The chaos of homelessness often makes clear thinking impossible for homeless families; a new book shows us how to truly care for those who need structure, calm, and hope

July 2026

BY OLIVIA HINES 

Diane Nilan has traveled more than 500,000 miles across the country documenting the reality of family homelessness in America. Her work has taken her through urban centers, rural communities, shelters, campgrounds, vehicles, motels, and doubled-up living situations where families often remain unseen and unheard.

After 15 years as a homeless shelter director, Nilan founded her nonprofit, HEAR US Inc. in 2005 to help bring visibility to children and families experiencing homelessness in America. 

She’s since made more than 100 films and has written four books on the subject of homelessness. Her work combines storytelling with advocacy, helping turn statistics into personal human experiences.

Nilan’s newest book, Making Bad A Little Better, is a practical and compassionate look at family homelessness. It’s designed to help educators, service providers, and community members better understand the realities facing children and families experiencing homelessness — and what they can do to help.

The Reporters Inc. is sharing exclusive excerpts from the book below, but first, here’s our Q&A with Nilan:

The Reporters Inc.: In a nutshell, what’s Making Bad a Little Better about? 

Diane Nilan: Most people have little to no understanding or awareness about family homelessness. This little book covers the basics in a way that may lead readers to realize that families experiencing homelessness need help surviving day-to-day. It explains how schools can be vital connections to help families survive and escape homelessness.

The Reporters: Why did you write it?

Nilan: I’ve worked in the field of homelessness for over 40 years. With all the reading and research I’ve done on this topic, I realized what was missing–a simple introductory guide to understanding family homelessness that offers ways to help. In particular, I wanted to help school personnel better understand family homelessness so they would realize how vital the school community is for their homeless students.

The Reporters: Who should read this book? Who NEEDS to read this book?

Nilan: I suspect it’s a narrow niche who would want to read a book on family homelessness but anyone whose work involves dealing with homeless families will benefit – social workers, emergency response personnel, medical staff, elected officials, educators, human services staff, etc. Most of all I’m hoping that school personnel assigned the job of “homeless liaison” – but who are lacking a clue about what they’re getting into – will read it. This is a perfect starting point for them!

The Reporters: Why do you think family homelessness is often “invisible,” especially to people in positions of power?

Nilan: I will confess that in my first years working running a shelter I didn’t pay adequate attention to the families staying with us. The kids were, well, little, and not my biggest challenge. Elected officials prioritize their attention to the biggest “problems,” and too often that ends up being the adults in homeless situations. Families try to avoid notice because they rightfully sense that attention will bring in child welfare authorities, often with dreadful results, removing the children from the parents. And then we’ve got to acknowledge that single mothers with kids get the least help when they need it most. Our “welfare system,” designed by men, has long been abysmal. 

The Reporters: What are some common circumstances that families might find themselves in – and yet still not realize they’re experiencing homelessness?

Nilan: When families lose housing due to hardship – eviction, domestic violence, natural disaster being the most common circumstances – it’s usually a period of chaos that makes clear thinking impossible. A relative or friend may offer to let the family move in temporarily to help them out during their hard times. Often the impacted family will keep their situation a secret out of shame and/or fear the authorities may remove their children because they lack housing.

Doubling up is the predominant “solution” to losing one’s housing due to hardship, which shapes the federal education definition of homelessness. Often these incidents seem temporary, so staying with someone who has offered to take your family in doesn’t seem to be a long term arrangement, until it is. It may or may not be an ideal situation, and it can cause the host family to lose their housing due to overcrowding or other issues.

The stress of the situation and the parent’s desperation to provide for kids blurs the reality of actually being homeless. Shame and denial factor into all of these situations. Since family homelessness isn’t common knowledge, families just endure their “hard times,” unaware that it’s homelessness. 

The Reporters: Why are motels and “doubling-up” not considered homelessness by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)? 

Nilan: Despite our 20+ years of trying to get HUD to acknowledge that the loss of housing due to hardship is homelessness, they persist in denial. A U.S. Senate staffer once told me HUD didn’t want to open a floodgate. I responded, “We already have the flood!” It would significantly increase HUD’s statistics of how many people are homeless, bringing families into the equation in a way that would demand more extensive and expensive solutions to be funded. 

