On March 21st, Senator Vincent Hughes held a ‘Roundtable Discussion’ with a panel of experts about the catastrophic surge in child and youth homelessness in Pennsylvania.
From 2011 through 2019, the number of school-aged children experiencing homelessness in our commonwealth jumped from 28,000 to more than 40,000. A quarter of those are younger than school age. At this rate of growth, PEC estimates that Pennsylvania could identify more than 50,000 children and youth experiencing homelessness by 2026.
In Philadelphia, PEC is estimating that child homelessness will increase from 7,881 to over 9,000 by 2026, just in time for the next Mayoral Administration.
How can we stop this trend? We will be talking with you over the next two years about strategies that would stem this growing tide.
People’s Emergency Center (PEC) will create a summary of the Hughes Roundtable Discussion to share in the near future. In the meantime, you can watch the Discussion here.
