CHARLESTON, WV (WOAY) – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) highlighted the increased needs of homeless children and youth in West Virginia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, Senator Manchin introduced the Emergency Family Stabilization Act to provide flexible funding for community-based organizations to meet the unique needs of children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness.
“Across our country, 1.5 million students don’t have a roof over their head or a safe place to sleep. In West Virginia alone there are more than 10,000 students who don’t know where they’ll be sleeping tonight. And this has only gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic due to high unemployment, unstable living conditions, and job insecurity. This year, 14 sites in West Virginia received more than $500,000 through the McKinney Vento program to hire social workers, provide in-school and at-home tutoring, purchase school supplies and clothing, and much more,” said Senator Manchin. “While this is a great success and I’m pleased the funding was allocated to great programs, there were more applications that weren’t supported due to limited funds. This shows that we have a higher demand for assistance to help our homeless children and youth and not enough funding to support the programs. I urge my colleagues to include the Emergency Family Stabilization Act in the next COVID-19 relief package to ensure the families experiencing homelessness receive the help they need.”
Fact sheet on the Emergency Family Stabilization Act can be found here.
Timeline of Senator Manchin’s work to address homelessness can be found here.
