In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, statistics from an annual homeless count held on January 27th revealed a increase with the number of homeless children from last year. In 2009, the survey counted 485 homeless person with 61 children. This year, the new stastics showed an increase with 547 homeless persons, including 105 children.  Andrea Kurtz, Director of the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, cites the debilitating economy that leads to unemployment and other challenges. For the full article, click here.

Teri Funk and Rebecca Bower are two advocates working together to end homelessness in Carver and Scott County in Minnesota. According to Rebecca Bower, Community Action Program, the causes of homelessness are due to unemployment or underemployment leading to foreclosure and evictions. For more information, click here.

Mr. John Van Etten, is the Homeless Management Information Systems coordinator for Sullivan County for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) cited a large increase in the homeless persons. Some of the possible reasons for this increase are foreclosure and economic downturn. Click here to read the full article.

The Greenville County School, SC system is experiencing a sharp increase of 500 homeless students in the district. School officials state the dramatic increase is due to the rise in unemployment and foreclosure. For the full article, read here.

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the Education Law Center-PA have settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of six homeless children wrongfully denied access to school in a suburb of Pittsburgh. The agreement ensures the children will remain enrolledand required the Pennsylvania Department of Education to issue new guidelines for accommodating homeless students.
These guidelines, in compliance with McKinney-Vento law, make clear that homeless childrenwith any substantial connection to a school district are legally entitled to immediate enrollment.  Moreover, children's families must be promptly notified of their rights.
Stable schooling is critical in what is otherwise a tumultuous, stressful time for homeless children and their families. It also has long-term effects: education is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty.

Thanks to this lawsuit, more than 43,000 homeless children in Pennsylvaniawill have access to the same quality education as their peers.

Click here for full article.