Economy's Silent and Heavy Toll on Children
Homeless rates among children are on the rise.
October 27, 2008— -- In once-booming Northern Virginia suburbs, children who never had to worry about having a roof over their head don't know where they will sleep tonight.
In Cincinnati, newly-homeless families are splitting their children up among relatives because they can't find shelter together, much less feed everyone.
In Las Vegas, sons and daughters of the city's housekeepers and kitchen workers -- already living on the margin of the American economy – increasingly rely on "weekend food bags" from their school in order to feed themselves from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, when they can eat a subsidized school breakfast.
Welcome to the economic crisis for thousands of Americans too young to have a mortgage, a retirement account, or the right to vote.
"Normally we would get a few calls – now, our phones are ringing all day long," says Kathi Sheffel, coordinator for homeless services for Fairfax County Public Schools.
In Fairfax as in many other school areas, homelessness among students is up about 25 percent from last year – and last year's figures were a sad increase from the year before, according to First Focus, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan group which pushes to improve public policies that affect children. The group is conducting its second annual survey on homelessness among students.
"We now have families that are more middle-class, that have run into issues they didn't expect and have become homeless," explains Fairfax's Sheffel. Some families lost their home after defaulting on a home loan or a parent lost a job, she says, but many became homeless because the home they rented was foreclosed upon when their landlord didn't pay the mortgage.
When children lose a home, their health – and studies – suffer. "Kids in greater number are coming to school who probably haven't eaten breakfast. Who don't have access to a washer and a dryer. Who live with fear," explains Karen Fessler, a school official in Cincinnati, Ohio. "How important is a long division problem when they don't know where they're going to sleep tonight?"
