The Washington Post reports:

“Schools, often the first safety net for struggling families, are emerging as a key anchor for homeless youths. In addition to their legally required free breakfasts and lunches, many schools also offer tutoring, give out backpacks and clothes, and connect families with community services. In Manassas a social worker has arranged for homeless high school students to go early to shower. Alexandria schools pay taxi fare to get 13 homeless children to school; last year they paid for seven.

“The federal government spends about $64 million a year to help homeless students. Some in Congress have proposed adding up to $70 million to that in an economic stimulus package. …

“Students who had been homeless also were more likely to repeat a grade and missed more days of school. Educators say it helps homeless students to stay in one school. …

“Many families don't seek help because they don't know it is available, don't want to be labeled homeless or fear that their children will be taken away.”

All these issues—economic instability, barriers to education access, alienation from government institutions—resonate with problems and fears that have historically eroded the social fabric of poor communities of color. How will the new home losses and the disintegration of neighborhoods aggravate these stressors for children and families?

The idea of more families living on the streets is especially troubling as a fiscal crunch threatens to undermine state school funding.

Children are suffering the lessons of excess: everyday people's aspirations toward upward mobility, exploited in the hype of the “ownership society,” are now producing the next era of homelessness in America.

To learn more, check out Valeria Fernández's article in the latest issue of Colorlines.