Motels and doubling-up don’t seem so bad to the unenlightened. After all, they’ve got a roof over their heads. The perils of these fragile arrangements are ignored by the federal agency created to provide housing for those in need. The stories families have shared with me about the horrors of staying in motels or being doubled up would convince any decent human that these are tough situations. That’s why I included video links in my book.

The Reporters: Can you give us an example of a family homeless situation you’ve personally encountered that stays with you?

Nilan: A school official told me about a family about to be evicted from their motel room, suggesting that I might want to talk to the mom who was willing to share their story. She and her five children, including an infant, huddled in the dark room, curtains closed as if to keep the reality out. She had arranged to borrow a tiny camper for the time being. Since I knew life in a camper, I knew what she’d need – and helped her get some of the basics.

We kept in touch, and I ended up helping her in a more significant way than I was equipped to do, which gave me an in-depth understanding of what moms were up against when their stability collapsed.

Truthfully, as she shared what she was going through, I never thought she and her kids would be able to escape their dire situation. It was very rough going for a long time. But somehow things came together and it now seems that she and her kids have landed in a good spot. I learned to never underestimate a mother’s love, combined with a bit of help.

The Reporters: How is education the way out of homelessness?

Nilan: Most of us underestimate the value of education. For students experiencing homelessness, it’s a lifeline. Thanks to McKinney-Vento, the law that mandates school districts identify and assist homeless students, kids get essential basics – school meals, supplies, transportation, to name a few things – but the best benefit is the understanding of someone in their school day who understands and helps them along. That’s huge! It can pay big dividends as the student catches onto the benefits of education. I’ve seen kids at our shelter grow up to be doctors, engineers, and teachers. Education provides the opportunity for a future that leaves homelessness behind.

The Reporters: How can neighbors help make a difference for people experiencing family homelessness in their area?

Nilan: The potential of neighbors making a local difference is exciting! Every neighborhood has schools. Every school has kids experiencing homelessness. And each district has a homeless liaison. And those liaisons typically have extensive needs.

The Reporters: What are your thoughts on the current housing crisis, especially since Donald Trump refused to sign the current housing bill?  

Nilan: Our housing crisis predates our current dysfunctional, cruel “administration.” It’s been unfolding since I started in this work in the mid-1980s. Housing for those unable to afford it has never been a priority. Nor have any other essentials – nutrition, health care, education, childcare. People in poverty aren’t politically powerful.

We need to get away from the one-size-fits-all “solutions” to homelessness that center around a small portion of adults experiencing homelessness. And it can’t be criminalized, although the Cicero Institute and their followers are pushing hard for that in many states. Until we can elect federal and state officials who acknowledge the government’s obligation to provide basic needs for all people, including immigrants, we’ll have rampant poverty and homelessness. The current housing bill that stumbled into passage without Trump’s signature will help, but not enough.

The Reporters: Where can people buy this book?

Nilan: Both print version and e-book are available through standard book vendors. HEAR US also has a selection of books I’ve written for sale through our site on Bookshop.org.

Below are exclusive excerpts from Making Bad a Little Better. All photos were taken by Diane Nilan, with the permission of the subjects pictured.

Brief Homelessness History Lesson

How McKinney-Vento came about is worth a brief look.

In the mid-1980s, modern homelessness was beginning to be an issue in cities across America. Mitch Snyder, a fierce homeless advocate, with Carol Fennelly and their Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV) colleagues, pushed hard to get President Ronald Reagan in 1987 to allow passage of the “Urgent Relief for the Homeless Act.”

They continued to advocate for basic solutions to this growing problem. Their “Housing NOW!” campaign brought hundreds of thousands of advocates to Washington, DC in October 1989 for a massive march. I was there.

At the time, storefronts in most downtown areas had affordable housing units above. Single-room occupancy units were fairly common and inexpensive. Those were being torn down.

Replacement housing was not being built. So, single adults and couples with limited income were pushed out.

Some got lucky and found alternative housing. Some didn’t. Simultaneously, mental health hospitals were reducing their residential programs, ostensibly to encourage services in communities. The local efforts never took hold, so people struggling to make sense of things had to find a place to live.

