Field Work with Homeless Children

I ran my field work group for 10 homeless children yesterday. My activities were engaging to the children and they seems to enjoy participating. Trying to present activities as part of a group was challenging as the children craved individual attention rather than wanting to be part of group activities.

I met the goal of my field work which was to provide a leisure enrichment activity, however I am not sure I am really meeting the needs of the children. So many of the children need to develop social skills of self-awareness and self-management. Some of the activities did address social skills, but so much more is needed. When the children played a game with a leader on a ratio of 1:2, the children were much more responsive and cooperative. The 1:2 ratio allowed the children to work on basic developmental needs which need to be in place before the children can be effect group participants.

I found an article "5 Steps to Help Homeless Children Become Effective Citizens" written by Amy Kinkade of Cap City Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless school children in Austin, Tx. Ms. Kinkade addresses five areas that homeless children need to develop to function in life: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Unfortunately, homeless children usually lack a stable environment to learn these basic foundations.

Homeless children are at higher risk for mental health issues according to CapCityKids. We as a society need to invest the time and energy to help these children succeed in life and break the homeless cycle.

For more information on Cap City Kids, link www.capcitykids.org.