Methods

To answer our research questions outlined in the About Us page, we conducted 5 interviews with various school personnel and 40 surveys created for Capital Community Students to ask them about their experiences and knowledge surrounding the topic of youth homelessness. 

Interviews

We wanted to talk to school personnel who might have worked with homeless youth, including guidance counselors, behavioral interventionists, social workers, principals, and assistant principals. We contacted over 50 school personnel from the Greater Hartford area, received 10 responses, and obtained 5 interviews. We found their emails on school website contact pages and made it clear that we would protect their identities once interviewed. We wanted to interview school personnel about their responsibilities, any interactions they’ve had with homeless youth, and the resources they found helpful. We also used this opportunity to advertise CCEH and what it had to offer. Click here to join their email list. You can find our findings from these interviews here.

Here is our full interview protocol

https://action-lab.org/youth-homelessness/files/2019/12/Interview-Questions-FINAL-1.pdf

 

Surveys

In addition to interviews, we wanted to conduct surveys to obtain a larger amount of information about young adults knowledge surrounding the rights of homeless youth and the McKinney Vento act.  Due to IRB (Institutional Review Board – protects the rights and welfare of human research subjects) restrictions, we were not able to give these surveys to those under 18, so we decided to survey Capital Community College students. Most of Capital Community College students are over 18, are residents of Hartford or Connecticut, and attended nearby local schools. You can read about what we learned here.