Shelters were quite rare, with the great majority catering to single adult males. Many had stringent religious requirements, short time limits, a long list of rules and restrictions, and often only served people from the area.

The plan Congress eventually passed omitted services or shelters for families. The great majority of families struggling with homelessness then, as now, were headed by single mothers.

It was commonly, and mistakenly, believed that welfare covered family’s needs.

Instead of assistance to stabilize their housing situation, mothers were typically sent to welfare offices where long waits resulted in little to no help.

Welfare reached few who needed support, providing insufficient funds for housing or other essentials. Child welfare agencies would remove children from the parent/s’ care if they were discovered in homeless situations.

Public housing was undergoing a shift from attempting to provide affordable housing for families to being vilified, and torn down, without replacing units in any sufficient number. The public housing budget was significantly slashed, 80%, under President Reagan, leaving communities beleaguered during a period of national economic struggles.

At a time when housing support was drastically needed, the feds washed their hands of their responsibility to provide a safety net for the nation’s impoverished population, mostly families. (Here’s a more comprehensive assessment of the forces that spurred the growth of homelessness.)

The public largely believed that public housing had the issue of family housing covered, a myth then as it is today. Restrictions on who could live in public housing—barring the father of the children in many cases—kept families trapped in poverty, with the paltry amounts of welfare assistance, work requirements, and scarce childcare options making it almost impossible for mothers to escape destitution.

Subsidized housing for families then and now has been woefully inadequate. By ignoring the basic needs of families back in the 1980’s, one could rightly surmise that it would contribute to multi-generational poverty and homelessness. Yesterday’s onerous housing restrictions and scarcity morphed into today’s burgeoning family homelessness.

Other even more-ignored offshoots of our nation’s inadequate approach to developing a safety net for vulnerable populations include unaccompanied homeless youth.

Youth, on their own, trying to survive without adult guidance and support, are often a “by-product” of the struggles families endure. It’s a topic that deserves more than this book will be able to cover.

In addition to unaccompanied youth, LGBQTIA+, other marginalized groups: Native Americans, Latinx, and immigrants from around the world, struggle to attain life’s essentials, and too often end up in homelessness situations. These links connect to helpful information, especially about access to school.

Homelessness Policy Ignores Families, Except…

The original McKinney Act was broad federal legislation passed in 1987 to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness. It encompassed shelters, health care, use of federal surplus property, mental health services, veterans, adult education and, almost as a second thought, education for children and youth.

Back then, the concept of providing safe emergency shelter for families and youth who were homeless barely crossed the minds of policymakers and social service agencies.

Ensuring educational access and stability for students in homeless situations was the last thing on their minds.

The McKinney legislation, originally named after Connecticut Congressman Stewart McKinney (1931-1987), a strong proponent of programs to assist homeless people, was renamed “McKinney-Vento Act” (MVA) after the 1990 death of Minnesota Congressman Bruce Vento, another leading supporter of these legislative initiatives.

Their work paved the way for our effort to remove barriers for students experiencing homelessness which has taken decades, and still has room for improvement.

The minuscule segment of the overall MVA legislation addressing elementary and high school education was named the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act (EHCYA). This legislation has since undergone several iterations, ostensibly improving the definition of student homelessness, which includes:

“Substandard” is the most misunderstood piece. Included can be inconsistent electricity/heat/water, dangerous flooring, mold, vermin, broken windows, etc.

To those familiar with family homelessness, these circumstances are commonly understood. But even now, too many people, including school administrators, don’t understand the many forms that homelessness can take, causing confusion and suffering when students are denied access to education because of their circumstances. Even some families don’t realize that their circumstances are considered “homeless.”

The improvements to EHCYA took decades and endless advocacy. The hallmark two-year campaign, Forget Me Not! Help Homeless Kids Blossom! (2000-’01), successfully pushed school doors open for these forgotten students. This massive national grassroots effort ended up with legislators and homeless students sitting at the same table in a Capitol hearing room discussing the need for stronger legislation to remove barriers to education for homeless students.

Congress amended the original McKinney-Vento education segment (EHCYA) in 2001 incorporating key elements from the Illinois (IL Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act, 1994). The federal EHCYA was again amended in 2015.

Today, this education of children and youth component (EHCYA) is popularly referred to as “McKinney-Vento,” as it will be throughout this book. This law applies to public school students, including those in charter schools, who have lost housing due to hardship.

