've
embarked on this path. It's really incredible.
I'd like to ask you, you know we've heard concerns about
the changes in life that foster children have, you know
bouncing from school to school, or parent to parent. You did
mention that it's important, particularly important for these
folks to be in school. I know in my district you hear
complaints that for whatever reason some of the more rural
school districts and the private schools managed to stay open,
and some of the larger urban districts for whatever reason were
not able to stay open.
But I wondered if in general you could comment on the
benefits of in-person schooling, but also what you think we can
do to avoid the bouncing around that we just heard about, you
know, going from school to school. And in particular, how that
affects people in a foster setting, and perhaps maybe even
elaborate a little bit beyond what we talked about here.
Maybe the importance of somebody staying with you and their
birth parent, that sort of thing.
Ms. Davis. OK. Well I think stability is huge. And schools
providing stability and a place for kids to go, and parents
relying on that stability is huge. Foster parents and
biological parents. And so when you have a school that's
functioning as it should, and is open, especially for the most
vulnerable kids, then those services and that stability can be
utilized.
When there's a disconnect between schools not being open,
and the rest of the country trying to get back to normal, it
makes it really hard for these families because the families
have to go back to work, and foster parents have to go back to
work, but yet the kids are still at home.
And I've talked about you know for some reason we're not on
school on Mondays. It's asynchronous learning day, and the
reason for that is to provide special support for students. But
I'm not sure I'm seeing the special supports for students on
those Mondays.
I think you know families rely on the stability that school
brings, and our schools are amazing and the programs that are
provided, and the safety nets that are provided we're just not
utilizing them now. We know what helps kids. We know what
reduces the dropout rate.
We know what closes the achievement gap. We know how to
teach reading well, and it starts with an excellent good-
quality teacher who is with their students in the classroom.
And as far as foster parents and what you know their job has
been made harder by not being in-person in a lot of ways.
One of my jobs is to bridge the gap between families and
issues that they have and to help families work together well,
and it's hard when I cannot look the mom or the father in the
eye and be in person with them. It's hard to do that on a
screen. And so I'm just ready for people to go back to doing
what we know works which is educating kids well and in-person.
Mr. Grothman. OK. I'm sure you know a lot of other people
in the same position as you. And like I said in my district for
whatever reason, it seems to me the relatively rural schools
were able to stay in session for all this. I think just about
every private school was able to stay in session, but some of
the larger school districts weren't.
And I'm sure you as well have seen different school
districts reach different results, and I guess that's the
result of local control. But have you seen any reasons why it
would be justified for some schools to kind of shut down or put
children in a position in which they have to teach virtually as
opposed to other schools that are able to provide a stable in-
person experience for the kids? It's going to be a big deal for
summer school coming up if some schools still don't do in-
person summer school.
I mean my goodness, the pandemic is almost over here, but
can you see any justifications for it? Can you just comment on
that in general?
Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much for your good
question, but maybe Ms. Davis can submit her answer in writing.
Your time is up.
Mr. Grothman. OK. Well thank you very much for giving me
the five minutes.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you, sir. Next up I'd like Mrs.
McBath, Lucy you unmute your microphone and you have five
minutes please.
Mrs. McBath. Thank you, Chairman. And I just really want to
thank all of our witnesses that are here this morning. Thank
you so much for testifying in what is a very, very timely
conversations that we're having. And Chairman Sablan thank you
so much for prepping for this hearing.
I think everyone here kind of agree that children are
absolutely our future, and it's our responsibility as
legislators of us that are here today to ensure that every
child gets the quality education that they need and that they
deserve. And I think you know we all know that COVID-19 has,
you know, this pandemic has just exacerbated the inequities
that we already knew existed in America.
So you know today I'm grateful that we're bringing
attention to the children who have been experiencing
homelessness, or who currently are in foster care, and the
children who have already struggled to get you know the support
that they need to stay in school, so thank you for this today.
I represent Georgia, and just within the past year Georgia
had around 14,000 children in foster care. It's a huge number.
And according to the 2018 Atlanta Youth County Study, over
3,000 youth are currently experiencing homelessness in the
Atlanta metropolitan area, and that grieves me greatly.
This number has really remained virtually unchanged since
the last study was conducted in 2015. And across the State of
Georgia, you know that number is even higher in the total of
nearly 40,000 children that are homeless. So as a mother, even
though I physically don't have my child with me anymore, my
heart really breaks for these children that are not only having
to navigate you know the unusual obstacles of you know their
school lessons, but also having access to food and to clothing,
and specifically under the tragedy of the pandemic.
Mrs. Linder-Coates, one of my questions is for you. You
know we know that many students have lost great instructional
time during this pandemic year. And although school closures
have been just devastating for all our children, and that's
what we've heard over and over again, the younger children in
particular who have always had a harder time learning
virtually.
They've been hit particularly hard by the effects of COVID-
19. How does your program plan to address this issue in the
coming months and beyond to support our young children, and
particular those children experiencing homelessness and
children in foster care?
Ms. Linder-Coates. Thank you for that question. So
specifically we will be using funds this summer to provide
programing for students to ensure that they have the chance to
catch up. And our youngest children who have participated, many
who have participated in virtual programing, we're giving them
the first opportunity with our homeless families, and our
foster families giving first priority to take those seats.
Just going back a little bit to understand why in some
instances the summer program may only be able to be offered to
a smaller number of children in great part with our community
is you know we don't have as many teachers who are ready to
move back into that space.
