Executive Director Coalition for Responsible Home Education
Homeschooling can be an effective form of education, yet our research has shown that the lack of oversight compared with other educational models can lead to devastating consequences for some homeschooled children even while others thrive. The Coalition for Responsible Home Education seeks to redress this problem by conducting original research into home education policy in the United States in order to inform child-centered, evidence-based policy and practices for families and professionals. In this presentation, we introduce our Homeschooling’s Invisible Children project, which collects and analyzes publicly documented instances of child abuse and neglect in homeschool environments. To date, we have examined about 500 cases of abuse and neglect and well over 200 child fatalities. In this workshop, we present our findings and what they teach us about the unique risks that abused homeschooled children face. We provide an overview of homeschooling, discuss unique risk factors and red flags associated with abusive homeschool environments, and examine how policy and procedural gaps are associated with devastating outcomes for abused homeschooled children.
Learning Objectives:
Understand risk factors unique to abusive homeschooling environments.
Recognize red flags suggestive of abuse in homeschool settings.
Identify gaps in policy and procedure that contribute to abuse going undetected.
