This report examines state and school district implementation of the Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program, based on surveys of state EHCY coordinators and district homeless liaisons and analysis of extant data. The study included state and school district surveys to examine program implementation during the 2010-11 school year;…

This article describes the central elements of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and, drawing from Spillane's distributed leadership perspective, examines the policy's impact on the homeless education situation. Although the initial passing and subsequent revisions to McKinney-Vento are depicted as providing numerous benefits for students…

This study examines differences in services available at the time of discharge for homeless and housed psychiatric inpatients. Participants diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited from a general hospital psychiatric inpatient unit. Thirty homeless individuals and 21 housed controls (matched for diagnosis, gender,…

Although it is difficult to determine the precise number of homeless children, the National Coalition for the Homeless reports that there are more than 1.3 million children lacking a permanent residence on any given night. Further, 39 percent of the homeless population was comprised of children under the age of 18 in July 2009, the most recent…

Each year, more than a million young people in the United States experience homelessness; some of these young people, known as unaccompanied homeless youth, will face the challenges of homelessness while living on their own without the support of a caring adult. Unaccompanied homeless youth face the same struggles as other young people: trying to…

Living without permanent, long-term housing creates a number of stressors for children and families, but being homeless can be particularly detrimental to the healthy development of young children. The National Center on Family Homelessness reports that more than 1.6 million children--or one in 45 children--were homeless annually in America…

In this study, we used a mixed methods approach to explore the determinants of relationship patterns and risky sex among homeless men living in downtown Los Angeles. This involved analysis of qualitative interviews focused on gender ideology and sexual events ("n" = 30) as well as structured interviews ("n" = 305) focused on…

Each year, more than a million young people in the United States experience homelessness; some of these young people, known as unaccompanied homeless youth, will face the challenges of homelessness while living on their own without the support of a caring adult. Unaccompanied homeless youth face the same struggles as other young people: trying to…

Homeless youth face many barriers that limit success in the educational process. Subgroups of homeless youth frequently experience the educational process differently depending upon their residential context. Recent years witness the federal government's expanding the definition of homelessness to include youth living doubled-up. This residential…

There is a great disparity in early care and education opportunities between homeless children and their peers. The high mobility of families who are homeless and a lack of transportation to and from a center-based program present significant barriers to participation in early education. The authors describe a unique approach to meeting the needs…

In conjunction with its fall quarterly meeting, NCD convened a stakeholder forum in Atlanta in October 2014 to receive testimony on the role of special education in the School-to-Prison Pipeline. The findings and recommendations in this report are based upon the culmination of that testimony, interviews with experts, and review of available…

Homeless parents of young children confront several barriers to developing effective parenting skills and dispositions. Perhaps the major barrier is that of the negative stereotype that many people use to label them. They also often have not had positive parent role models and in many cases have had to deal with the issues of violence. Parent…

The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ("McKinney-Vento") provides federal funding to states to address the problems that homeless children and youth encounter in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in the nation's public schools. McKinney-Vento requires states to develop plans that ensure homeless children and youth the…

This qualitative study involved 20 youth (18 males, 1 female, 1 transgender, ages 19-24) living in Vancouver, British Columbia, who reported 259 critical incidents of what helped or hindered their experiences as they tried to get off the street. What helped included (a) taking responsibility, (b) engaging in constructive activities, (c) friends…

This exploratory study examined the nature of therapeutic conversation between helping professionals and homeless persons as an intervention to optimize health. Meaningful conversation occurred in relationships where there was a sense of connection and the presence of rapport. Emergent facilitators of therapeutic conversation included respectful…