So while we've been providing virtual pre-K as well as
hybrid pre-K and full face to face pre-K during the entire
pandemic, we did have families who chose to stay home with
their children, whether it was by choice or by chance that had
to stay home with their children, and specifically, for
families who are experiencing homelessness, or children who are
in foster care, we are providing the opportunity for those
families to sign up for face to face programing during the
summer in order to not only catch up on instructional time
that's been lost, but also socialization that's been lost.
But we do know that our youngest children, they learn best
by engaging with other children. So as much as having the
teacher in place to provide the constructs for learning, we
know that children learn from one another, so we are planning a
very robust summer program for in face, face to face learning
for the number of children who we can serve.
And right now we're starting off with you know 500. We're
going to try to get 500 children into face to face programming.
And as we see families are interested, we will continue to add
to that number, so I'm so thankful you asked that question
because we're really excited about it.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much Mrs. McBath. And I'd
like to now call on Mr. Allen, Ranking Member of this
Subcommittee of the last Congress, and a wonderful colleague.
You have five minutes sir.
Mr. Allen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and again I want to
thank all of the witnesses. Ms. Davis you have an incredible
story and legacy that would be good for all of America to hear
based on what you sacrificed to try to help children.
My mom and dad were both educators, and so I've been
involved in this process for a long time. I will comment you
know I got my colleagues calling this politicizing the issue. I
call it getting the truth out. The truth is in the 12th
District of Georgia what I asked our school systems to do is
the taxpayers pay for the schools to be open.
And for the students to be taught. And I said that if the
taxpayers are going to foot the bill, we need to open the
school whether one student shows up or every student shows up.
And then the others we will do our best to do online learning
or hybrids or whatever.
And our district responded. The largest school system in
the district has been open since August of last year. The
teachers have returned. Of course Georgia has led the Nation in
the recovery as far as COVID. In fact our economy in Georgia
has returned to pre-COVID numbers, and of course the biggest
problems we've got is this America Rescue Plan has got
everybody on enhanced unemployment, we can't get folks to come
back to work.
And that's the biggest problem we've got with our economy
right now. But bottom line is in Arlington I guess my question
in Arlington, Virginia are the teacher's unions in Arlington
running the school system?
Ms. Davis. Not yet.
Mr. Allen. Not yet OK. Why are the teachers not going back
to class then?
Ms. Davis. I think that the administration has not put
systems in place for that to be possible.
Mr. Allen. OK.
Ms. Davis. I think yes you have some teachers that are
concerned, but overall you have most of the teachers that are
concerned about the students and not their own health.
Mr. Allen. Right.
Ms. Davis. And who are following the science and are
reading what the American Academy of Pediatrics says, and the
CDC says, and they say let's go. But you know it doesn't matter
how much they say that if the administrators are dragging their
feet. And I've seen an incredible lack of planning and
creativity in how to get things done.
And you know just like when you're parenting children, if
you say mask up let's go, this is what we have to do, kids will
do it. But if you say oh, I'm so sorry, this is so terrible,
we've got to figure this out. There's just so many problems,
then it delays and causes frustration that's not necessary.
So I think we have amazingly talented teachers, and highly
qualified teachers. It's just there are not systems in place
for them to go back to school 5 days right now.
Mr. Allen. Yes and frankly, like I said in the 12th
District our teachers, if we had teachers that were compromised
they did the online teaching, and those that had no pre-
existing conditions or were not compromised were in the
classroom, so. And we had the funds to put in the enhanced air-
conditioning and filter systems as well.
In fact, in checking with all of our school systems, all of
our school systems are financially in great shape, and we have
pretty much all new facilities in my district. But as far as
the root of the problem, and I'm running out of time. I've got
about a minute. But you know we've thrown a lot of money at
poverty. We've thrown a lot of money at housing, affordable
housing, and opportunity zones, you name it. And we can't seem
to fix this problem. It seems to be getting worse.
Obviously, there's a you know the family has been
devastated in this country, and you know single parent homes
seem to be the rule rather than the exception anymore. And you
know if you get to the root of the problem, you know, obviously
we keep throwing money at this, but I think we've got to fix
the problem.
And can you give me some idea of what you think the real
root of the problem is in about 7 seconds?
Ms. Davis. Well I think there needs to be an all-hands-on
deck approach, and we have the systems in place, we just need
to use them well. We have the staff, the teachers, we just need
to use them well and let them do what they do best.
Mr. Allen. All right thank you I yield back.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you, thank you Mr. Allen. I now
recognize Mr. Levin. Unmute your mic and you have five minutes
sir.
Mr. Levin. Thank you so much Chairman Sablan for
recognizing me, and for putting together this really important
hearing today on education for homeless and foster youth.
According to research conducted by Poverty Solutions at the
University of Michigan, research with which our witness Ms.
Erb-Downward is involved, one of our every 12 Michigan fifth
graders experiences homelessness at some point during
elementary school, so troubling. And as with so many of the
major crises we experience in the United States, students
experience homelessness more frequently when they're part of
underserved populations, including rural students, students of
color, students with disabilities, English language learners,
LGBTQ plus students, and pregnant, parenting or caregiving
students.
So Ms. Erb-Downward, would you elaborate on the
intersections among students experiencing homelessness and
these populations that I've mentioned?
Ms. Erb-Downward. Definitely, and thank you for this
question. So it is absolutely true that there are
intersections, and that all of the groups that you've mentioned
experience particularly disadvantages when it comes to
homelessness.
