Number of homeless students rising in Dallas-area districts

[babylonsister]

Number of homeless students rising in Dallas-area districts

By STELLA M. CHÁVEZ / The Dallas Morning News
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Dallas-area school districts are seeing more homeless children this year compared with last year, a nationwide trend spawned by families losing their jobs, their houses – and struggling just to pay bills.

In the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district, the number of students classified as homeless has spiked 185 percent during the 2008-09 school year. Garland's numbers have jumped by 86 percent, while DISD has enrolled about 100 more homeless students so far this year. With more than three months remaining in the school year, advocates for homeless families expect the numbers to rise.

"It's not just poor people," says Toni Gallego, Irving's homeless liaison, who works inside a portable building next to Irving High School. "It's middle-class people who have lost their homes, who have put up their homes to rent and are living with their in-laws."

The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth and the advocacy group First Focus conducted a survey last fall and found 330 school districts reporting the same number of homeless students or more than they had the entire previous year.

The groups noted that the increase in homelessness challenges districts in a number of ways, including higher transportation costs and logistical issues in making sure children have a way to school.

Districts will, however, see some relief in the new stimulus bill recently signed into law. The law includes an estimated $70 million in grants for states that want to provide additional services – meals and transportation, for example – to homeless children.

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/030109dnmethomelesskids.133c5bc.html

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[MrsBrady]

1. Dallas has had this problem for years

only now people are just talking about it.

I have a musician friend who does quite a bit of (or at least used to last time we talked) volunteer work for one of the elementary schools in Dallas that has the most homeless kids.
Near downtown, I think that is what he said.
He's been helping there for years, as far as I know.

I'm glad this problem is being highlighted now, but homelessness should be unacceptable even WHEN the economy is supposedly good.

Thanks for posting this.

[babylonsister]

2. I imagine this is happening all over the country; more people need

to highlight what really is happening.