Posts by Barbara Duffield
No Home for the Holidays: Homeless Students on the Rise
Published December 23, 2008 @ 12:25PM PT
Homelessness represents an extreme form of poverty and is caused by many factors in isolation or combination: a lack of affordable housing, lack of jobs paying living wages, debt due to health costs and other household expenses, domestic violence, foreclosures.
At least 10 percent of all children living in poverty will experience homelessness over the course of a year (1.35 million children). While many young people experience homelessness as part of a family, other youth in homeless situations are on their own. It is estimated that between 1.6 and 1.7 million youth run away or are forced to leave home each year, due to severe dysfunction in their families, including circumstances that put their safety and well-being at risk.
Homelessness compromises the very foundation of child development. Homeless children and youth suffer loss, trauma, instability, and food insecurity, among other deprivation. Infants and toddlers who are homeless face grave risk of developmental delays and health complications. School-aged children experiencing homelessness are diagnosed with learning disabilities and chronic and acute health conditions at much higher rates than other children. They typically do not have the proper documentation (e.g., birth certificates, immunization records, transcripts, etc.) when they attempt to enroll in school, which may lead to delays in enrollment and days missed from school. Children and youth who experience homelessness and high mobility struggle academically, and many fall behind in school.