I already referenced that black and Hispanic students are 1
in 7 are experiencing homelessness at some point before they
graduate as compared to 1 in 10 homeless students in Michigan.
You know nationally we see LGBTQ students experiencing
significantly higher rates of homelessness, that's 2.9 times
the rate of their non-LGBTQ peers.
I think when we look at these intersections what we have to
think about is what are the systems in place to actually serve
these different populations, and are we actually making sure
that the services are in place in a way that meets the needs? I
think it's particularly true and you referenced that rural
students face a disproportional rate of homelessness too, and I
think that's a really important point as well because we tend
to think homelessness is more of an urban issue. You know,
historically that has been the story that's been told. If you
were to look at the map of Michigan, you would see that some of
the highest rates are actually in some of the more rural
counties of the State. A lot of that has to do with the
definition of homelessness.
Families love their children. I think we can you know let's
start with that. Families love their kids, and they want to
protect them, and that means that in places which do not have
shelters which are the majority of places in the United
States--most places do not have shelters, families don't have
any other options other than to double-up with another family.
They do not have access to the services that exist, and we
limit access to services in many ways because of these
different definitions, and so going back to you know thinking
about what opportunities exist now, again, we can bridge some
of these gaps. For families that are living doubled-up, we have
the opportunity to make them eligible for other funding streams
through HUD, right now housing services, housing support
services.
Another thing that I you know think it's important to think
about is the expansion of the child tax credit. I realize that
this is outside of the Education Committee right now, but when
we're talking about poverty, homelessness, foster care, housing
instability is an issue of poverty, and very deep poverty and
instability.
Families are just living on the edge.
Mr. Levin. Listen, I really agree with you. It's a super
important point, and I also want to point out that the, you
know, the Department of Education's guidance for the American
Rescue Plan funds dedicated to serving homeless students
encourages states to partner with community-based organizations
that specialize in serving these historically underserved
populations, so I really hope that we see a lot of great
programs there.
But in the little time I have left, I've been listening to
all this talk on you know schools being open and not. My own
daughter has been you know first they shut down her school,
then she was in virtual, then she was in hybrid, then she was
in virtual, you know, now she's fully back in school.
But Dr. Lane can you tell us what's going on in Virginia to
reopen schools because I think people are working very hard on
this.
Chairman Sablan. Yes, actually you're out of time Mr.
Levin. Could the answer be sent in, be written, and sent into
Mr. Levin?
Mr. Lane. Yes.
Mr. Levin. All right thanks Dr. Lane and thank you Mr.
Chairman I yield back.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you, Mr. Levin. I now would like to
recognize Mr. Keller for five minutes, Mr. Keller.
Mr. Keller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the topic
of today's hearing, but I'm noticing a pattern of topics during
the recent activity that seems to ignore the heart of the issue
at hand. No matter which group of students we're talking about,
schools remaining closed for in-person instruction hurts every
single kid.
Now that so many Americans have had access to vaccines it
is essential that we do not waste another day before fully and
safely reopening our schools. We're talking about families in
poverty, and this subject is very near and dear to me. I grew
up in a poor family and understand some of the challenges
children and families in poverty face.
Having been homeless at one point in time in my life, it's
not fun. And it's hard. Between first and seventh grade I moved
about four times. So what we really need to look at, and these
challenges that are facing our children and families in
poverty, we need to talk about education, instilling a work
ethic and hard work, you know.
Because of education and hard work, I was able to make sure
that my kids were never homeless, and never had to go to bed
hungry. So we need to be providing every tool possible to
create opportunities and help children and families, and the
best way to do so is through education and good-paying jobs. So
Ms. Davis thank you for being here today, and for sharing with
us the challenges of COVID-19 and what it has presented foster
parents and families with.
The idea of any child not having enough to eat, or a roof
over their head is unconscionable. Thank you for the great work
you have done in your community to provide homes for students
who need them. Can you say more about what challenges will
remain for foster families in the aftermath of the pandemic?
Ms. Davis. Yes, thank you. I think we will be playing a lot
of catch up. I think we will be trying to mitigate a lot of
damage. Arlington has a wonderful human services department,
and they are very hands on with their foster parents. But even
they have had kind of their hands tied because everything's
been closed.
I think when things reopen, I loved hearing what Ms.
Linder-Coates said about offering surveys and re-evaluating
what's working, what's not working, and making changes. And I
think that will have to happen.
And I can tell you that foster families have always wanted
to do the hard work, and now there's just going to be a lot
more hard work to do just to get kids in a safe place. I think
we have a mental health crisis that we're going to have to deal
with in children. We haven't even talked about the dangerous
screen time, and kids being left with devices you know,
unattended, and the amount of time we have our children on
screens as a result of this crisis.
And the impact of that. You know social media can destroy
children. And we have to as foster parents and as parents and
as educators, have to mitigate that damage for sure. And so I
think we've got a lot of fixing to do. I believe that we have
great systems already in place to do that, we just need to do
the hard work of helping children.
Mr. Keller. What would be you advice to governments, school
districts, local education authorities, school administrators,
teachers, and others about how to ensure that schools remain
open and ensure that we don't need to make up any additional
lost time once schools are open fully and operational again? I
think Mrs. Davis is still muted.
Chairman Sablan. Yes, you are muted Ms. Davis.
Ms. Davis. I'm sorry. I can't see you. Can you hear me?
Mr. Keller. Yes.
