How to communicate with a group home

Regardless of where you teach, or how affluent the area, you are very likely to encounter students who live in group homes.

Students end up in group homes for various reasons. The most common reason seems to be that one or both parents have either passed away or are in jail and no other relative is able to care for the child. Occasionally, a child is admitted to a group home due to abuse.

Sometimes these students are more supported than those with under involved parents.

Group homes usually have requirements for their boarders and the administrators of the group homes are willing to talk to and work with teachers.

Most often, these individuals have email addresses and readily accessible phones.

Depending on your school’s policy, it may or may not be common knowledge that a certain student is in a group home, but if you look up the contact information for the parents of the student, the group home contact person will be there instead. Do not hesitate to call the group home and work with them. If they work at a group home, they care and they want to see those kids make something of themselves.

When calling a group home, use the same script you would use when calling a traditional home.

Check out this site from Health and Human Services for more information about group homes.

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