Children Fare Better in Supportive Housing but Services Are Limited

When children have stable housing and families, they change schools and miss school days less often. This finding comes from a 2007 evaluation, conducted by the University of Washington School of Social Work, on children who live in Sound Families supportive housing.

The report also noted that:

• Prior to moving into supportive housing, half of the children had attended more than one school in the previous school year. By the time families left supportive housing, only 20 percent attended more than one school.
• Securing supportive housing had a positive effect on childrens school absenteeism rates. At intake, 35 percent of children missed at least three weeks of classes during the previous year; one year after exiting the program, that number dropped to 11 percent.
• Services for children are limited and underfunded. Just one-third of supportive-housing programs have a staff member focused on children's needs.

About the Report
Title: Breaking the Cycle: Serving Homeless Children in Supportive Housing Programs (62 pages, 694KB, PDF)
Prepared By: University of Washington School of Social Work
Date Published: January 2007