Ranks of homeless kids climb
By Cynthia Hubert
March 10, 2009 "Sacbee.com"
-- In and out of classrooms, sleeping in
shelters, shielded by parents, homeless children can seem invisible to
society at large.
A national study released Monday finds that one in 50 children in
America is homeless. They're sharing housing because of economic
hardship, living in motels, cars, abandoned buildings, parks, camping
grounds or shelters, or waiting for foster care placement.
"That is something that I don't think most people intuitively believe to
be true," said Ellen Bassuk, an associate professor of psychiatry at
Harvard Medical School and president of the National Center on Family
Homelessness.
The national center last did such a report 10 years ago, and numbers of
children without a permanent place to sleep are growing.
In Sacramento County, where debates over homeless issues have hit a
pinnacle in recent months, school districts counted more than 6,000
children without stable housing during the last school year, a number
that has been rising steadily since 2002.
The national center's study, "America's Youngest Outcasts," shows that
California had 292,624 homeless children, the 10th largest population in
the nation, during the time of its count, the 2005- 2006 school year.
The group counted 1.5 million homeless kids across the country, about
200,000 more than the figure it reported a decade before.
Bassuk said family and child homelessness is
a "relatively new problem," largely the result of more families
splintering and becoming impoverished. "Many more of these families are
headed by females, and are going to be more subject to market forces,"
she said. "They tend to be a lot poorer." She also cited a lack of
affordable housing and a dearth of social programs geared toward
families and children.
As the economy has
wilted and foreclosures have soared since 2006, homeless numbers have
almost certainly increased, researchers say.
In Sacramento County school districts, 6,165 youngsters, including those
too young to attend classes, were without homes during the 2007-2008
school year, said Hilary Krogh, coordinator of the county Office of
Education's Project TEACH program for homeless children.
The number has increased every year since 2002-2003, when area districts
counted 3,773 homeless infants through high schoolers, Krogh said. She
works with homeless liaisons within each school district to identify
homeless children and help them get services.
Sacramento's rising numbers are mirrored throughout the state, Krogh
said. The Folsom Cordova Unified School District counted 682 homeless
youths within its boundaries last school year, a startling 31 percent
increase over the previous year, said district liaison Charlene Hunt.
"We are not unique," said Hunt. "Our numbers are going up, and 2009 is
going to be a particularly challenging year for everyone."
The National Center on Family Homelessness ranked all 50 states on their
rates of homeless children, the health of the children and their
educational achievements. It ranked California 40th overall, reflecting
such factors as policy and planning efforts to deal with the issue as
well as numbers of homeless children. Texas, ranked 50th, got the worst
overall report card, while Connecticut got the best.
Joan Burke at Loaves & Fishes services for the homeless in Sacramento
sees the plight of wayward children every day.
"These children really are, in many ways, the hidden homeless," Burke
said. "They are doubling up with family members, staying with friends,
living in hotels. It's very difficult to get an accurate count of them."
Twenty or more children attend school each day at Mustard Seed on the
Loaves campus on North C Street.
Homelessness is "very, very difficult on children," said Burke. "They
have lost their whole known world. They no longer have their
neighborhood friends. They may have left a pet behind. Their parents are
very stressed. They're in a new school. It's overwhelming for them."
School director Angela Hassell said children who find themselves
homeless "don't trust easily," and often have trouble focusing on school
work because they are consumed with the trials of daily living.
The national report makes a raft of recommendations for federal and
state policy planners to deal with the issue. Among other things, it
calls for programs that would give needy people better access to
affordable housing, increases in nutrition programs for homeless
youngsters, expanded health services for needy families, and improved
access to early childhood education for homeless youngsters.
"The very first thing we need to do is make sure that people realize
that we do have a problem, and focus more planning efforts on families
and kids," said Bassuk.
Sacramento city and county leaders are working with churches, advocacy
groups and others to improve services for homeless people, officials
said.
They are discussing a legal tent city where the homeless could live
without fear of being arrested and would have access to basic services
such as garbage pickup and running water. Mayor Kevin Johnson, among
other leaders, has expressed strong interest in the idea.
Oprah Winfrey's television show recently featured a sprawling tent city
near the Blue Diamond almond processing plant in a show on the "new
faces" of homelessness.
City Councilman Rob Fong, meanwhile, has launched a "Faith and Homeless
Families Initiative," a pilot program in which local churches agree to
"adopt" homeless families and provide rental assistance, financial
management tools and mentoring. The program will serve families that, in
better economic times, were employed and had permanent housing.
Also, the city and county are set to get nearly $5 million in federal
stimulus funding for a variety of programs that serve the homeless.
"Maybe this report, along with a new president and a new mayor who seem
willing to tackle tough issues, is reason for hope," said Burke of
Loaves & Fishes. "Maybe people will start to realize that this is a
problem all around the country, including right here in Sacramento."
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