Homelessness: Intractable

Painful stories of trauma are at the heart of the homeless crisis found in most every community in our country. Job loss, health emergencies, domestic violence, substance abuse or physical, emotional or mental health problems put neighbors, family members or friends out of their homes and on the street, said Jennifer Johnson, Skagit County Department of Public Health director, in introductory remarks Monday at a forum on homelessness organized by the League of women Voters of Skagit County and the chapter of School Retirees of Skagit-San Juan-Island Counties. Johnson called many of the causes tragic. Family collapse was a result of structural failures in their households, she said.

Thirty-eight percent, or 616 children, are part of the 1,633 homeless people counted in Skagit County in 2018. There are also 73 veterans in a county that has a vacancy rate of zero for affordable housing, she said.

The evening’s focus was on children, with a panel comprising three of the County’s seven school system superintendents, including La Conner’s Whitney Meissner. Both the La Conner and Sedro Woolley school districts bus students as far as Everett and the Canadian border, to provide school stability and keep them with their families, a mandate of the 1980s McKinney Vento federal legislation. Phil Brockman, Sedro-Woolley superintendent, called it “a huge success,” including the counseling support, and said all county school districts are involved.

Meissner shared a story of staff support for an eighth grader, including finding a place to shower, buying clothes and “wrapping around him.” Each kid’s story is different, she said, but “they need to be heard with value and respect.”

Mount Vernon Superintendent Carl Bruner related that “a number of families live in fear. . . . It is really crippling to them. Children need to live in safety.” Yet many don’t know where they will sleep night to night, they don’t know where their food is coming from, he said, but they need to study. It is often hard for parents to help them, so students don’t get their homework done and they fall further behind, he said. “The real problem is that our country has the highest rate of child poverty in the developed world. That’s the root cause

Kim Welling, student services administrator for the Burlington-Edison School District, says they have 250 homeless students, up from 100 10 years ago, but enrollment has not doubled. Area residents have sturggled and lost their housing. “That’s the root cause,” she said. “There is not a systematic effort to a systematic issue.”

Fran McCarthy, executive director of student support with Anacortes’ schools, agreed, noting “there are not systematic solutions to systematic problems [of] what students and families need.” Her answer: “Truly permanent shelter, jobs at sustainable wages, getting their medical needs met.”

The second half of the program was a panel from area agencies answering prompts from Johnson how their agencies work with homeless students. Anacortes Family Center, Community Action of Skagit County, Friendship House and Northwest Youth Services participated.

Johnson moderated the program. Wende Sanderson, League chapter president, made introductory and summary remarks.