What will become of California's growing homeless children numbers?

It is estimated that there are 80,000 to 95,000 homeless children in
California.

In absolute terms, there are more homeless children today in
California than ever before. The percentage of children who are
homeless is greater today than at any time since the Great Depression

43% of homeless children are molested; 66% are violently abused.

Homeless children are 12 times more likely to wind up in foster care
than housed children.
Over 20% of homeless children do not attend school at all.
When in school, homeless kids are twice as likely to repeat a grade or
be suspended.
Homeless children go hungry twice as often as other children.
Homeless children have 5 times more stomach and diarrhea problems, and
4 times as much asthma.
Homeless children are reported in fair or poor health twice as often
as housed children.

What about Redding and Shasta County ?

http://redding.com/news/2007/mar/27/more-suffer-street-county/

There is an answer.....

Sacramento -Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny's (D-San Diego) Senate Bill
(SB) 303 was approved by the Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee

Along with a diverse list of California organizations supporting the
Housing Affordability Act The California State Firefighters
Association, PORAC (Peace Officers Research Association of California)
and Father Joe's Ministries of San Diego were among the SB 303
supporters which attended the hearing to urge its passage.

SB 303 aims to reverse the trend of California's housing supply
falling far behind the ever-growing demand. It is this imbalance that
economists say is one of the primary reasons for the runaway prices in
California's housing market that make homes unaffordable for much of
the state's workforce. SB 303 is designed to ensure responsible
planning, require full compliance with environmental laws and boost
affordable housing for all income levels, Ducheny told the committee.
Local and regional governments will maintain control of the current
process for determining how much housing is needed (Regional Housing
Needs Assessment, RHNA) and where it will go. Now, however, the land
will be zoned when the site for housing is chosen by the local
community.

"More certainty means lower prices," Ducheny said. "People who build
our homes, people who keep our communities safe and teach our kids are
still being priced out of the market. Our local governments have the
right and responsibility to plan for places for people to live. We
just want them to go the extra step of making sure that their process
provides places that are truly appropriate for the housing they're
planning,"

Mathew Packard, vice president of Father Joe's Villages, testified
that his group's charitable organizations work with the homeless,
under-employed and people with AIDS among others.

"The Housing Affordability Act recognizes that all communities have a
role to play in providing housing that all Californians can afford,"
said Packard. "It is an important contribution of this bill that it
recognizes that those on the lowest economic rungs must be included in
our vision of the future: not with handouts, but with a chance to live
a life they can afford and continue to be an essential part of our
communities."

Other organizations supporting SB 303 include the California Business
Roundtable, AFSCME, California Council of Churches Impact, California
Black Chamber Foundation, Major Builders Council, California
Affordable Housing, Inc. and the California Council for Environmental
and Economic Balance.

http://dist40.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7B3A828B7E-9F32-431B-A6F1-32C67AF694FD%7D&DE=%7BE64942C4-D5BB-446F-B44C-0F3404E8FC4E%7D

E-Mail the Governor---Support SB 303 !!

http://gov.ca.gov/interact
http://www.reddingloavesandfishes.com/

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