The story about a Philadelphia couple who told their two young children they were camping out in LOVE Park because they had no other place to spend the night shocked many people (“Help for a homeless family in LOVE Park“). But given Philadelphia’s high rate of poverty and lack of affordable housing, this family’s experience is not unique.

The Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing runs the city’s shelters, which are too often filled, and Community Legal Services has seen clients seeking family shelter wait weeks and even months for space to become available.

Most tragically, parents who end up on the street or couch-surfing with their children risk having their children taken from them and placed in foster care. Absent signs of parental abuse or neglect, children should be allowed to stay with their parents, and the family should be offered emergency shelter. Children need not also suffer the trauma of being separated from their parents.

We hope the city will focus on eliminating the waiting list for shelter beds for homeless families and significantly increasing housing options for families who are at risk of losing their children to foster care because of inadequate housing.

This article originally appeared as a letter to the editor in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It was co-written with Elizabeth Larin, an attorney with Community Legal Services

Photo Credit:
Norman Maddeaux
https://flic.kr/p/p6o7ZT