How foreclosures impact children

[NNN0LHI]

http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=428416

The current housing market has sent property values plunging and the nation's credit freeze has left individuals struggling to get a loan. But the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group First Focus said we've overlooked another aspect of the housing crisis: How foreclosure affects children.

The group recently released a report indicating that foreclosures often result in disruptions to a child's education, as well as their physical and mental health.

Karen Maehl has seen this first hand. A guidance counselor at Kankakee Junior High School for 10 years, Maehl -- for the first time in her career -- has recently had to counsel kids dealing with the aftermath of foreclosure. Over the past two years, she's advised a half-dozen children in this predicament.

"Their whole life is turned upside," Maehl said. "They're used to living in a house with a parent, or parents, and now they're living with grandparents or mom's friends."

The mortgage crisis has hit local communities hard. Kankakee County was on the top 10 list of Illinois counties hardest hit by the mortgage crisis every month this year except for August, according to California-based RealtyTrac.

[phantom power]

1. I heard Biden giving a speech like this last week.

I'll have to paraphrase, but it went like this:

"Foreclosure isn't just a word. Foreclosure means parents having to tell their children that they can't see their old friends, play in the their little league, or go to their school any more. It means telling them to leave their toys and their room behind."

[avaistheone1]

2. I think a home means alot of stability and comfort in a child's life.

Kids really need that foundation if you will for their lives.

[PA Democrat]

3. A few months back a DUer posted about neighbors' kids coming home from school

to find their house had been foreclosed upon and all their possessions were sitting in the yard. It broke my heart to think how those kids must have felt.

[madrchsod]

4. i just checked realty trac

there are 5856 properties in lake county,il in pre or in foreclosure....i thought we were hit hard up here where i live....the 5 in the paper last night was`t close to the average foreclourse on the first two pages of houses in lake county.