Ms. Davis. OK I apologize. Advice, well I think we can
definitely look back and see what we have learned from this. I
think we need to reopen much more quickly if this ever Lord
willing does not happen again, but if it ever does, looking at
the critical nature of face time, and again not the app, but
one to one personal communication with children.
The critical nature of giving families accurate
information, not fear mongering, not being living in fear.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I
gave you additional seconds Ms. Davis, I mean Mr. Keller. Thank
you very much sir.
Mr. Keller. Thank you.
Chairman Sablan. All right. I'd now like to recognize Ms.
Manning. Ms. Manning would you unmute, and you have five
minutes please.
Ms. Manning. Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. Thank you
for holding a hearing on this very important issue. Certainly,
children in foster care, and homeless children deal with
terribly difficult issues during normal times, and it's
devastating to hear how the pandemic has impacted these very
vulnerable children.
Ms. Erb-Downward Congress recently appropriated 800 million
dollars dedicated to the identification enrollment and school
participation of children and youth experiencing homelessness,
including wrap around services. And the Department of Education
recently released 200 million of these funds so that states and
local districts can meet the urgent needs of homeless children
and youth.
Can you talk to us about how local education agencies can
use these funds to better serve homeless students in the
immediate future, and the rest of the funds in the coming
months in the upcoming school year?
Ms. Erb-Downward. Yes, thank you for the question. So I
think the first thing is identification. We cannot help
children if we don't know who they are, and what Ms. Linder-
Coates brought up about asking questions in a way that is
sensitive to families is a critical thing for all schools and
all districts to take away from this hearing today, and to move
forward with.
Families are scared to identify as homeless, and therefore
the outreach needs to be sensitive, and it's best done in
collaboration with community partnerships, with agencies that
know those families, and know the children through other means.
So I think that's step one. Really looking at what can be done
in schools to reach out to families and to identify families.
Other things that can be looked for at the school level are
you know signs like chronic absenteeism, transferring schools,
not showing up for remote learning, all these can be indicators
that there's instability going on in the home.
And so that can be a reason to reach out. Find out how we
can help families. Connecting families to summer programs is a
very important element, and then transportation is a huge need.
Families are moving frequently like we've discussed. Children
who are homeless have a right to maintain stable enrollment in
their school of origin.
When that does not happen, we see negative outcomes. If the
smooth transition can be made that is you know much better, but
if we can keep that child in the school of origin and provide
transportation supports that is huge. The last thing I'll say,
and then I will turn it back over, is making sure families are
connected to other programs. For example, homeless families are
at risk of not having ever to file their taxes.
If they don't file their taxes, they are not going to be
receiving the extended child tax credit. This child tax credit
is estimated to reduce child poverty by 44 or 45 percent
nationally. We are talking about issues of poverty. If we could
reduce child poverty in this country by 45 percent, we would
not be having the same conversation about homelessness and
foster care.
So really connecting families to those other supports is
critical. Thank you.
Ms. Manning. Thanks very much. Mrs. Linder-Coates Head
Start's two generation approach is a uniquely strong model in
the in the education system and understanding that children's
success is dependent on their parents, Head Start invests in
parents as well as kids to ensure the entire family is
supported.
Can you tell us how Head Start's two generation model
supports these problems, and what role do family service
workers play in your Head Start program?
Ms. Linder-Coates. Sure. Thank you for that. So you know
speaking of the two generational model. We initially had a
requirement that families volunteer right, in the program, so
that they can see the benefit of the program, and we have been
encouraging families of course to obtain employment, become
self-sufficient, specifically for families that are
experiencing homelessness.
One of our initial processes that we undertake with
families when they come into our program and enroll in our
program is establishing a family partnership agreement. And
that family partnership agreement between our family service
workers and our parents, is really to help families think
through what supports they may need in order to be successful
in terms of moving toward self-sufficiency.
Sometimes that includes completing their high school
diploma. Sometimes it includes going back to school and
finishing a degree. Sometimes it's you know about obtaining new
skills so that they can be more employable in a different
marketplace. So for us that is the cornerstone, or the bedrock
of our intake process is really figuring out how we can help
them.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms.
Manning. Now I'd like to recognize, she's been here the whole
time, very patient, Ms. Miller. Ms. Miller please unmute, you
have five minutes.
Ms. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank
the witnesses and my colleagues for entering into this
essential civil discourse on this important topic. I also want
to address Mrs. Hayes' comment that the teacher's unions have
been constantly berated by us.
That is definitely not my intent, and I don't believe it is
the intent of my colleagues, but I do want to say that the
schools are the only essential workers that are not back to
work. And so in light of that fact, yes, we have been critical,
and I would tell my children when they were growing up if the
shoe fits you need to wear it.
On March 5 I joined 58 of my colleagues on a letter to the
CDC Director Doctor Walensky to share concerns about the
stringent school reopening guidelines that agency had issued
that did not seem to follow the science. I was concerned that
so many schools remained closed when we had so much evidence
that shows schools could be safely reopened, and a lot of them
did, including the school in my community.
Well it turns out the CDC and Biden administration
officials have been consulting with teacher unions about school
reopening guidance. The same teacher unions that lobbied to
keep our schools closed all year. On May 10 I joined a letter
with Representative Bob Good, Ranking Member Virginia Foxx, and
several other colleagues from this Committee asking for an
investigation into whether the CDC's school reopening guidance
was politically influenced by teacher unions.
