Homeless Children Need Your Help

Many people disagree on the number of homeless children in America.  Some say there is as many 2,000,000, others say there is less than 250,000. But the one thing they can agree on is that the number of homeless children is multiplying rapidly. Homeless children need to be given stable homes as soon as possible because homeless children are more likely to commit crimes, contract a STD, have low grades in school, and commit suicide.  Being homeless means that a child has no adequate nightime residence. There are various causes for being homeless, but some of the most common are:
1. Their families cannot pay the rent on expensive apartments. All the houses that they used to occupy have been either torn down or refurbished, creating more luxury apartments in a process called "Gentrification". 2. A natural disaster destroyed their house.3. Their parents have substance abuse issues. 4. Their parents have mental health problems. 5. They have runaway from abusive parents.6. Their parents are dead and there is no longer the support system that used to take care of orphans, their extended family. 7. Their parents are divorced and they feel it is their fault so they runaway. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 0f 1987 is the current program set in place for all Homeless. There are several plans within the act, but it is not enough. The number of homeless children is growing, and it doesn't help that our economy is in the worst state it has been since the Great Depression. Most of the programs in place are for single adults. The government needs to build more shelters for families with children. 
Another reason children are not getting the help they need is that most runaways hide from authorities in order to avoid being placed in the foster care system. Some foster parents are wonderful people, but some are in it for the money that the government pays them. Some of them are even ex-convicts! Do we really want to send our nation's homeless children into the hands of lawbreakers? 
One way to get out of the hole that is homelessness is to get a good education. But homeless children are less likely to show up for school. A family has no idea of how long they will be staying once they are placed in a temporary shelter, so they often don't register kids for school. Even if they secure a long term shelter, it is difficult for the kids to maintain grades good  enough to obtain scholarships for higher education. They often don't mingle with the kids at school. They don't want to attatch themselves to anybody because they will most likely be moving soon. Many drop out once they reach sixteen years in order to help their family by getting a job. 
Before you decide whether or not to sign this petition, ask yourself this: Would you want this life for your sons and daughters, cousins, or grandkids?Homeless children deserve the same things that housed children do.  Help bring hope to the thousands of kids who need it the most.