As the school year begins, teachers and school social workers are reminded of the serious toll housing instability can have on students—students’ school attendance, academic performance, and emotional state can be negatively impacted. That’s why Stable Homes Stable Schools (SHSS) was created: to reduce homelessness among families with elementary-aged kids in Minneapolis.
Stable Homes Stable Schools is a program taking on the homelessness crisis among Minneapolis families through an innovative partnership between MPHA, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), and the YMCA of the North. The SHSS program addresses homelessness among Minneapolis Public Schools students’ families through various levels of support: emergency short-term assistance, multi-year rental assistance, and case management. For nearly 1,900 families, SHSS has been a lifeline.
Knowing safe and stable housing is the most significant out-of-school factor for predicting student success, the leaders from the various organizations teamed up to create a wholistic approach to addressing student homelessness. The SHSS program works to improve families’ housing stability, students’ school attendance, and students’ educational outcomes through rental assistance and wrap-around supportive services. All told, nearly 1,900 families have been supported by SHSS since its launch in 2019, with more than 4,500 children benefitting from the program.
Since 2019, SHSS has offered two tiers of support. The first tier is emergency one-time assistance to prevent homelessness, which could include back pay of rent, fixing a car needed to get to work, or other forms of assistance to keep families in their current housing. The second tier is multi-year rental assistance helping families escape or avoid homelessness and placing them into stable, long-term affordable housing.
To be a participant, MPS social workers initiate a referral. School social workers identify eligible families across the district who might qualify and get them connected to the program. Qualifications include: lacking “a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence”; have at least one minor child enrolled in one of the participating Minneapolis Public Schools; have household income of 50 percent or below the Area Median Income (AMI); commit to certain program conditions (such as regular school attendance and parental involvement with school activities); and, meet certain conditions regarding criminal history.
For SHSS participant Shantel, the program has been transformational for her family. When she moved to Minneapolis with her two children, they were living with Shantel’s sister and her family, all three in a single room. Shantel and her kids were a few months away from being homeless. That’s when Shantel got connected with SHSS through her kids’ school social workers. Now, with the help of the program’s rental assistance, Shantel and her kids have their own separate bedrooms in a rental of their own.
“The kids love [their new home]. They have their own rooms,” said Shantel. “We have our own space and that’s a big change.”
“I am glad to have the program. It helped me when I was feeling like giving up,” said Shantel.
Shantel’s family is just one of the nearly 1,900 families the SHSS program has supported since 2019. As the school year begins, social workers will continue to identify additional families in need of assistance.
