Homelessness In Children

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Homelessness in Children Stephanie Berg South University Homelessness in Children “To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. It is the hardest to define (Weil, 1952, p. 41). All over America there are millions of people who are homeless. Families struggle to make ends meet. They face foreclosures and job losses due to the deepening recession. The impact of homelessness begins well before a child is born. The overwhelming majority of homeless parents are single women, many of whom were homeless themselves as children. Homeless women face many obstacles to healthy pregnancies, such as chemical abuse, chronic and acute health problems, and lack of prenatal care. Children born into homelessness are more likely to have low birth weights and are at greater risk of death. Homelessness also exposes infants to environmental factors that can endanger their health. Because homeless families often have little access to health care, many homeless infants lack essential immunizations. As of June 2008, there are more than 100,000 homeless children in Massachusetts. Out of these numbers 2,472 living in emergency shelter funded by the Ma Department of Transitional Assistance. Most of the families are single mothers. These families include 4,413 children and Youth. Of these 2,379 were less than six years old. Reaching its shelter capacity DTA has to place families in motels for periods ranging from a couple weeks to a couple months (McCormick Center for Social Policy, 2000). There are also 1,000 children and youth that are temporarily housed in Domestic Violence shelters, Substance Abuse Shelters, and HIV/AIDS Shelters. Thousands more families with children sleep on floors, on couches of friends or relatives, or live in other makeshift arrangements (McCormick Center for Social Policy, 2000). By the
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