This is a very serious concern, and I'm eager to receive a
response. What has gone on this year with school closures has
been shameful, and it has disproportionately harmed the most
vulnerable children in our society as we have heard from the
witness. And I want to give Ms. Davis a chance to share with us
a little bit more.
I do also want to say that my sister is one of the noble
people that have pursued a career in education. She's a special
ed instructor with a specialty in reading. And she was so
grieved about schools being open that she petitioned her urban
school to allow her to return to school because she's a special
ed instructor.
She and several other special ed instructors were allowed
to go back. They have had in school, in-person instruction all
year. And but anyway, so my question for Ms. Davis. Can you
share more with the Committee why you believe Arlington County
resisted calls from parents to reopen schools, and to try to
find a way especially to serve what I would call the extra
vulnerable population.
Ms. Davis. Yes, I will try. Thank you. I am baffled really
by why we have not opened. I hear stories from friends who are
teachers about for example, a high school student who is living
with her father. She's a special needs student, and her father
had to go back to work, and she has no transportation to
school.
And when Arlington began hybrid, they took away some of the
days that they gave special education students who were the
first ones to go back in January. So those special ed students
went from 5 days to 3. I'm not sure how many. And this student
begged her teachers, emailed them please let me come back to
school.
And the problem that the teachers were told was the problem
was transportation. And I'm baffled when I hear things like oh,
it's a logistical nightmare. Oh, it's too hard. We can't figure
out how to make it work. I just think there's a lot of excuses,
and a lack of creativity, and frankly, a lack of planning.
Yes, Arlington is a complicated school district, but so are
a lot of districts that are making it work. So I would say a
lack of creativity and a lack of planning.
Ms. Miller. Also I do want to add you brought it up. I've
taught in public school, private school, and home school, and I
agree that all day virtual education is a very poor substitute,
and I cannot imagine how the schools think. I don't even know
how they could claim that there's accountability that education
is happening.
What I've observed for you know I have 7 children, and a
lot of grandchildren, and a lot of experience with children in
educating them. This is extremely unrealistic. Children need
relationships. They're unique individuals and they need people
to know who they are and to respond to them. They need variety
during their school day, and they need to be allowed to move.
And I talked to educators, and they have communicated with
me that there really is no way to keep the adults that are
supposed to be accountable and responsible for the education to
actually make sure this is happening.
And I just think it is such a shame. I think anybody that
is advocating for schools to stay closed should feel ashamed,
and those that think that we are berating unions should be told
that we are here to advocate for the students.
Chairman Sablan. I'm sorry the time is up ma'am. Thank you
very much Mrs. Miller. I'd now like to recognize Mr. Bowman sir
please unmute and you have five minutes.
Mr. Bowman. Yes, thank you so much. My first question is
for Dr. Lane. Dr. Lane can you speak to how trauma and how
necessary trauma informed schools are at this moment as to
support not just our foster care population, but all of our
students after we come out of this pandemic. Can you speak to
the trauma informed approach to education?
Mr. Lane. Yes sir. Obviously, as our students began
returning back to school at the beginning of the school year,
and as some are just returning now as parents were hesitant, or
school divisions have been opening, our students are facing a
lot of trauma. Many have seen family Members pass away in this
pandemic.
Many have, you know, seen significant illness in their
homes. And it's important for our schools to understand the
trauma that students are going through and have strategies in
place to respond to that trauma to be able to successfully make
sure that student is prepared to learn.
We all know we talk about you know Maslow's research.
Students have to feel like their safety and psychological needs
are met before they can learn, and that's what trauma informed
care is about. And so we work diligently in the Commonwealth
through our agency to partner with school divisions and provide
resources and support to make sure that our students have the
wrap around supports necessary to make them successful in our
schools.
Mr. Bowman. Thank you so much. My next question is for Dr.
Linder-Coates. Dr. Linder-Coates as a former educator I've seen
first-hand just how difficult it is to nurture the growth of a
child, especially when considering the roadblocks to success
many foster youth face.
Speaking with stakeholders in my district, such as the Good
Shepherd Services, and other organizations that support foster
youth, and those experiencing homelessness, the issue of
special education became a reoccurring theme of conversation.
In particular, I worry about the foster children with special
education needs.
In the absence of a parent solely concerned about the well-
being of their child, I worry that many foster children may
fall through the cracks and fail to receive the specialized
education they are legally entitled to. How can we make sure
that every foster child receives the individualized education
plan they have a right to?
What can the Federal Government do to best support foster
parents as they advocate to give their children the education
they deserve?
Ms. Linder-Coates. So, good question. So the first thing is
just making sure that the foster agencies are clear about what
the IEP's for children who have special needs entail. And a lot
of times the information that is in the IEP's that will support
children in making sure that they make progress, whether it's
you know, during this pandemic, or any other time, making sure
that all of the stakeholders are clear about what the goals
are.
That for us is one of our major challenges. And so the
first response that we have is making sure that our special
needs coordinators who we have on staff are sitting with
teachers and family Members and in the case of children who are
in foster care, and/or who are experiencing homelessness,
making sure that everyone is clear about what those goals are.
So for what I would recommend is to have funds that are
earmarked specifically for the education of those, in our
community we have large umbrella organizations that are
responsible for coordinating the services, so making sure that
there is enough funding to ensure that the children have, and
the families have, access to those supports that are outside of
the school.
So for instance children may need wraparound service. They
may need a person to sit with them in the school in order for
them to be successful during the day, making sure that those
supports are available, but also making sure that the
stakeholders who are involved in ensuring that those supports
are available are educated enough to know what they need to
look for.
