The obstacles facing homeless children and youth in securing a "free appropriate public education" are truly daunting. The frequent, often forced mobility of homeless families is a major barrier to maintaining their children's attendance at any particular school. The bureaucratic structure of school systems coupled with the multiple demands placed on the parents of homeless children is an additional--sometimes insurmountable--obstacle to school enrollment and attendance. Equally troubling is the prejudice homeless children and youth face in the systems that serve them; such bias often denies them the choices and opportunities afforded other children.

This article is an in-depth look into the struggle to improve educational access for homeless children and youth in Chicago. Because Chicago's school system is both massive and bureaucratic, our hope is that the significant success achieved in Chicago through litigation and advocacy will inspire others to confront and work closely with the schools in their communities. Complete listing and access info »

This policy paper will review the numerous barriers to successful reintegration into the community that are faced by large numbers of citizens with criminal records in the nation and in Illinois. The paper will explain how the expungement and the sealing of such records could open doors to successful reintegration. Expungement legislation passed and pending in Illinois will be examined, and recommendations for future direction will be detailed. Complete listing and access info »

In 1999, CCH started its Day Labor Organizing Project. The project grew from a survey of over five hundred interviews with homeless individuals, conducted in shelters during one evening. The results showed that many of those surveyed were employed, but three-fourths had day labor jobs. Eighty-two percent of these jobs had wages of $5.50 or less, which were too insufficient to enable them to rent their own apartment. CCH worked from 1999 until 2002 on the abuses common to the day labor industry: no pay for overtime, transportation fees, and race, gender, and age discrimination. Day laborers continued to face homelessness because, ultimately, even under the best working environment, temporary work at low wages leaves workers in poverty. While organizing in shelters with day laborers, CCH discovered that job seekers were seeking services at local Workforce Centers. Often referred to as One-Stop centers because of the concentrated services available in one place, the centers are supposed to be a resource to job seekers that provides career training and employment services to the unemployed and underemployed. Job seekers, particularly day laborers, sought services that would lead to permanent work at livable wages. As organizers from CCH continued to hear from One-Stop clients living in shelters, we found that many were being placed into temporary jobs with low-wages and their need for skills training was not being met. The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless developed a test project to evaluate the effectiveness of the services at the One-Stop centers from January to July of 2004. The project shadowed 16 One-Stop participants as they navigated the system of services over a period of six months, as well as spoke to over 35 job seekers during that same period. To broaden the scope of our research, in August and September of 2004 CCH organized 30 volunteers from the community to survey participants at the One-Stop centers throughout the city. This report is the result of 170 interviews conducted during that time period. Overall, the research revealed that respondents were not satisfied with the services they received through the One-Stop centers. Had respondents received the services they requested, they may have been able to achieve self-sufficiency through wage or skill increases. However, over half of respondents did not receive the services they requested. While many people reported that developing a career plan with a job developer was beneficial, only one-fifth of respondents had created one. Also, most respondents received job training (69 percent), but 45 percent of those individuals reported that job training was not geared toward job placement. Complete listing and access info »

A 1999 survey of 481 families living in homeless shelters in Chicago gathered information about the impacts of welfare reform on these families' lives. The results indicate that families are becoming homeless because of changes in welfare law that have led to an increase in lost benefits and a policy of pushing people into work without proper preparation or adequate supports. Complete listing and access info »

This report outlines issues that have led to increased homelessness over the past 25 years, the work done to address it, and the work we have left to do. Complete listing and access info »