VIDEO: Latch Key Children

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – New details involving the six-year old child reported missing in Columbus.

Xzavier Westbrook is now in his grandmother’s custody after yesterday’s search for him.

This time Monday night, six-year old Xzavier Westbrook, was running across this parking lot to his mom, hours after she reported him missing.

It’s a story that could’ve ended much differently.

“It only takes a minute for a life to be changed forever, so that one second or that one minute, ‘well, I’m just going to run to the store, but how long does it take for a person to get in trouble?’ A child can, and that was one of our concerns is that, with this child being gone that long, how far could that child have walked?” Says Columbus Police Assistant Chief Fred Shelton.

Xzavier Westbrook’s story turned out good, but it brings about a bigger question. How many other families are forced into that situation because of finances and other reasons?

“I believe there are a lot of single parents that are working. Daycare is very expensive for a lot of parents, and they trust a child, but sometimes you can’t trust your neighbors. You don’t know whose watching your house, so it’s a scary thing to leave them home by themselves,” says Community Outreach Coordinator, Glenda Buckhalter.

There are places to turn to get help with daycare costs.

“There are places that have scholarships for childcare, but you have different churches and other daycares in our community, that perhaps if that family doesn’t have enough resources, that they can scholarship that family.”

Buckhalter says you would be surprised at the number of people who don’t have homes or apartments to live in.

A lot of families are staying in places that are not homes and they’re not conducive to raise a child, but they’re there temporarily as it should be. Hotels are never homes, so in my mind I’m thinking families are there to save enough money so they can move into permanent housing.”

There’s agencies and programs available that help struggling families with affordable housing and childcare services.

We have the Rapid Rehouseing Program that we’ve been working with for a number of years. We have Columbus Housing Authority, where the housing is based on income, so we have different agencies that will come together and will try to get a family out of a bad situation and into a better situation,” says Buckhalter.