A lot of times we don't know what we don't know, and I
think if there are funds that are specific to that cause,
making sure that there is enough services available, and also
making sure that folks are educated about the services that are
available, so that each individual teacher, parent and child
and service coordinator can sit down and make sure that the
progress is being made. That's what I would recommend.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much Mr. Bowman. I'd now
like to recognize Ms. Steel. Please unmute and you have five
minutes.
Mrs. Steel. Thank you very much Chairman Sablan and Ranking
Member Owens. Ms. Davis, I want to say thank you to all the
witnesses coming out. Ms. Davis thank you for sharing your
testimony with the Committee. Your family story is
heartbreaking.
Your sacrifice and dedication to the foster system is
extraordinary. It is sad and unacceptable that school districts
across this country turned their backs on our most vulnerable
children. You brought up a major concern in your testimony.
Many students and family Members did not, and still do not have
access to community support.
Many of these families are already facing significant
obstacles. Why is having access to in-person learning worth the
risk that exists?
Ms. Davis. That's a great question. As I have said before
face time is important interpersonal communication is critical.
Knowing your students well, and I have to say that the teachers
that I come in contact with really are trying hard, but you
just cannot use what was supposed to be a stop gap measure,
which is an iPad and some Wi-Fi as the normal way to now teach
reading, or to teach high level math. It just doesn't work.
And if students are able to come back to the classroom,
then teachers can use all the tools in their toolbox and not be
limited to just those on a screen. And one example Ms. Steel is
when you are teaching reading, you are teaching phonemic
awareness which involves you to look at a child's mouth, and to
see that they are forming the sounds and you know the letter
sounds correctly.
And that's very hard to do on a screen. You also engage
children in several hands on activities when you're teaching
reading that go over phonics instruction, and phonemic
awareness and fluency, and you cannot do that on a screen, and
it works so much better when you're doing that in-person, and
when you're in small groups and engaging in activities and
learning centers.
And teachers know that. And so it's I'm sure very
frustrating, I know very frustrating for the teachers that I've
talked to that they can't deliver their best instruction
because administration, and those who are not in the classroom
are dictating wait, see, let's wait until everything blows
over, you know let's wait until next year.
That is one of the most egregious to me is let's wait until
next year. Because I have kids in my care, and my own children,
and the others who need services today. They need to learn to
read, write and problem solve today. And to be told oh, we're
going to wait, and we'll be our best in August, that's just not
OK.
That's a lot of time and vulnerable children do not have
that time.
Mrs. Steel. And not just vulnerable children, but all the
students because I saw the assessment test result came out, and
what a difference between those schools being open since last
September, and those schools being closed since last year. I
mean they've already damaged enough children here, and I think
it's time to open up.
And we're going to make sure that kids are really looking
at they are going into the classroom and they're going to
learn. And they're not just learning knowledge, but they're
learning social skills and others that you know more important
than ever, and you know what I really want to do that.
So do you feel many families lack the opportunity to tell
their story and express their frustration about their children
being left behind because since you are testifying today, but a
lot of people don't have a chance to testify at exactly what's
going on with their children? You are muted.
Mrs. Davis. I'm sorry. Can you repeat that question I'm
sorry?
Mrs. Steel. Do you feel many families lack the opportunity
to tell their story and express their frustrations about their
children being left behind since you are one of the witnesses
and you can express yourself with you, you know, about your
children. But a lot of parents that totally agree with you, but
they cannot express to anybody because it's kind of like you
are not the wall, that nobody is really listening at this
point.
Ms. Davis. Yes ma'am. I think a lot of families are unable
to, they've tried. You can submit emails and make comments to
school boards, but there is not let's say active listening
going on in a lot of those areas, and it is unfortunate. I mean
parents are in crisis. Kids are really in crisis.
Chairman Sablan. I hate to interrupt, but time is up.
Mrs. Steel. Thank you, Ms. Davis, thank you Chairman. I
yield the balance of my time.
Chairman Sablan. I'd now like to recognize the most junior
Member of the Subcommittee, but actually the Chairman of the
full Committee, Chairman Scott will you please unmute you have
five minutes.
Mr. Scott. I thank you Mr. Chairman. Dr. Lane we've had a
lot of back and forth on the opening of schools. There is no
debate about the value of opening schools, and everybody knows
it. The CDC has published guidelines on what it takes to safely
open the schools: Ventilation, transportation, fewer students
on buses, spread out the students, it might require smaller
class sizes, PPE and disinfectant, and staff to disinfect
because schools aren't going to disinfect themselves, maybe
school nurses.
We know what it takes. But all of that costs money, and now
that you have the money under the Rescue Plan, is there any
question that the schools will be opening in September?
Mr. Lane. Chairman Scott thank you for the question. No
there will be no questions there in Virginia. We passed
legislation this year in a largely bipartisan manner, and it
was signed by the Governor that will mandate a five-day week
opening for all schools in the Commonwealth in the fall.
In addition to that we've stayed in alignment with CDC
guidance. We have put out joint VDH and VDOE guidance
throughout the year. CDC released new guidance on Thursday, we
had our guidance out in the State on Friday, but as this
pandemic evolved the Governor came out in Virginia in February,
and stated clearly that he wanted to see all school divisions
opened by March 15.
