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Family Resource Center

Families with children represent 44% of Chapman Partnership’s resident population with an average emergency shelter length of stay of 120 days; over 25% of our nightly residents are children.  Our two Homeless Assistance Centers are equipped with dedicated family dorms that are designed to ensure that families stay intact, even for larger households; and a suite of programs and services that address each family’s physical, educational, and social-emotional needs.

Children’s Services

  • Early Head Start and Head Start programs support the physical, social and cognitive development of children from birth to age five and are conducted in collaboration with Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
  • Within 48 hours of admission into Chapman Partnership, an onsite Miami-Dade County Public School liaison ensures that all school-aged children are enrolled in and attending classes.  Each child is provided bus transportation, new school uniforms, and a backpack filled with new school supplies.
  • The Family Resource Centers provide high quality educational, recreational, character and self-esteem building delivered in the afterschool and summer settings for children ages 5.  Many of our child participants have become Honor Roll students while residing with us, despite the adverse childhood experiences associated with their episode of homelessness. Daily activities are conducted in collaboration with community partners that promote positive, healthy development, foster resilience, and instill the social norms that counterbalance the physical, psychological and sociological affects of homelessness.  
  • The FRC $tore is a youth-led financial literacy initiative whereby Family Resource Center enrollees earn daily points for participation, homework completion, and positive behaviors (i.e., impulse control, emotion management, problem-solving, and self-discipline).  Points are converted into FRC Dollars, with students managing their “banked” savings and spending during monthly “store” openings where they “purchase” educational books, games, new articles of clothing, and other items suggested by the participants.  The FRC $tore is operated by a youth Manager and Assistant Manager who choose and price store items, organize sale days, and report end of day inventory and sales.
  • The Young Adult Career Academy YACA is an internship program for young adults ages 14 to 24 that combines soft and hard job skills training with paid work experience in employment sectors specific to operating Chapman Partnership’s Homeless Assistance Centers (i.e., Family Resource Center, Food Service, Maintenance and Resident Relations).  Youth participate in up to 120 internship hours per cohort, and can earn $2,080 over the program period, which includes a base salary at minimum wage plus weekly financial incentives for outstanding performance.
  • The Parent Institute is a series of family-friendly workshops that help caregivers better understand the developmental stages of their child, with the goal of positively impacting childhood behaviors and developmental outcomes in subsequent years following the family’s successful outplacement into permanent housing.  Workshops are conducted in collaboration with community partners, and include topics such as Navigating Chapman Resources, Family Communication, Navigating the Miami-Dade County Public School’s Portal, Effectively Shop on a Budget and Still Eat Healthy, and Symptoms of Bullying.

Early Childhood Development 

Programs for early childhood and youth development focus on key life skills that empower homeless children to break familial precedent, by focusing on education, healthy habits and soft-skills job training as the primary drivers to future success.  Age-specific components include:

• $tarting Early for grades K-8 offers a strong foundation in financial literacy and healthy spending habits, combined with social-emotional learning delivered within our Family Resource Center’s (FRC) afterschool and summer programming.

• Through FRC afterschool and summer participation, students in grades K-12 become familiar with innovative technology to combat the digital divide.

• The Young Adult Career Academy provides access to paid internships for adolescents and young adults ages 14 to 24, combining soft and hard job skills training, through Empower Youth, in employment sectors specific to Chapman Partnership.