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More Homeless Students In Cape Girardeau

Hiroki Matsubara
/
Flickr

A recent report by the National Center on Family Homelessness states that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point during 2013. The Department of Education counts 1.3 million of homeless children in public schools and Cape Girardeau School District is no exception to those findings.

The number of homeless children in the United States has increased in the last few years and reached an all-time high with one child in every 30 being homeless.

Deena Ring, director of special services for the Cape Girardeau School District said the federal and state guidelines define “homeless” as individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate night time residence.

She said so far this school year the school district have identified 56 homeless students and that they have noticed a rise in those numbers over the past few years.

“In 2013-14 we had 136 students that were identified as homeless and the year before that was 118,” Ring said.

She said she expects the numbers of homeless students to be close to 150 by the end of the school year.

“I think economic times and just depending upon each person’s circumstance can impact the number of children that we have,” Ring said.

Ring explained that when students are identified as homeless they are not specifically asked the reason for their situation in order to avoid making them feel uncomfortable.

The school district has several services available for those homeless children.

“When a child is declared homeless they automatically will receive free breakfast and lunch,” Ring said.

They also get help with clothing and are put in contact with social workers who help identify any type of specific assistance the children might need.

Among the solutions for child homelessness suggested by the National Center on Family Homelessness report are the expansion of affordable housing, education and employment opportunities for homeless parents, and specialized services for the mothers left homeless because of domestic violence.

Marine Perot was a KRCU reporter for KRCU in 2014.