1 out of 45 Children Homeless, Says Report

ABC News’ Tom Shine and Amy Bingham report:

The congressional hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building was lit brightly, all warm and cozy. The chairs around the witness table were comfortable, and a bottle of water was set before each place.

It was quite a contrast to the living conditions of Rumi Khan, an 11-year-old sixth-grader; Brooklyn Pastor, a 12-year-old seventh-grader; and Brittany Amber Koon, a Pvt. First Class in the U.S. Army.

Bounced between motels and homeless shelters, sleeping in cars, using gas station bathrooms to wash up and brush their teeth in, these young people were here to ask a Congress –47 percent of whose members have a net worth of $1 million or more – for a little help.

Koon, who said she first became homeless in eighth grade, had been in and out of foster care, slept in her car and “couch surfed.” When she leaves the Fort Hood base for the holidays, she said she would still have no place to call home.

“Like me, you have chosen to serve your country,” she told House Financial Services Subcommittee members. “You here in Washington, and me in the field. Just as you have faith that I will be out there protecting you, it is my hope that you will use your power here to protect youth like me.”

Koon was one of six to testify before the congressional committee. According to a recent report from the National Center on Family Homelessness, one out of every 45 children younger than 18 in the United States is without a home. As a result of the recent economic downturn, almost 500,000 more children were pushed into homelessness, an increase of 38 percent. Read more...