By expanding, enhancing and evaluating the Stay Over Program’s unique model, DSCS seeks to inspire other communities to forge partnerships to address family homelessness.
DSCS proposes to enhance, evaluate and disseminate the Stay Over Program model—the nation’s first shelter partnership with a public school district through which families with children enrolled in public schools can find emergency shelter and supportive services. Launched in 2018, an assessment of the pilot indicated that the program was effective at stabilizing families; anecdotal information suggests student participants are positively impacted in terms of their emotional wellbeing and academic success. Through this grant, we will improve children’s outcomes through enhanced behavioral health supports, offer parenting education, improve early literacy, and strengthen assessment and evaluation in order to promote our findings to other communities seeking to address family homelessness.