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One of the city’s largest shelters for homeless youths have had to turn away more than 80 UNACCOMPANIED children as young as 12 and 13 years old who came to them for help in the past six weeks after the city cut more than $700,000 from their budget. As many as 3 or 4 youth per day have been turned away according to Deborah Shore, executive director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork in Northeast Washington. The ­total amounts to about 7 percent of its $9 million annual budget.

In the District, there has been close to an 18% decline in admissions due to these budget cuts. Doxie McCoy, a spokeswoman for Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), said that the money was not being cut but rather “repurposed” to better serve the population of homeless youths in the District. There are more than 3,300 homeless youths in the District’s traditional public schools and charter schools, according to the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education. 

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I do understand that their are financial reasons as to why the city had to cut funding to the shelters and “repurpose” the funds.  However, where has the money gone and what has it been allocated towards?  There are THOUSANDS of kids living without parents or a home to go to at night.  What else could be more important that protecting our children?  They may not belong to you personally, but if you’re reading this I can only assume that you are a person of faith and care about others.  Please, we need to bring this to light!  We as a society have turned our back on our kids.  It is completely UNACCEPTABLE for youth to EVER be turned away from proper care. Please forward this on Facebook, Twitter, anywhere it can be seen. THIS NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT TO ATTENTION!!!

-Follow The Street Disciple on Twitter: @TheRealistInDC

**Special thanks to The Washington Post for information**