by Shelley Kishpaugh

Created on: April 10, 2009   Last Updated: April 15, 2009

Children are often forgotten victims of the current foreclosure disaster. Headlines shout out all over the nation about families down on their luck, the high rate of foreclosure, people losing their homes all over the nation. How this crisis is affecting children tends to be overlooked, but the fact is that children are being negatively affected by foreclosures in record numbers.

There are many problems that foreclosure creates for children. When people lose their homes, it is often a time of confusion and sadness. Adults can understand the underlying reasons for the foreclosure, but children often cannot. They may imagine that mean people are stealing their home, and they can react with anger or by behaving in a challenging manner. This can often add more stress to an already terrible situation. Parents are typically preoccupied during a crisis such as foreclosure, and this can leave the child feeling alone and confused.

Moving is stressful on children under the best of circumstances. Foreclosure is the worst of circumstances. Children might be forced to leave their schools and their friends behind along with the upheaval of leaving their homes. Foreclosure can instantaneously remove the child's entire support system outside the family. This is extremely detrimental to children, because their entire world is shattered in what might seem to them to be a blink of an eye.

Children tend to have a difficult time understanding cause and effect. For instance, children often believe that the divorce of their parents might somehow be their fault. Children can also believe that a foreclosure is also their own fault. The guilt and confusion experienced by children during this time can be tremendous.

Foreclosure can also be the cause of children becoming homeless. The current economy has left enormous numbers of people in need of public assistance. As more and more people lose their jobs and homes, resources for aid become stretched thinner and thinner. Children affected by foreclosure can be at great risk for homelessness. Where a single person, or perhaps even a couple might be able to find a friend that doesn't mind a new roommate or long-term guest, an entire family is typically hard pressed to find a friend willing to house them all, except for a very short term stay.

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