Who Benefits From EHCYA?

The law applies to students under the care of parent/s or guardian/s, and youth on their own without adult supervision.

Although differences exist between families and unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness, EHCYA applies to both populations. The overlap with youth in foster care and migrants needs to be examined separately, beyond the purview of this book. This book will focus on families without housing unless otherwise noted.

In general, the law specifies that students who are homeless should be enrolled immediately, and be given support to succeed in school. (More details about the law may be found at NCHE.ed.gov.)

Sounds simple, right? It was and is anything but simple…

Backstory About McKinney-Vento Legislation

In 1993, after three children in Aurora, IL were denied the right to return to their school of origin (the school they attended before they became homeless) as specified by EHCYA, activists in that state embarked on getting a state law passed that filled in the many inadequacies of the federal legislation. (I was a significant part of that effort.) The Illinois Education for Homeless Children and Youth Act passed in 1994; the first state legislation to strengthen efforts to remove barriers common to students experiencing homelessness.

The Illinois legislation became the backbone for the reauthorization of the EHCYA in 2001.

Key elements of the Illinois law—immediate enrollment, transportation, educational stability throughout the length of homelessness (instead of just finishing the current school year), choice of between the school of origin or the nearest school, comparable services—bolstered the federal law. Theoretically, access to education became significantly improved. In reality, those improvements remain inconsistent for a number of reasons.

Today’s Family Homelessness Options

Family homelessness today has several iterations. This is a very brief description.

A mere 11% of families stay in shelters. By HUD’s 2024 estimate, approximately 150,000 children are homeless, a vast undercount, but reflective of a one-year 39% increase in the number of homeless families, and it does not include those doubled up or in motels. Many communities don’t have family shelters. Existing shelters cannot begin to meet the need and struggle to keep their doors open.

Often,  when a family first loses housing, they move in with family members, friends, or even bare acquaintances, and bounce between those options.

That arrangement, tentative as it is, is known as “doubled up” or “couch surfing.”

While theoretically better than living on the streets, families face arduous challenges navigating life under someone else’s roof, from common “roommate” issues to sexual abuse. The host family may inadvertently endanger their lease by taking in another family. Guests have no legal standing if something goes awry. Nor does the host family. The likelihood of the displaced family getting any public assistance is slim to none.

Families may turn to local motels, hotels, and/or extended stay inns which don’t require security deposits or applications. These expensive options might be temporary, as resources dwindle, or longer term if a family has income. It’s far from it ideal. The expense is burdensome. Unbeknownst to most families, if they’re paying for their room out of pocket, they are ineligible for HUD-funded housing assistance because they are not considered homeless.

Motel/hotel issues include:

• Overcrowding – parents and children living in one room – leads to increased stress.
• Nutrition is impossible with lack of facilities for food preparation and storage.
• Nefarious “neighbors” can cause dangerous conditions for adults and children.
• Lodging that caters to local events can raise room rates excessively.
• Uncertain income causes frequent moves.
• Low-budget hotels generally lack cleaning services, often poorly maintained, with mold and other hazards.
• It’s impossible to save money to move into more stable housing.

Nontraditional options are becoming more common as housing costs skyrocket.

Living in vehicles has increased. Typically, this is not an authorized form of “housing,” forcing the family to stealth park with challenges for hygiene needs, meals, storage of belongings, cost of operating the vehicle, safety, lack of comfort, logistics of connecting with school transportation, mail, and even the judgment of neighbors.

“Camping” is an option parents turn to, even in areas where weather becomes life-threatening. They may find an authorized campground for tents or recreational vehicles that would include access to hygiene facilities. Or not. The uptick of families camping in backyards, in wooded areas behind big box stores, or in outlying areas where no services exist increases challenges for schools to identify and educate these nomadic students.

Families also turn to storage units, backyard sheds, unfinished basements, garages, abandoned buildings, and hospital emergency rooms.

None of these arrangements are stable, adequate, safe, or appropriate, making it impossible for children to get decent rest, complete homework, enjoy nutritious meals, much less to experience childhood in a nurturing way. Additionally, all of these circumstances create stressful conditions for children and parents.

