MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – A three-day jury trial that centered around homelessness and child neglect ended Wednesday, but the concern about those issues in our area remains.

Thirty-three-year-old Charles Dupriest was found guilty of eight counts of child neglect for locking his children inside of a storage unit. The state argued his family had other housing options. The defense said this was a family falling on extreme hardships.

The experiences of the family at the center of the trial are sadly an issue in our area. According to United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. In Wisconsin, 1/3 of the population experiencing homelessness are families with at least one child under the age of 18.

“Family homelessness rides under the radar that it’s a significant issue in our community,” said Krystina Kohler with United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County.

While he took the stand, Dupriest said it was common for his family to sleep at family members' homes while they had nowhere else to stay. Kohler said this experience can be common with family homelessness in Milwaukee. This is an issue currently being addressed at the county level as well, but it faces its difficulties.

“Because of rising rents, evictions, different things like that, we have a very hard time with those families that are going house to house without a permanent place to live,” said James Mathy, administrator of the Department of Health and Human Services Housing Services with Milwaukee County.

“If we’re really going to get anywhere, there has to be more of a focus at the federal level, those prevention dollars for folks that are going house to house," Mathy said.

Mathy says while Milwaukee County has efforts in place to find and help families in similar situations, there's a lack of federal funding.

United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County and Milwaukee County continue to have resources in place for those experiencing homelessness.