Children Bear the Brunt of Homelessness

It’s easy to overlook families experiencing homelessness who are not as visible as homeless adults living on city streets. Homeless families have no other place to go and struggle to create a sense of safety and stability for their children while facing significant challenges. They may live in their car or move between relatives’ homes until they exhaust all options. Homeless families face difficult choices and fear losing their children to child protective services. Most often, their primary goal is to keep their family together and safe.

Family homelessness has a significant and life-changing impact on children. Children bear the brunt of homelessness, as homeless children are:

• Sick and hungry twice as often
• Change schools 7-8 times per year
• Twice as likely to repeat a grade
• 1-2 years behind in school
• Diagnosed with twice the rate of learning disabilities
• By the time homeless children are eight years old, 1 in 3 has a major mental health disorder

While much of Greater Cincinnati is thriving and has experienced growth over the past decade, our community still struggles with high poverty. Supporting, educating and stabilizing families by getting them on a path to independent living is one of the most important ways our region can support the fight against poverty—and break the cycle of generational homelessness in families.