No room in Cass County housing shelters

SBT24/7 News Report

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By WSBT News1

Story Created: Nov 13, 2008 at 8:19 AM EST

Story Updated: Nov 13, 2008 at 8:19 AM EST

CASSOPOLIS — Emergency housing shelters in Cass County are full and have waiting lists, prompting the county’s Human Services Coordinating Council to begin devising an emergency response plan.

The council will sponsor a meeting, bringing together Cass County agencies which serve the homeless, according to a press release.

Wednesday, council members met to focus on ways to prevent homelessness in Cass County, and heard homelessness prevention coordinator Ruth Andrews describe an “emergency shelter crisis in Cass County.”

“Unaccompanied” youths between ages 16 and 24 are Cass County’s largest homeless subpopulation, according to Andrews’ press release.

“Unaccompanied” youths are those who no longer live with their parents and the reasons for that include family violence, parental neglect, and parents who’ve died or are incarcerated.

“The challenge of serving homeless youth and families is straining schools,” Andrews said in the press release. “Students often arrive hungry, sleepless, disorganized, dirty and depressed. Many try to hide their homelessness.”

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