to the editor: Guest contributor Margaret Olmos is right to applaud California's historic investment in helping schools identify and support homeless students (“California schools are on the front lines of the fight against homelessness. They now have funding.” July 15). Educators are often the first to recognize when a family's housing instability becomes visible, and those early connections are important. Working with the Orange County Department of Education and school districts, my organization has seen firsthand how schools and community partners can work together to identify and stabilize at-risk families early before a crisis turns into permanent homelessness.
But if we really want to change the trajectory of these children, we must also invest more in the initial phases. By the time a student is identified as homeless, the family has often exhausted all options to remain in their housing.
Many families are just one unexpected expense, rent increase, or job loss away from losing their homes. Providing emergency financial assistance, housing stabilization, and supportive services before families become homeless not only helps keep children housed, but also keeps them in their classrooms, connected to their teachers, and on track academically.
California has shown bold leadership by investing in homeless students. The next step is to ensure that more families never reach that point. Prevention and intervention are not competing priorities; They are complementary strategies that together can help break the cycle of homelessness for the next generation.
Christy Cornwall, Aliso Viejo
This writer is executive director of Families Forward, a nonprofit organization addressing homelessness and housing insecurity in Orange County.