Parents, in addition to the pressure navigating night-to-night sleeping arrangements, must figure out childcare arrangements to be able to go to work and much more.

Despite all of these daunting challenges, the kids—well, they’re expected to get an education. How does that work?

General Traits of Homeless Families

It’s risky to offer generalizations about a group of people. Portraying the spectrum of families experiencing homelessness is an impossible task, and would do an injustice to those inadequately described or omitted.

From my decades of working with and getting to know families in various homeless situations, I can cautiously offer a few observations. This is done with the deepest respect for the families, and knowing I cannot possibly adequately convey their circumstances.

Caring – I have yet to meet parents who don’t exhibit care for their children. Imagine, though, feeling the parental bond but being unable to meet the children’s needs.

Troubled – None of us can escape the consequences of our upbringing. None of us is perfect. Those mired in homelessness don’t have the luxury of hiding behind the walls of their home. Adults and kids will exhibit inappropriate, unregulated, or disturbing behaviors. Our response to these behaviors can make things better or worse.

Quagmired – The nature of homelessness is being stuck, often in ways that cannot be described or even grasped by those in that situation much less bystanders. The daunting number of hurdles someone has to overcome to return to self-sufficiency varies, and resources are lacking.

Impaired – Rarely are people in this situation hale and hearty. Nor do they have access to health care, nutritional foods, adequate rest, or any of the other things that foster clear thinking and appropriate responses to horrendous crises. Toss in the responsibilities for children, who pick up on their parents’ state of mind, and it’s a stress creator.

Income-challenged – Money, or the lack of it, is a big factor in homelessness. You can’t escape homelessness without funds. Bad credit, ruthless creditors, extortion, and countless other financial challenges become massive barriers to housing.

Invisible – In all the years I’ve worked in homelessness, one question continues to come up by just about everyone—elected officials, public safety workers, health care professionals, and the general public. “Do we have homeless families?”  I could continue ad nauseam.

It’s a good thing that many families somehow manage to be resilient and resourceful. Their scrappy survival skills sometimes get them through when the system fails. It’s a good thing…

Whatever “mistakes” people make, when they are burdened by the above attributes, their mistakes become immensely worse. From my experiences and observations, the toll, on parents and kids, can be devastating. Resources barely exist, if any, to shorten or ease this dreadful condition. Empathy can be in short supply, too, which adds to the struggles. Being invisible sure doesn’t help. It’s significantly easier to become homeless than escape it.

Other general traits and considerations: 

• Black families experience homelessness at a higher rate than white families. And, if you’re already in a marginalized population—Black, indigenous, LGBTQIA+—escaping homelessness becomes immensely harder.
• Many parents have experienced homelessness as children, though they may not grasp that their family’s loss of housing and bouncing around was actually homelessness.
• If parents had negative experiences as students, they may exhibit fear of and/or mistrust of school officials. Their children pick up on that.
• Parents may blame themselves for their family’s situation, feeling shame. This is definitely not their best moment.
• Easing their anxiety and encouraging them to hang in will go a long way to improving their family’s attitude toward school. Connecting them with a helpful district homeless liaison will work wonders!

Unnoticed But Vital: Grandparents

The phrase “right under my nose” can apply to where to find children experiencing homelessness. One of those places is grandparents. Quietly, with little notice, grandkids end up staying with grandparents when families lose housing.

On a systemic level, it would be shocking to learn the extent of grandparents stepping in to provide housing for their grandkids, with or without parents being around. While it seems to be an acceptable solution to a need when the child loses housing, it can be problematic.

These arrangements typically are made without adequate preparation. The grandparents may be living in a place with restrictions on how long guests can stay. It may cause extreme economic sacrifices to push the grandparents closer to poverty.

The children’s schools may not know of the family’s arrangement leading to lack of communication that can be detrimental, and the grandparent may not be familiar with school policies and practices. Custody issues may arise, with legal forms to access emergency medical care and other concerns needing to be addressed.

Eligibility would bring school transportation assistance, free lunch, fee waivers, and more. It also can mean school stability, so the child does not need to change schools and enroll near the grandparents.

But grandparents often don’t know of this program. They may fear that informing the school of the shift in address would bring in child welfare authorities.