Mr. Scott. Well the question though is not whether or not
you want the schools open, but whether you're going to do it
safely. Some of us wanted the schools opened when it could be
done safely, and we've provided you the funds and I thank you
for using the funds to make sure that the schools would be
opened.
You mentioned the homeless funding that you've upscaled.
Are you able to provide sufficient funding to appropriately
serve all the homeless students in Virginia?
Mr. Lane. Mr. Chairman. The funding that was available
before the American Rescue Plan no. We certainly needed more
funding. We were not able to meet all requests when it was
competitive grant application, and so the funding in the
American Rescue Plan goes a long way toward ensuring that we
can meet all the needs in the Commonwealth.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. And Ms. Erb-Downward one of the
problems that occurs when you have this kind of disruption is
that people fall through the cracks. Are we finding that all of
the homeless students are actually signing up for education, or
are some of them just disappearing?
Ms. Erb-Downward. So the latest research that we have on
the homelessness liaison surveys that was done in the fall. And
in those surveys, we found that there was a 28 percent decrease
in the number of homeless students who were being identified by
their schools that equates to about 420,000 students.
So you know there are a lot of students who are slipping
through the cracks. We have the opportunity and the obligation
now to identify them and make sure that we're supporting them.
Mr. Scott. Thank you. Dr. Lane the American Rescue Plan
distributed money for K through 12 education essentially using
the Title I formula, meaning it was disproportionately aimed at
low income areas, and at least 20 percent must be used for
learning loss. We should expect significant progress in
eliminating achievement gaps.
You got money for smaller class sizes, summer school and
that kind of thing. What is your office going to do to make
sure that this money is used to significantly reduce or
eliminate achievement gaps?
Mr. Lane. In Virginia we formed a work group of education
stakeholders that we call Virginia Learns. You can see the
information that came out of that on our website. But Virginia
Learns released guidance about how to think about recovering
from the pandemic.
It provided everything from what are the most impactful and
powerful standards that are necessary for making sure the
students know them to be successful, to how to spend money, to
how to think about mental health. But of course, we provided
significant guidance to our school divisions on you know the
requirements under the American Rescue Plan and of course,
CARES II and before.
In Virginia, this investment will absolutely be huge for
us. The State set aside alone is nearly 210 million dollars of
which about 10five million has to be used directly for learning
loss. That is going to be a game changer. And just last week we
announced 62.7 million dollars in Cares II grants to make sure
that our students are being addressed with learning loss in the
summer of this year.
Mr. Scott. Well we're going to count on you to follow
through on that, and if you could keep us posted on how you're
doing we'd appreciate it.
Mr. Lane. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you very much. I now would like to
ask I think we tend to forget that nobody wanted this virus to
come into our lives, and you know interrupt our life, but we
tend to forget the exceptional outstanding ingenuity, the
genius of science is that we're able to sequence the genome of
this virus in such a short time.
It took them less time to sequence the genome than they did
in actually performing clinical tests, and that's some of the
things we tend to forget, and we only look at the interruption
in our lives. But let me go Ms. Erb-Downward school can be more
than just a place for students to learn, for students
experiencing homelessness, and students in foster care school
can be a lifeline to meeting their basic needs, including food
and clothing in addition to education.
So what are some of the challenges that homeless students
and students in foster care face during the pandemic, and how
does the President's oath to reopen schools address both
challenges?
Ms. Erb-Downward. So I think when we think about the
challenges that homeless students face if anyone has children
you can think about the challenges you see your children facing
and you can magnify that by 1,000. One you know in terms of
opening school the first thing the President's plan does is
focus on opening schools safely.
We have to open schools. That is critical. They need to be
open safely. Many parents are still scared to send their kids
to school. So we have to figure out how do we provide parents
the supports they need to feel comfortable getting their
children to school.
So you know I think the additional pieces there are really
ensuring access to transportation, making sure that we are
addressing food support needs, you know, in the interim, and at
school. You know one thing that I you know have to go back to
what Dr. Lane said that you know before the pandemic there was
not enough funding to meet the needs of homeless students.
You know I'd like to give the example of in Detroit where I
work they have done incredible things to improve their
identification system, but you know initially they had
identified the school which serves you know 46,000 children,
had identified 615 homeless students.
Chairman Sablan. Yes.
Ms. Erb-Downward. Just to give you perspective, 16 percent
of students are estimated to be homeless there so.
Chairman Sablan. OK. How does allowing schools to use funds
for these purposes help students experiencing homelessness?
Just as short an answer as you can.
Ms. Erb-Downward. I think it provides flexibility for
people to actually focus on meeting the needs of homeless
students. People have different needs.
Chairman Sablan. All right. So in the short time I have
left Ms. Linder-Coates, Congress has appropriated a total of 2
billion dollars in supplemental funding for Head Start programs
during the pandemic, so can you please tell us how your program
has taken advantage of these funds, and how have those funds,
been used to support children experiencing homelessness, or
children in foster care?
Ms. Linder-Coates. Thank you. So as I discussed earlier,
one of the primary ways we used was really to keep children
connected, and also to provide PPE for those children who were
face to face. We really did want to make sure that we had
spaces available for families of children who wanted to
continue face to face, and we had partnerships with our
childcare agencies, so although our district was closed for
programming, our childcare partners remained open with spaces
that serve our families.
And we also again, I just wanted to reiterate we also spent
money to inform the teachers and help the teachers do the best
that they can in the digital space for those families who chose
to remain.
