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| Executive
Summary |
| While
little specific information about motel families has been collected
and analyzed, anecdotal evidence, service provider testimony
and nationwide reporting document this experience as widespread.
With the original 1998 Orange County Register's "Motel
Children" article, the follow-up "Motel Families Report"
by the County of Orange Social Services Agency produced in the
same year, and two subsequent surveys done in both Santa Ana,
California (Community Action Partnership's "Santa Ana Motel
Families Survey Report") and this reports survey completed
in Anaheim, California, Orange County is in the forefront of
documentation and research of motel families. This summary will
comment specifically on the "Strategic Plan to Assist Individuals
and Families Residing in Motels to Reach and Sustain Stable
Housing" by OC Partnership and RSS. |
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| CLICK
HERE for A profile of adults, children and families (based on
averages) can be drawn from those surveyed: |
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| A total of 34 strategies designed to assist motel
families into stability are presented in this document. Strategies
include revising existing or creating new policies that provide
more support to motel owners/operators trying to assist families,
as well as the families themselves, while addressing the City
of Anaheim’s duty to safeguard all Anaheim residents. The report
calls for the allocation of financial support those service
providers already in the trenches and making a difference, as
well as to develop programs and services needed to fill identified
gaps. Advocacy is needed for further support of the McKinney-Vento
Educational Act, legislation that demands school access for
all homeless children and specific partners are identified as
key to the success of keeping our children in school. And finally,
a coordinating office is recommended to ensure that the strategies,
and those responsible for implementing them, work in an efficient
and effective manner designed to create a positive impact for
families desperately in need. |
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Survey Highlights:
35% of individuals were children
Over 50% of families identified themselves as white, non-Hispanic.
Most families lived in Orange County before becoming homeless.
Most families had been living in a motel for approximately 30 months.
Financial loss was the single most frequently given reason for becoming
homeless.
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