These arrangements typically are made without adequate preparation. The grandparents may be living in a place with restrictions on how long guests can stay.

It may cause extreme economic sacrifices that will push the grandparents closer to poverty.

The children’s schools may not know of the family’s arrangement leading to lack of communication that can be detrimental, and the grandparent may not be familiar with school policies and practices.

Custody issues may arise, with legal forms to access emergency medical care and other concerns needing to be addressed. When adult children return home or drop off their children unexpectedly, grandparents can undergo tremendous stress.

Local supportive responses to grandparents providing emergency housing for their grandchildren will go a long way to “making bad a little better”, including:

• Raising awareness of how this arrangement could be considered McKinney-Vento eligible will be immensely helpful for the grandparents, the students, and the school.
• Letting these senior caretakers know of available resources may ease a financial burden.
• Developing resources targeted at this population will go a long way in protecting this solution to the children’s housing needs.
• Removing the cause for secrecy will reduce the shame and tension for both the grandparent and their charges.
• Making local agencies working with seniors aware of the extent of grandparents caring for their homeless grandkids.

Many agencies are likely are unaware of the McKinney-Vento provisions. This would be a perfect topic for presentations to the senior population, and it might foster greater awareness of the extent of family homelessness that will probably shock this generation.

The awareness could lead to an effort to ease the burden on the caretakers.

It’s a shame that grandparents, when they reach the point to sit back and enjoy life, get pulled into such a demanding position of caring for their beloved grandkids.

Sure, most will willingly accept this task, but easing their burden would be worthwhile.

HEAR US Makes Bad a Little Better

Homelessness is depressing—to write about, to read about, and certainly to experience, especially when kids are involved. But, despite the seemingly endless challenges, some people, schools, and organizations are doing things to “make bad a little better.”

In my years of shelter work, followed by my time helping educators better understand family homelessness and/or McKinney-Vento’s requirements, and listening to families share about the importance of school stability, common ground exists—education is the way out of homelessness. Families shared their appreciation of education in every interview I did. School personnel also validated the benefits of education. So, I asked myself, what more could I do to help remove barriers to education still existing today despite the law we got passed?

Among my efforts:

The HEAR US book, The Three Melissas – The Practical Guide to Surviving Family Homelessness, published in September 2024, has begun to catch on as both a tool for parents and for those working with families in homeless situations. Think about it. How many guidebooks have you seen to help parents cope with homelessness?

The Three Melissas have helped promote the book in their areas and have done presentations and even a Zoom book talk.

These three dynamic women didn’t know each other before this project, but instantly bonded and have continued to enjoy their friendship.

They relish the opportunity to have a positive impact on both the families who read the book and the school and agency personnel who work with the families. My co-author, Diana Bowman, and I agreed that proceeds from the book sales would go to the Melissas.

An offshoot project HEAR US created is Mamas and Mayors — A New Day Dawning. Using a simple, flexible protocol, this effort involves a mother meeting with her mayor to discuss the form of homelessness most mayors are unfamiliar with—family homelessness.

Their one-on-one conversation offers the chance for the mama to be heard and the mayor to ask questions to gain a level of enlightenment otherwise unlikely. With most mayors bogged down with challenging issues of homelessness involving single adults, they rarely consider the mamas and their families. Contact me at HEAR US for more info.

The Charlie Book: 60 Ways to Help Homeless Kids, offers a variety of ways for people of all ages and resources to get involved to help kids in homeless situations.

It’s 24 pages of suggestions from simple to more complex, compiled by those with plenty of know-how working with families experiencing homelessness. HEAR US Inc. published and distributes the book. It’s also available as an e-book through Amazon.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting people involved in helping to move them from not knowing about a situation to feeling like they are able to make a difference!

Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting people involved in helping to move them from not knowing about a situation to feeling like they are able to make a difference!

HEAR US offers other books covering the topic of family homelessness, from children’s books to college textbooks.

My (mostly) monthly posts on Medium also focus on this little-understood topic of family homelessness.

Developing Support Beyond School Doors

Schools do not operate in isolation. Effective, vibrant school communities are intertwined with their greater communities, sharing resources, interacting, and encouraging responses to the needs of families experiencing homelessness.

Agencies focused on families’ wellbeing tend to have strong connections with local schools. Or they should. From experience, it’s not a given.

