The recession is pushing families off the bottom rung of the economic ladder, and Colorado agencies are having a tough time taking care of the kids, according to a report to be released today by the National Center on Family Homelessness.
The report, derived from a number of national surveys, ranks Colorado 35th, based on a number of factors including the number of homeless kids, the ease with which families may become homeless and the school, shelter and medical services available to them.
Statewide, the number of homeless families has increased 19 percent in four months, says the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
“They’re taking a beating in this economy,” said coalition president John Parvensky. “A parent loses a job; they can’t pay the rent and get evicted. Now, many investor- owned properties are being foreclosed, with tenants getting three- day eviction notices because the landlord didn’t pay his mortgage.
“It not only takes a village to raise a child, it takes a home,” he said, adding that homeless kids are sicker than their peers, accounting for 60 percent more emergency-room visits than kids who are housed.
Schools are often used for measuring the number of homeless. Greeley Evans School District 6 has seen a 98 percent increase in homeless students in the first three months of this school year. Jefferson County schools logged a 44 percent increase in the number of families in crisis or seeking emergency assistance in the first three months of this school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
And the Colorado Department of Education reports a 200 percent increase in calls from families looking for help with basic needs and help to keep their kids in school.
The Family Homelessness report estimates Colorado has 21,878 homeless, school-age children, 2,959 of them in high school. Fewer than 1 in 4 homeless high school students will graduate, the study found.
“I think these numbers are low, or underreported, because they’re going up so fast,” said Dr. Ellen Bassuk, president of the national center and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard University.
“Homelessness is much more than not having a house,” she said. “It also brings a lack of attachment with the community, it causes bad family relations, health problems increase, and the kids are exposed to more violence.”
Nationally, there are an estimated 1.5 million homeless children, or 1 in 50. Of them, 40 percent are younger than 6, Bassuk said.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
Facing the issue
Here are rankings for Colorado and the best and worst states in the report by the National Center on Family Homelessness.
1. Connecticut
2. New Hampshire
3. Hawaii
4. Rhode Island
5. North Dakota
35. Colorado
46. Louisiana
47. New Mexico
48. Arkansas
49. Georgia
50. Texas
The Associated Press
