Homelessness

Public schools identified more than 1.3 million children and youth experiencing homelessness and enrolled in school at some point in the 2016-2017 school year.1 These numbers do not reflect the total number of children and youth who experience homelessness in the United States.

Does a screening requirement for homeless families seeking shelter create unintended costs? In 2012, Massachusetts passed a law requiring homeless families seeking shelter to prove that they had recently stayed somewhere not meant for human habitation.

Are families prioritizing their housing payments by jeopardizing their health and well-being, missing utility payments, skipping meals, or failing to keep up with medical needs or medical bills?

The evidence on how homelessness affects children suggests policymakers should be doing everything possible to prevent homelessness and, when families who do lose their housing, to help them exit homelessness and stabilize in housing quickly.