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Alternative_Donut_62 t1_j9yk5xz wrote

You are getting downvoted by people who have no clue, unfortunately. Definition is likely from the McKinney-Vento Act. https://usafacts.org/articles/what-can-mckinney-vento-act-data-reveal-about-youth-homelessness/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ND-Elections&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgOefBhDgARIsAMhqXA6XU5kuno2NFKPB7jt4l1PAGHsVxZ1kTWrrAzxmb7aiR5FKxqG56NMaAofOEALw_wcB

We, 100%, need to understand what is meant by homeless in order to understand how to help.

A few years ago, our house was damaged to the point of being uninhabitable. We had to move into temporary housing. Under McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the kids were considered “homeless” during that time. It was a good thing, because McKinney-Vento allows kids who become homeless to continue at their present school during times of homelessness. (For instance, even though our temporary housing was zoned to a different school, our kids could keep going to their usual school, giving them a degree of normalcy in an otherwise abnormal situation). We are very fortunate, because at no point were my kids at risk in any real fashion. (I totally get that transience due to home destruction is a rare part - this is just an example that was personnel to me)

McKinney-Vento also covers children living in domestic violence shelters. We need to understand if there are resources in place to get victims of domestic violence the help they need.

It also covers when families can’t afford rent and have to move in with others. For that, adequate, affordable housing has to be available. This is always a problem. Easiest way to increase affordable housing is to build apartment complexes. Apartment complexes increase the population density and put strains on public resources (parking, schools that our governments don’t fully fund in the first place, roads (lol), etc.). All of this has to be accounted for.

This is not to downplay homelessness - just to show that homelessness doesn’t always mean what it traditionally thought of.

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