Impact-KCK-Overcoming-Barriers-to-Homeless-Students-Success

Impact KCK AssessmentDr.. Williamson Victor and Caroline Schutte/Missouri Professor of Urban Affairs Director, L.P.. Cookingham Institute of Urban Affairs University of Missouri – Kansas

Impact KCK Assessment

Dr Anne R Williamson

Victor and Caroline Schutte/Missouri

Professor of Urban Affairs Director, L.P Cookingham Institute of Urban Affairs

University of Missouri – Kansas City

NAEHCY Annual Conference

October 28, 2018

The Challenge: Student Homelessness

• 1,151 homeless students in the Kansas City Kansas Public Schools

in the 2014-2015 school year

• 249 homeless infants and pre-school children in KCKPS in 2014-2015

• The needs of homeless students are often complex and require multiple interventions to enable school success

• Wyandotte County is the poorest of the 105 counties in Kansas

The Solution: Collective Impact

• Effective application of the collective impact model for community change

• Collective impact requires

• Shared vision (agenda)

• Shared measurement systems

• Mutually reinforcing activities

• Continuous communication

• Backbone organization

Impact KCK Results

• Impact KCK results, August 2015-January 2018

2015-2016 2016-2017 2018*2017- Total Families Reached 207 394 401 1,002 Families Housed 58 116 132 306 Families

Dramatic Reduction in Student Homelessness

2014-2015 2015- 2016 2016- 2017 2018* 2017-Homeless

Students, K-12 1,151 855 640 594

Year-by-Year Reduction in Student Homelessness

Reduction

as % 2015-2016 2016-2017 2018* 2017- Total**

Homeless

Students,

In the First Year Alone

• In the first year alone:

• School attendance among formerly homeless students increased

to be consistent with KCKPS average

• School mobility decreased to one or fewer non-normative moves

• Transportation costs for homeless students decreased by 22%

Why Impact KCK is Successful

• Accurate information about the causes of the policy problem

• Commitment by community leaders

• Capacity and commitment on the part of the backbone organization

• Collective capacity to overcome a range of challenges as they arise

• Ability to attract multiple funding sources

• Effective communication among partners

• Ability to recruit new partners when some existing partners drop out

of the initiative

• Determination among a core set of partners that they will go the

distance to solve the policy problem

Important Highlights

• Strength and flexibility of backbone organization

• Single point of entry for services

• Single navigator provides intensive case management

• Permanent housing solutions are a formal part of Impact KCK

Download the Impact KCK Assessment and

Toolkit

• Visit the Cookingham Institute’s Impact KCK page to

download:

• Impact KCK Assessment

• Impact KCK Toolkit

https://bloch.umkc.edu/Cookingham/ImpactKCK