This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief examines the well-being of adolescents who had recently experienced homelessness with their families. The brief uses data from the Family Options Study to explore the housing situations, academic development, and social development of these teens.

Recent studies have begun to show that inhibited brain development and functioning in children raised in poverty may be an important explanatory factor behind the relationship often seen between growing up in poverty and lower educational attainment. This brief from the Institute for Research on Poverty summarizes an April 2016 workshop, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where researchers in the area of poverty and developmental neuroscience discussed the current status of the research and how it can be appropriately and effectively used to inform public policy.

Practitioners and policymakers can use this database from Youth.gov to find information and resources about relevant federal programs, evidence-based and promising practices, and a range of support services for young parents and children experiencing homelessness. The topics covered include behavioral health (mental health and substance use), early childhood and parenting supports, and a review of relevant home visiting research. The database also provides links to webinars relevant for serving this population on topics such as engaging young fathers, integrating early childhood home visiting and homelessness systems, and access to health care for pregnant and parenting youth.

The Office of Family Assistance developed this guide to help state TANF agencies recognize the important role they have in identifying and serving families experiencing homelessness and families at risk of homelessness. It is intended to help states better assess for homelessness and housing instability during intake and formulate cohesive strategies with state and local homelessness providers and systems, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded Continuums of Care (CoC).

This webinar, hosted by the Institute for Research on Poverty, focused on how individual- and community-level deprivation and chronic, unmitigated stress affects health in different stages of the life course; the impact of perceived discrimination among young adult expectant parents; and the effects of adverse childhood experiences on long-term health outcomes. The webinar was held on June 8, 2016 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET.

Homes for Families, Inc. developed this guide to help service providers, policymakers, community leaders, state agencies, and other stakeholders conduct comprehensive assessments of homeless families. The guide defines assessment, describes the importance of a two-generation model, and presents implications for policy and practice.

Early childhood experiences form the foundation of brain architecture and can have lasting positive or negative impacts on learning, behavior, and health. Today’s best programs and practices can help support child development, but many children are still left behind. This report from the Center on the Developing Child considers lessons learned from five decades of program evaluation research, identifies five core principles to inform policymaking and program development, and discusses the importance of investing in research and development to better the lives of America’s children. The core principles identified include building caregiver skills; matching interventions to sources of significant stress; and supporting the health of the mother and child before, during, and after pregnancy.

Homeless families struggle with a variety of structural and psychosocial issues, including severe poverty, unemployment, and exposure to interpersonal violence and trauma. Historically, the full range of homeless families’ needs has not been routinely assessed. The Assessment Checklist for Homeless Family Providers was created by the Bassuk Center to address this situation and assist service providers in conducting comprehensive, evidence-based assessments of the families they serve. The checklist covers the following eight domains that have been proven to be relevant to the care of homeless families: family demographics, immediate safety needs, housing and homelessness, self-sufficiency, service use, parent functioning, child development, and use of standardized screening instruments.