RE “AT motels, hotels, the bus stops here: Schools hit by expense of transporting homeless’’ (Globe North, Oct. 6): The number of families experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts is at an all-time high, and there are more homeless children in our schools than ever before. Not surprisingly, the costs associated with providing these families with crucial supports and services have also risen across the board, including the cost of transporting children experiencing homelessness to and from school.
As the state’s new HomeBASE program continues to place families in their own apartments, these transportation costs will decrease and municipalities will feel less of a financial pinch.
We may be required by law to transport homeless children to school, but we also have a moral and ethical obligation to do so. Children should not miss out on an education simply because they are without a home, and we should not consider the cost of their education a burden, financially or otherwise.
Without an education and the stability that school provides, these children have virtually no hope of breaking the cycle of poverty. Until we eliminate its root causes, one of which is lack of an education, poverty will continue to take a social and financial toll on society.
Robyn Frost
Executive director
Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
Lynn
