Officials say numbers of homeless children on the rise

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(Host) Officials say the recession has caused more children across Vermont to become homeless.

Mike Mulcahy coordinates the Department of Education’s Child and Youth Homelessness Project.  He says the numbers starting climbing over the past 18 months as the economy turned down.

The most recent data from last school year showed that 838 children were identified by their schools as “homeless.”  Speaking on VPR’s Vermont Edition, Mulcahy said the problem is getting worse:

(Mulcahy) "From our own experience, folks are dealing with more problems than last year, and the problems are more difficult, the situations are more challenging.  It may not seem like a lot, and yet I think the number who are homeless are actually more than that, and I think our numbers this year will be larger than that."

(Host)  The next data will be available at the end of this school year.  Mulcahy says all but one or two supervisory union school districts across the state are dealing with children and families who are homeless.

Vermont has 60 people who work with the schools to create make sure homeless children have some continuity in their educations.

Sue Cano works with schools in a rural area of Lamoille County.  She says educational support for homeless children is often one aspect of services that are available for the entire family: 

(Cano) "Living and working in rural Vermont, the school – particularly if there isn’t much else in your community other than the school -is really the hub for you. It’s the hub for connecting with people, it’s the hub for getting information, it’s the hub for helping you make connections to other people in your community who can assist you or services that are in the local area that you may be able to take advantage of."

(Host)  Schools work to identify those children who meet the legal definition of homelessness. But education officials caution that not every homeless child is identified through school programs, and the total number of homeless children may be higher than reported.

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