School of Social Welfare

Class helps the homeless

Education and advocacy combine in a School of Social Welfare master's class. Offered for the first time last semester, the class focused on homelessness and used Lawrence as a hands-on community example. Students evaluated the problem through research, statistics and stereotypes.

They found that stereotypical ideas about displacement, although sometimes true, weren't the only reasons for homelessness in the community. For example, even while disability, limited education or chemical dependency may contribute to the problem of homelessness, structural factors including high housing costs, fewer employment opportunities for people with less than a high school education and discrimination directly affect displacement.

"It's impossible not to address systemic causes," said Sarah Canfield, a class member from Kansas City, Mo. "You have to look at the bigger picture."

Their research showed that unemployment in the city was up, and state and federal standards for self-sufficiency underestimate the amount of money it takes to adequately feed, clothe and house the individual, depending on economic factors in specific locations. An income that is more than enough to support a person in one community might fall short in another location.

Helen Hartnett, assistant professor of social welfare, led the class and helped them submit their findings to the media. "It's important to understand the skills of community advocacy practice to be able to change the policy of a community," she said.