Homelessness In Public Schools Essay

I have become deeply concerned about the number of homeless people in our community, but especially children in the Lawton Public School System. In a review of the 2010-2015 City of Lawton Consolidated Plan, the subject of homelessness is addressed, however, this particular age level is not addressed in this plan. With the current state budget cuts in education, the programs in the Lawton Public Schools that service these children are very likely to receive drastic cuts as well. A result of these cuts would be a total breakdown of educational services that these children are entitled to. A few priorities for this town as stated by you, Mr. Fitch, in the State of the City document are to create a safer city, protect and serve our natural water resources, and monitor fiscal health of the general budget fund. Although these are seemingly important things, I think that the unprovided shelter for the homeless is something that should be taken into consideration as high priority for the city of Lawton. The most recent count, the beginning to the end of 2015, of children living in homeless conditions in the Lawton Public School System was 704. These are kindergarten to 12th grade children who are unaccompanied, are in no legal custody, awaiting foster care, or basically just sleeping on someone's couch because their family cannot afford housing. These

This particular section talks about how not everyone is able to purchase a home. The city’s Housing and Community Development Division builds low income units for this particular population. I feel that a reasonably priced facility that would house homeless families with school aged children could be built by this division. If building is not an option, an abandoned building here in our community that could be easily revamped into a place for these people to stay would definitely be