Homeless Awareness Day is bittersweet to Mark Miloscia

OLYMPIA—Jan. 27 was Homeless Awareness Day in Washington, but no one celebrated.
Gov. Chris Gregoire declared Jan. 27 to be Homeless Awareness Day to coincide with the annual state count of the homeless in Washington, which is expected to paint a dire picture of the realities of homelessness during the Great Recession.
“I have very mixed feelings about the count taking place today,” said Mark Miloscia, the Federal Way lawmaker who led efforts to require the count as part of the Homelessness Housing and Assistance Act that he and Rep. Timm Ormsby (D-Spokane) led into law in 2005.
“I’m happy that caring people are making extraordinary efforts to locate the homeless and draw attention to their plight, but I’m deeply saddened that the 2011 count is sure to show that we are falling far short of our commitments to help our homeless neighbors.”
The annual count was supposed to document measurable progress toward the state goal of eliminating homelessness in Washington by mid-2015. Miloscia was skeptical that the goal could be achieved without a greater state effort. His fears are being verified by recent counts of the homeless. Last year’s statewide count showed the number of homeless persons in Washington has actually risen since the first count in 2006, and in December a dramatic increase in the number of homeless school-age children was reported by state education officials.
The official count of homeless students in Washington climbed by 56 percent compared with four years ago, reaching 21,000 students in 2009-10, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Melinda Dyer, program supervisor for the education of homeless children and youth at OSPI, said some of that dramatic increase may be due to better reporting by school districts, but the official count is still probably lower than the reality of homelessness among children in Washington.
“We know that homeless students are less likely to be healthy, less likely to attend school regularly, and less likely to graduate,” said Miloscia. “The hurt these homeless children are suffering now could have tragic impacts that last a generation.”
Miloscia, a Democrat, said that state leaders from both parties need to remember and recommit to the bipartisan goal of ending homelessness.
“The hard times facing the budget are no excuse for inaction,” said Miloscia. “Lawmakers need to focus more on the hard times facing the people we serve, including the homeless.”
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