AC-T: The rise in youth and family homelessness

The Asheville Citizen-Times published the first of a several part special report on youth and family homelessness in Buncombe County. Here’s an excerpt from the June 22 article:

One in five American children nationally is now living in poverty, giving the United States the highest child poverty rate of any developed nation except for Romania.

North Carolina has slowly climbed to the top of this national trend, consistently ranked as one of the 10 states with the highest population of homeless children in the nation.

At the center of most political and funding debates surrounding homelessness is the image of out-of-work single mothers, disabled veterans and mentally ill or drug-addicted adults. They eventually lead to the exchange of phrases such as “personal responsibility” and “entitlement.”

Children are rarely the face of that debate, though they have the most to lose from a life without stable housing.

“These families are unknown, unheard, unseen,” Buncombe County Schools homelessness coordinator Luke Heller said. “They’re invisible. How do you advocate for children who are politically invisible? You can’t. Especially if we don’t call them homeless.”

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About Jake Frankel
Jake Frankel is an award-winning journalist who enjoys covering a wide range of topics, from politics and government to business, education and entertainment.

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