Foreclosures and Children

Posted on June 12th, 2008 by saman

There are millions of victims of the mortgage crisis but not many people are looking at the smallest victims of this catastrophe, the children. Brookings Institute has recently confirmed that about two million children in the United States are going to be affected by foreclosures within the next two years. This may result in school problems, physical and mental problems, homelessness and all-around stress and grief.

Instead of only slashing interest rates, the federal government, along with school boards, child advocacy boards and banks should be assisting parents with discussing foreclosure with children. There are a few things that could help.

First, you should always be honest with children.There are extremely perceptive.A child may hear their mother or father talking on the phone with their creditors.The best course of action is to talk about the situation openly and honestly in language that they will be able to understand.The parent may want to explain to the child that they have a loan that pays for the home but like many other people, there have been some changes to the payments.They may need to explain to the child that the family cannot pay afford the new payments so the bank may take the house and the family will need to go elsewhere.

Parents should also give children a timeline.Parents may want to discuss what they are planning on doing with their children.They can tell their child that they are trying to sell the house or if foreclosure has started.Children need to know that the process is not immediate.

There are a lot of issues that may come about when it comes to children and foreclosure.A pre teen may be upset about moving because they will have to move away from their own neighborhood and away from their friends.If the parents are comfortable with this option, they may want to notify the school that the family is going through a lot of hard times.The staff at the school can assist parents by being pro-active and can provide opportunities for the parent to communicate with them.

When dealing with children and foreclosure the parents should assure the child that they will always be a family and when the problems are done and over with, they will still have each other in the new home.Children are not concerned if the parents are having mortgage problems.What a child wants most of all is to be safe, secure and happy.

A foreclosure can actually be a learning opportunity for children.A family can make time for a family meeting to discuss what is going on in the household and to bring encouragement to one another. This is a great opportunity for the child, depending on how old they are and their maturity level, to get out how they are really feeling.A creative child should be encouraged to express how they feel about the financial situation by using music, drawing or writing a story.This may be therapeutic for the whole family.