Mothers experiencing homelessness : an exploratory study on parental involvement in children\u27s education and perceived barriers to involvement :

This qualitative exploratory study examines the experience of mothers that are homeless with school-age children. The primary research questions were: What is the level of parental involvement of homeless mothers in their children\u27s education? What are the perceived barriers to their involvement? The study was conducted using semi-structured open-ended interviews of eight women that were homeless with at least one school-age child. Study results indicated that level of parental involvement varied depending on the specific temporary living situation of the participant, in addition to her demographics and history of homelessness. Parental involvement was low not due to perceived stigma but mainly due to lack of time and resources. The study sheds light on various housing resources, such as transitional housing and homeless shelters, and points out that transitional housing programs could be more beneficial to children\u27s educations if they allowed the mother more time for involvement and provided more academic resources for the child. In addition, the main challenges of living in a shelter are discussed, such as lack of space to do homework and barriers to adequate sleep