Homelessness is a continuing focus in Catoosa County and was the topic of discussion at the Catoosa County Family Collaborative Nov. 20.

“Homelessness is not just someone sleeping in a car or under a bridge,” said Melissa Holcombe, Catoosa County Schools has a designated homeless liaison. “Homelessness happens in every community, not just the inner cities.

The definition of homelessness in America is when a person or family is lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, she said.

“In other words, it is the family who is doubled up with another family due to loss of housing or economic hardship,” she said. “It is the person or family living in a hotel, motel, or camp ground due to lack of alternative housing. It is children and families who are staying in a public or private place not designed for habitation, such as a barn or shed.

Holcombe said its is not unusual to find the living in travel trailers, cars, buses, or substandard housing.

“They are also considered homeless,” she said.

Family Collaborative Coordinator Phil Ledbetter said another scene being found are families living in rentable storage pods.

“It is because these families are so invisible, that we can believe they don’t exist,” Holcombe said.

Based on the provisions regarding homeless children and youth in the federal McKinney-Vento Act, Catoosa County Schools are working toward the goal of educating the community about the existence of homeless families and taking the necessary steps to ensure that the children in these families are provided with the things they need to succeed in their education, Holcombe said.

“Often with a child who is homeless, school is the only constant thing in their lives,” she said.

She said another homeless issued faced is an unaccompanied youth or a youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian such as runaways, children thrown out of their homes, or abandoned by parents or guardians.

Holcombe said that their staff works to insure that children are confidentially identified as homeless and services such as school meals, school supplies, and assistance with academic needs are provided.

“Liaisons assist homeless children and youth to enroll in school immediately and assists the family to locate and obtain documentation necessary for the school records,” she said. “If the child is already enrolled in school, the liaison assists the family in finding ways to keep their children in their home school, or school of origin.”

She said that keeping the consistent environment at school is often all the child has to hold on to.

“Other needs of the child are assessed and the families are linked with community resources to help with their needs,” she said.

Last school year, 450 preschool and school-age children were identified as homeless in Catoosa County, she said.

“With the housing foreclosure crisis, the number is expected to increase steadily,” she said. “Catoosa County has no local homeless shelter, so those families who are not lucky enough to find housing in the ways listed above, must move their families across the state line and into Chattanooga, making it very difficult for the children to remain in a stable educational environment.”