In the United States, in 2013, 610,042 people were estimated homeless in one night. Improving the effectiveness of homeless assistance programs, particularly aligning programs' practices with their goals, is critical to serving this population. Using a theory that predicts homeless exits, this study presents an innovative, low-cost evaluation tool…

In October 2023, more than 100 practitioners, professionals, and students gathered at UC Berkeley to share insights and discuss research on the growing crisis of student homelessness in California. With short-lived yet historic federal funding to support this population set to expire in September 2024, the convening encouraged researchers and…

Shelter and housing interventions provide residential facilities or rental assistance along with other services. Despite the substantial policy focus on shelter and housing interventions to address youth homelessness, few studies of shelter and housing interventions for youth met in inclusion criteria. The Voices of Youth Count initiative's…

Students experiencing homelessness spend their nights in various settings, including shelters, with friends/families (doubled-up), motels/hotels, and unsheltered contexts. Yet there is limited quantitative research on how educational outcomes vary by residential context. We analyze data from over 400,000 students in Houston Independent School…

In the last decade, the number of public school students in the United States experiencing homelessness has more than doubled. Research shows that school enrollment processes are particularly onerous for families experiencing homelessness; yet, school choice and enrollment policies are rarely designed with the type of flexibility needed to be…

This brief is the third in a series examining timely topics that are relevant to Black families and children in the United States. It presents recent data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black families' access to stable housing in the United States and, at the local level, in Newark, New Jersey. First, it highlights national findings…

This article describes the Building Early Links for Learning (BELL) initiative in Philadelphia, PA. BELL looks to promote resilience in young children staying in emergency housing for homeless families. The goal is to make the settings more responsive and supportive to children's developmental needs as they adapt to experiences of homelessness and…

This November 2021 report provides a summary of demographic data collected by the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program. The report includes an examination of data collected for the 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 school years. Information on the number of students experiencing homelessness, their primary nighttime…

Homelessness is a reality for many families with young children in the United States. Homeless children and youths lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. In 2017, about a third of all people who stayed in a shelter were families with children, and nearly half of children served by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

In January 2016, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released the first 50-state profile on Early Childhood Homelessness as part of an interagency collaboration with multiple departments and agencies participating on the early childhood workgroup of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). This report updates ED's…

This Research-to-Impact brief is the eighth in a series from Voices of Youth Count. Voices of Youth Count is a national research and policy initiative designed to fill critical gaps in the nation's knowledge about unaccompanied homelessness among youth and young adults ages 13 to 25. Voices of Youth Count research estimated that nearly 4.2 million…

Students and families experience homelessness and high mobility (HHM) in vastly different ways. Yet, popular media, academic scholars, and practitioners often overlook this diversity. Building on a 2012 special issue of "Educational Researcher," I discuss recent research that highlights the heterogeneity of HHM student and families. In…

Homelessness is a reality for many families with young children in our country. In 2015, a third of all people who stayed in a shelter were in families with children and nearly half of children served by HUD-funded emergency/transitional housing providers in 2015 were age five or younger (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),…

Purpose: This randomized controlled trial compared the efficacy between the Social Enterprise Intervention (SEI) and Individual Placement and Support (IPS) with homeless youth with mental illness to assess their impact on nonvocational outcomes. Method: Seventy-two homeless youth were recruited from one agency and randomized to the SEI (n = 36) or…

Homelessness is a reality for many families with young children in the country. In fact, infancy is the period of life when a person is at highest risk of living in a homeless shelter in the United States (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 6th Annual Homelessness Report, 2012). Every day more and more Americans understand…