Ensuring Santa Rosa’s homeless children succeed

Watching children file into school, it’s impossible to tell who is an only child, which one comes from a large family and who among the group is a good student.

It’s also nearly impossible to tell which child is homeless.

The reality is that 1,450 children in Santa Rosa County Schools are homeless, meaning they lack a “fixed, adequate nighttime shelter.” Of those, 66 are unaccompanied minors, those who have no adult in their lives to assist them, according to Dr. Karen Barber, director of Federal Programs for Santa Rosa schools.

The district has resources available through the Communities of Learning Homeless Education Program for these children. The goal of the program is to reduce or eliminate barriers that often keep homeless kids from attending school.

For more on this story, see the May 19 edition of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.