Chairman Sablan. Yes. And I have two of my youngest are
actually teachers. One of them is a special ed teacher, and I
did watch some of the frustrations they had, and now both are
very open to coming in and teaching summer school for their
students that need to catch up, and you know of course that's
their summer, but as you said their commitment is very
important that their students catch up.
So I want to thank you, thank you very much. My time is
just about up, but I'd like to you know I want to remind my
colleagues that pursuant to Committee practice materials for
submission for the hearing record must be submitted to the
Committee Clerk within 14 days following the last day of the
hearing, so by close of business on June 2, 2021, preferably in
Microsoft Word format.
The materials submitted must address the subject matter of
the hearing. Only a Member of the Subcommittee or an invited
witness may submit materials for inclusion in the hearing
record. Documents are limited to 50 pages each. Documents
longer than 50 pages will be incorporated into the record via
an internet link that you must provide to the Committee Clerk
within the required timeframe.
But please recognize that in the future that link may no
longer work. Now pursuant to House rules and regulations items
for the record should be submitted to the Clerk electronically
by emailing submissions to [email protected].
Again [email protected].
Again I want to thank the witnesses for their participation
today. Members of the Subcommittee may have some additional
questions for you, and we ask the witnesses to please respond
to those questions in writing. The hearing record will be held
open for 14 days in order to receive those responses.
I remind my colleagues that pursuant to Committee practice
witness questions for the hearing record must be submitted to
the Majority Committee Staff or Committee Clerk within 7 days.
The questions submitted must address the subject matter of the
hearing.
OK. I'd now like to recognize the Ranking Member Mr. Owens
for his closing remarks.
Mr. Owens. Thank you once again Mr. Chairman for this
hearing. I wanted to also thank all the witnesses for offering
their expertise today. It truly has been invaluable. I wanted
to focus my closing on something I said earlier in the hearing.
One of our colleagues on the other side of the House says
she's tired of the criticism of those who refuse to follow the
science and reopen the schools. She says yes it was unfair. Mr.
Chairman do you know what's unfair? The mother we've heard
about today who's trying to create stability for her and her
two children who can't get a job because her two children are
in school for just a few hours 2 days a week on different days.
Do you know what's unfair or who's Tara, Ms. Davis who
served her community for 8 years as a foster parent and has
seen first-hand the horrifying potential permanent damage being
done by keeping children out of school, who also is a teacher
herself for 15 years and understands the challenges teachers
face and who not so ever have spent the last 2 hours telling us
that schools must be open.
To add to that list Mr. Bush who testified at our last
hearing about whose son ended up in a hospital because he was
separated from school. And also added to that list is Ms. Dale
who testified before this Subcommittee in late March about the
harm being done to her daughter and kids like her daughter from
this disruptive education.
These stories represent millions of other families all
around our country pulling out of work, worrying about what's
happening to the children. It baffles me that the response from
our friends on the other side of the aisle seem to be that
we're being too mean or unfair to teachers unions.
Mr. Chairman it's our job to point out when the education
is failing our children, especially our most vulnerable
children. Of course response from other side of the aisle is
always more money. We've heard that today. They seem to think
that we can just write a big check and that everything would be
taken care of.
But the Congressional Budget Office said almost none of
this money will play any role in reopening schools. We know
that Arlington County Public Schools have financial resources
to offer teachers financial incentives to teach summer school,
but still can't get more than one-third of the children back
in-person.
Mr. Chairman republicans tried to tie tens of billions of
dollars of COVID aid to requirements to reopen schools. The
democrats voted no five times. And that's five times no. Mr.
Chairman thank you again for this hearing. Thank you for giving
a mother a platform to speak on behalf of millions of other
families who see firsthand the harm still being done to our
children.
But now Mr. Chairman let's actually listen to what those
families are saying. Let's respect them enough to not just list
their experiences. Let's worry more about them than the
delicate accessibilities of our union leaders. I yield back.
Chairman Sablan. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Owens. I'm going
to take the high road here and just thank you again. Thank our
witnesses for being with us today. We now have a greater
understanding of just how many children are homeless in
America, how widespread the problem is, and it happens with or
without the COVID, with or without the virus.
And so I think the expert testimony gave this Subcommittee
a sober assessment of the harmful consequences of this
homelessness and of foster care, not only for the educational
development of young people, but also for the long-term well-
being of our country.
The research is clear. Students and children who do not
have the stable housing situation, who are removed from their
families must struggle to get the education they need to lead
independent and fulfilling lives. And that the money that
Congress has made available to help these students, these
families with their needs to live independent and fulfilling
lives, to grow and to be good Members of our society.
Particularly, our black and brown children, children with
disabilities and other historically underserved groups are
affected because homelessness and reliance on foster care are
manifestations of a larger web of systemic inequities. Congress
has made significant investments over the last year to make
sure all of America's children can continue their education,
and as we confirmed today, these investments have particularly
made the difference in the education and lives of children who
are homeless, or in foster care, particularly this money we
have made available will give us greater hope, and hopefully
almost certainly make sure that we have schools that will open
in September.
I have to believe no matter our political affiliations, we
can all agree these investments in America's children are worth
taking. And I look forward to working with all my colleagues to
build off today's discussions and ensure all our children have
what they need to reach their full potential.
If there is no further business without objection the
Subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you for all our witnesses
again and thank you for our Members for today's insightful
hearing. This hearing is adjourned.
[Question submitted for the record and the response by
Mr. Lane follow:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[Whereupon, at 12:40 p.m. the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[all]