Can Parent-Child Home Programs Work in Homeless Shelters? Just Listen

Parents can learn how to prepare young children for success in school—even when families face the adversity of homelessness. A recent NYN Media Insights Podcast explored how Leake & Watts successfully adapted the Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) model to work with transient families no matter where they stay each week.

Preschoolers in the program have shown a 121% gain on average in school readiness and social and emotional development, said Meredith Barber, senior director for institutional advancement at Leake & Watts, in the interview. Meredith was joined in the podcast by Sarah Walzer, CEO of the national Parent-Child Home Program, which worked closely with us in expanding the program.

Leake & Watts has operated a traditional PCHP for families living in The Bronx for several years. It began to take the program into homeless shelters when several PCHP families lost a place to live. This year, thanks to a generous $140,000 grant from Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, Leake & Watts was able to expand its PCHP services to 36 children from 16 in transient housing.

In the podcast, Meredith described that Home Visitors go twice a week to wherever families are staying. Each week, visitors bring a new book or educational toy each week, and model how parents can use books and toys to read, play, and talk with their preschoolers and build pre-literacy skills.

Meredith explained that Leake & Watts’ has long supported families living in extreme poverty in The Bronx, and therefore understands the challenging logistics of supporting families who may be forced to move from place to place.  “Families who move between shelters and temporary residences, ‘double up’ with other families, and rely on pay-as-you-go cell phones, are difficult to reach, but we connect with them,” she said.

The benefits of the PCHP model spread beyond school readiness, Meredith pointed out. “Both parent and child benefit from the positive interaction, attention, and affection. They laugh and smile, and truly engage with each other through the books and toys,” she said. “It strengthens bonds that help families weather the storms.”

Meet Mark Broude, JD, of Latham & Watkins, Our New Board Member

As a parent raising two teenagers in New York City, Mark Broude is keenly aware of the achievement gap between children whose families can afford the resources their children need, and children whose families cannot. “So much of what adults achieve in life depends on the resources available to them as children,” he says.

So, when Mr. Broude began to contemplate board service, he thought to focus on a nonprofit that supports the needs of children and families living in difficult situations. Leake & Watts, a nonprofit agency that supports 12,000 vulnerable children, adults, and families in New York City and Westchester, was a good fit. In June, Mr. Broude, a partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins, was elected to the agency’s board of directors.

“We depend on our board to bring fresh and diverse perspectives to the table, and Mark’s analytical skills will further enhance the board’s ability to oversee this very large and very complex nonprofit agency,” says Alan Mucatel, executive director of Leake & Watts. “Equally important, Mark is a devoted parent who has been actively involved with his children’s lives, and he has empathy for families struggling to provide all the things their children need. We are fortunate to have him on the board.”

Mr. Broude, “I feel passionately about the services Leake & Watts provides, such as its early education programs for children living in poverty. The agency excels at providing therapeutic support to children living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as emotional and behavioral needs that require individualized attention. I am impressed by how Leake & Watts helps vulnerable families identify and meet their children’s needs as early as possible, and maximize the opportunities for these children to rise above adversity.”

About Mark Broude

Mr. Broude joined Latham & Watkins in 2002 as a partner. He is a member of the firm’s Finance Department and Banking, Derivatives, and Restructuring, Insolvency & Workouts practices, and frequently speaks and writes about bankruptcy-related topics. He previously was a partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP and an associate at Shearman & Sterling, LLP. He attended the University of Chicago Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1989, and Williams College, earning a B.A. in classics in 1986. A resident of the Upper East Side in New York City, Mr. Broude is a member of the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, International Bar Association, and Association of the Bar for the City of New York.