FamilyAid Boston Launches Innovative Homelessness Prevention Program with Boston Public Schools

On any given night in Boston, there are 5,000 children experiencing homelessness; living in cars, shelters or doubled up with other families in extremely overcrowded apartments. And according to Boston Public Schools, there are another 900 children who could become homeless at any moment.

Last year, with Boston experiencing record increases in the number of homeless underage children and families, FamilyAid Boston began talking to Boston Public Schools (BPS) officials about what they were seeing and how we could work together to could stem the flow of children and families falling into homelessness.

What we learned was eye-opening.  With skyrocketing rents, health and childcare costs, and stagnant hourly wages, working class parents must work one, two, or even three jobs to stay afloat. Something as simple as staying home with a sick child for a few days could result in lost wages that make it impossible for parents to pay their rent for the month. And since working class parents are so busy working, BPS found that most who ultimately fell into homelessness did not have the time to connect to community resources that could have been helpful in their moment of crisis.

FamilyAid Boston and Boston Public Schools also realized the best people to identify families that need those connections are the dedicated teachers that spend the entire school day with their children.

As a result of these learnings, FamilyAid – with support from private funders including the United Way, Gerstner Family Foundation, Cummings Foundation and The Clipper Ship Foundation and numerous individual donors – launched an Early Homeless Intervention & Prevention pilot program in partnership with BPS in November.

Through the pilot, BPS homeless liaisons – identified teachers or staff members in each school– refer families to FamilyAid Boston through a private emergency hotline.  Experienced FamilyAid on-call social workers then intervene with families immediately, connecting them to community resources and providing the support they need to stay in their homes and avoid eviction. Not only do families remain in their homes, but children also avoid the trauma of homelessness, leading to better outcomes than their peers who experience homelessness.

Originally, the pilot program set out to help 50 families over the course of six months. The demand for the program has been overwhelming: Within a few weeks of launching the program, more than 55 families were enrolled in the program. We quickly resolved a third of the families housing crises and are working tirelessly to help the rest with extremely complicated, legal housing, health and support needs.  We are also working to build the resources more families need right now, as they face a crushing tidal wave of housing, health and childcare cost increases.  

At FamilyAid Boston, we know the journey to get out of homelessness is difficult, and that the trauma children experience from becoming homeless can last a lifetime. We also know that the annual taxpayer cost to shelter and serve one homeless family is $40,000, but that preventing a family from falling into homelessness on average costs only $8,000. 

Prevention makes good economical, emotional and common sense. And the need for it is growing: The latest data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published just three weeks ago shows that child and family homelessness in Boston is still growing, with Boston having the third highest number of homeless underage children and parent in the entire nation.

Now more than ever, FamilyAid Boston is committed to expanding its innovative prevention programs, ensuring that more children do not have to experience the trauma of homelessness. We hope you will join us in our efforts to stop childhood and family homelessness.