Two years ago Manchester resident Caitlin Crowe was homeless and living out of her car.
“Luckily, my son wasn't with me in my car, but I know it still affected him. I could tell,” Crowe said. “So eventually I broke down and I talked to my son's teacher.”
Crowe and her son were enrolled in Head Start on Housing. The Connecticut program makes housing vouchers available for families with children enrolled in the federal Head Start program.
Head Start, which was created in Connecticut, provides social services and support to ensure children from low income families receive early childhood education.
Crowe said her case worker not only provided her with a pathway to housing, but wraparound services and support, as well.
“We applied for jobs, looked for apartments,” Crowe said. “We printed everything that I needed. She helped me keep it organized, and she even helped me learn how to budget.”
Currently, 151 families are housed with the use of Head Start on Housing vouchers. Thursday, state officials announced an additional 250 vouchers are being made available to families in need.
Shante Hanks, senior advisor of the Connecticut Department of Housing (DOH), runs the Head Start on Housing program. Head Start is about more than housing assistance, according to Hanks.
“We also know that housing is only part of the solution, which is why we are expanding this program to include case management, additional supports to ensure long term stability and success,” Hanks said.
An additional $750,000 from the state Office of Early Childhood’s general fund will be provided to increase support for Head Start on Housing.
This summer, about 500 Connecticut families will be enrolled in Head Start on Housing.
“This program is what fair housing is all about, creating opportunity and access to stable housing in children across our state,” Hanks said. “As an educator, I have seen that children are more successful in school when their families have stable housing.”
Landlords work with the Head Start program and are made aware that unhoused or housing unstable families may not have steady income or good credit, Hanks said.
Children are often identified for the program through teachers and educators, Hanks said.
“Because they are so connected and they have a relationship with our families, oftentimes they can just tell from maybe absenteeism or just from conversation,” Hanks said. “The families feel comfortable to talk to our Head Start providers, and then we learn, and they refer them to our program.”
