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Friday, Oct. 8, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Sun archives
- Hostile toward homelessness (9-26-2010)
- Couple looks to future after leaving desert homeless camp (7-25-2010)
- As economy sinks, demand for social services soars (7-25-2010)
- Battered women of recession (7-19-2010)
- Las Vegas jobless rate soars to 14.5 percent (7-19-2010)
- The faces of the recession in Las Vegas (12-28-2009)
- Count finds 17 percent increase in homeless population (4-9-2009)
- LV City Council addresses homeless issues (3-18-2009)
- Volunteers seek out valley's homeless for census (1-29-2009)
- Volunteers turn out to help homeless (12-21-2008)
For most students, school can be a bore, a spur to academic achievement or simply a place to hang out with pals. But for homeless students, especially teenagers known as “couch surfers,” who drift from friend’s sofa to friend’s sofa every night, it is something else.
“When you’re neglected and your home life is miserable, going to school becomes a respite,” said Kathleen Boutin, founder and executive director of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
The number of homeless Clark County School District students rose to 3,206 in September, up more than 15 percent from the same month a year ago, according to the latest figures.
That’s 426 more homeless children, or equal to 14 classrooms of students.
The number usually grows as the school year goes on. The district keeps a running count and starts over every school year.
The number of homeless students reached a record as of July 31 with 5,933 children. With about 310,000 students in the district, that figure meant that 1 in 50 public school students was homeless.
Under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, homelessness is defined as lacking “a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.”
It includes living in motels, hotels, campgrounds, emergency shelters, automobiles, park benches, bus or train shelters or abandoned buildings.
Boutin said the recent surge in homelessness is explained by the accumulating effects of three years of a recession in Nevada. When the breadwinner loses a job or reaches the end of unemployment benefits, homelessness can result.
Her group, established in 2000, serves about 500 homeless youth and operates a homeless shelter in Las Vegas and long-term housing in Henderson and, anecdotally, is seeing more homeless children.
Boutin suspects the recent increase comes from families “doubling up” with relatives and friends in crowded apartments and houses.
The group has also seen a rise in couch surfers, 16- and 17-year-old children whose parents can no longer afford to care for them. They migrate night to night to different couches in different homes.
The potential for tragedy is high, she said, because unskilled jobs are scarce and child prostitution may seem attractive.
“Of course, a parent is going to show preference for a 5-year-old over a 15-year-old,” she said. “So they’re emancipating their children for financial reasons.”
Metro spokesman Bill Cassell said there was no increase in the number of recorded arrests for child prostitution in Las Vegas in August and September, the period covered by the School District’s homeless figures.
He declined to provide specific data, saying “there’s way too much possibility for misinterpretation.”
Myra Berkovits, who helps compile the homeless figures for the district, said there is no one cause of homelessness. But the longer the recession lasts, the more likely unemployment benefits will run out and health insurance will lapse.
“It’s a perfect storm,” said Berkovits, coordinator of a program called Title I HOPE, part of the federal homelessness law and administered by the state. The program — officially the Homeless Outreach Program for Education — has an annual budget of about $1 million to provide school supplies and medical care to homeless children.
When parents enroll their children, they are typically asked to provide one or two forms of identification, such as a driver’s license, utility bill or apartment lease.
If they can’t supply the identification, the child goes into the homeless count and parents are advised of homeless services.
Besides free breakfast and lunch, the program provides a backpack with school supplies such as pencils and protractors, and toiletries such as soap, washcloth, toothpaste and brush. Older children get a razor, shaving cream and laundry detergent.
The program is expanding services such as basic dental care — cleanings and fillings — and basic eye care including glasses.
If programs can keep homeless children in school, they can actually thrive, Boutin said.
What a sad state of affairs for the richest country in the world.
...get those test scores up, or else!!!
FWIW:
NRS 200.508 Abuse, neglect or endangerment of child: Penalties; definitions.
