The Daily Times

Homelessness is a personal, family and national tragedy — especially when children are involved.

“America’s Youngest Outcasts 2010,” a new report by the National Center on Family Homelessness, finds that more than 1.6 million children are homeless annually in America.

That represents one in 45 children and an increase of 38 percent since the onset of the economic recession in 2007.

Tennessee is contributing to that sorry state of affairs. Tennessee came in 24th in state rankings of child homelessness when the first report card was compiled in 2006. The state slipped to 39th place in 2010.

Other findings in the report:

• Children experiencing homelessness suffer from hunger, poor physical and emotional health, and missed educational opportunities.

• A majority of these children have limited educational proficiency in math and reading.

• The risks for child homelessness — such as extreme poverty and worst-case housing needs — have worsened with the economic recession.

• Planning and policy activities to support the growth and development of these vulnerable children remain limited. Sixteen states — including Tennessee — have done no planning related to child homelessness.

Homelessness was previously considered a problem for adults with alcohol or drug dependencies.

The new homelessness is driven by economics but it still carries a social stigma. And it affects entire families as never before, especially since more households are headed by single mothers in poverty.

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, homeless families during the mid-1980s were less than 1 percent of the U.S. population. By 2010, families made up about one-third of the homeless.

The cost to the human spirit is obvious. The financial cost will only grow.

“America’s Youngest Outcasts 2010” concludes: “Child and family homelessness is a growing social problem that will only prove more costly to taxpayers if it is left unattended. Persistent homelessness leads to poor health, unemployment, and adverse educational outcomes that carry large economic and societal costs. Housing is essential to the solution, but it must be combined with critical services that support each family member and the family as a unit.”

The growing extent of child homelessness has evolved over a period of years and has complex causes.

The U.S., Tennessee and Blount County have no choice but to address this problem ASAP. Child homelessness will not slink away and stay out of sight, out of mind. It will grow up into adult tragedies and bring with it another generation of kids hanging on hope.

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