Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Clinical perspectivesFamily Homelessness: A Deepening Crisis in Urban Communities
Section snippets
Environmental and Clinical Interventions for Homeless Youth and Families
Homeless families are typically led by young women who are still undergoing neurodevelopmental changes of their own and who might struggle to buffer the emotional impact of housing instability on their children. The rate of pregnancy among homeless women is considerably higher than among their non-homeless peers. Appropriate prenatal care and managing environmental stress in pregnant women are crucial to support fetal neurodevelopment and the health of the mother–child dyad. Perinatal
Prevention of Family Homelessness
Although the thousands of families currently experiencing homelessness in the United States require urgent and expert intervention, public policy must evolve more effectively to prevent family homelessness before it occurs. Youth aging out of foster care are at high risk of entering homelessness, yet their unique situation also makes this population an ideal target for homelessness prevention. Higher rates of incarceration, unemployment, physical and psychiatric illness, poor access to health
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2021, Homelessness and the Built Environment: Designing for Unhoused Persons
Funding for research for this work came from a “Reflective Engagement” grant from the President’s Office at Georgetown University.
Disclosure: Drs. Biel and Jacobstein, Mr. Gilhuly, and Ms. Wilcox report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.