1. A person who willfully causes a child who is less than 18 years of age to suffer unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering as a result of abuse or neglect or to be placed in a situation where the child may suffer physical pain or mental suffering as the result of abuse or neglect:
(a) If substantial bodily or mental harm results to the child:
(1) If the child is less than 14 years of age and the harm is the result of sexual abuse or exploitation, is guilty of a category A felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life with the possibility of parole, with eligibility for parole beginning when a minimum of 15 years has been served; or
(2) In all other such cases to which subparagraph (1) does not apply, is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 2 years and a maximum term of not more than 20 years; or
(b) If substantial bodily or mental harm does not result to the child:
(1) If the person has not previously been convicted of a violation of this section or of a violation of the law of any other jurisdiction that prohibits the same or similar conduct, is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 6 years; or
(2) If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or of a violation of the law of any other jurisdiction that prohibits the same or similar conduct, is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 2 years and a maximum term of not more than 15 years, unless a more severe penalty is prescribed by law for an act or omission that brings about the abuse or neglect.
2. A person who is responsible for the safety or welfare of a child and who permits or allows that child to suffer unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering as a result of abuse or neglect or to be placed in a situation where the child may suffer physical pain or mental suffering as the result of abuse or neglect:
(a) If substantial bodily or mental harm results to the child:
(1) If the child is less than 14 years of age and the harm is the result of sexual abuse or exploitation, is guilty of a category A felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life with the possibility of parole, with eligibility for parole beginning when a minimum of 10 years has been served; or
(2) In all other such cases to which subparagraph (1) does not apply, is guilty of a category B felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 2 years and a maximum term of not more than 20 years; or
(b) If substantial bodily or mental harm does not result to the child:
(1) If the person has not previously been convicted of a violation of this section or of a violation of the law of any other jurisdiction that prohibits the same or similar conduct, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor; or
(2) If the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or of a violation of the law of any other jurisdiction that prohibits the same or similar conduct, is guilty of a category C felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130, unless a more severe penalty is prescribed by law for an act or omission that brings about the abuse or neglect.
3. A person does not commit a violation of subsection 1 or 2 by virtue of the sole fact that he delivers or allows the delivery of a child to a provider of emergency services pursuant to NRS 432B.630.
4. As used in this section:
(a) Abuse or neglect means physical or mental injury of a nonaccidental nature, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child under the age of 18 years, as set forth in paragraph (d) and NRS 432B.070, 432B.100, 432B.110, 432B.140 and 432B.150, under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened with harm.
(b) Allow means to do nothing to prevent or stop the abuse or neglect of a child in circumstances where the person knows or has reason to know that the child is abused or neglected.
(c) Permit means permission that a reasonable person would not grant and which amounts to a neglect of responsibility attending the care, custody and control of a minor child.
(d) Physical injury means:
(1) Permanent or temporary disfigurement; or
(2) Impairment of any bodily function or organ of the body.
(e) Substantial mental harm means an injury to the intellectual or psychological capacity or the emotional condition of a child as evidenced by an observable and substantial impairment of the ability of the child to function within his normal range of performance or behavior.
(Added to NRS by 1971, 772; A 1975, 1141; 1977, 738, 1629; 1985, 1399; 1989, 866, 1510, 1512; 1995, 1193; 1997, 850, 1720; 1999, 470, 472; 2001, 1138, 1264; 2003, 22)
NRS 200.5081 District attorney may refer person suspected of violating NRS 200.508 for treatment or counseling.
1. A district attorney may, if the circumstances indicate that treatment or counseling is needed, refer a person who is suspected of violating a provision of NRS 200.508 to an appropriate public or private agency for treatment or counseling. The district attorney shall obtain the consent of the agency to which he intends to refer the person before doing so.
2. Nothing in this section limits the discretion of the district attorney to undertake prosecution of a person who has been referred for treatment or counseling pursuant to subsection 1.
(Added to NRS by 1981, 1228)
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