It’s a good place to start when improving conditions for homeless families is the goal.

School personnel can set up an introductory session with the related agencies for the purpose of better serving needs of families experiencing homelessness.

Depending on the knowledge base of community agencies, it’s good to have McKinney-Vento information available.

The previously mentioned films, books, and online materials will make that easy.

Even after all the years that the education definition has been in place, old habits are hard to break. Stereotypes are ingrained and family homelessness will come as a surprise even to some enlightened people.

Get started!

Since the onset of McKinney-Vento EHCYA, good programs have evolved, a result of dedicated efforts of educators, agency staff, volunteers, and elected officials. Ideally, you’ll be able to convene a group to focus on this issue. Depending on your community’s makeup—urban, rural, suburban—here are a few suggestions for this new committee to get things started:

• Survey your community’s existing resources. Include early-childhood programs, mental health providers, law enforcement, public safety groups, etc.
• Have committee members speak with these local programs to determine facts—who they serve, qualifications and restrictions, length of assistance provided, waiting list length, etc.
• Clear up the confusion caused by misinformation.
• Develop communication networks.
• Share the information with your district personnel.
• Convene the expanded network of resources.

Who needs to be in the network?

Include agencies, service providers, and other groups who might come in contact with families experiencing homelessness or those at-risk. Hospitals, libraries, and other public entities where families may hang out should be on your list. Emergency responders are often overlooked, but they’re the ones who contact a family in crisis.

Bring them together! Brainstorm to determine what everyone sees as issues facing families, and what resources agencies offer. Identifying barriers, constant problems, little-known resources, and other related topics highlight where improvements can be made.

The Three Melissas book comes in handy for uncovering concerns school staff and agency personnel may overlook. Ideally, a local parent with lived-experience should be part of these discussions.

And representatives from local government bodies would be helpful to bring in as time goes on.

A few words of caution… 

Family homelessness is considered an anomaly. Agency staff don’t know where to look to find families. Relying on HUD-funded agencies (shelters), with their limited definition of homelessness, will yield inadequate results.

Compare school poverty statistics with the identified number of students experiencing homelessness. If the numbers don’t sync, dig deeper.

Doubled-up, the most common form of family homelessness, is harder to determine, but using the proper tools and having staff trained to recognize clues will help identify more families. Building trust with families, when they realize people are trying to help, will go a long way.

Look Upstream

“Solving” homelessness isn’t a simple, one-size-fits-all task. Federal and state resources and policies to support families are essential.

A more comprehensive understanding of the variations of homelessness is vital.

And more proactive approaches in dealing with family homelessness would significantly reduce the number of adults hitting our nation’s streets.

The homelessness pipeline, based on research over the past decade or so, points to the connection between homelessness experiences during infancy, childhood, and adulthood.

The likelihood of becoming homeless as an adult increases for those who were homeless when they were young. This gives ample reason to put more effort into preventing family homelessness.

Systemic failures

Consider what might happen if periods and episodes of trauma-inducing turmoil were greatly reduced, and supports were available.

It’s easy to blame the parents for the circumstances that caused their homelessness, but let’s step back and look at some systemic causes:

• Poverty – low wages, inadequate family supports, soaring energy costs, inaccessible legal services, and much more.
• Affordable housing shortages – subsidized housing has been given a bad rap with funding has been slashed, coinciding with skyrocketing homelessness. Market rents are spiraling out of control.
• Childcare – parents can’t afford the expense of having a safe place for children to be while working. The lack of accessible and affordable childcare is a factor in many communities.
• Health care – for those homeless or not, access to health care is increasingly more difficult. Health issues for children and adults impact productivity.
• Immigration policies – a vast level of improvement is needed to erase the injustices in our nation’s immigration practices.

Housing, nutrition, health services, education/training, childcare, all contribute to physical and mental wellbeing.

When families cannot access what they need to survive, much less thrive, they plummet deep into homelessness, and may never escape it. Children feel the impact of poverty more than we realize, or acknowledge, a serious oversight.

Until these systemic causes are addressed, family homelessness will continue to escalate. Steps to ease suffering will at least alleviate resolvable conditions. Kids may get lucky. They may stumble upon mentors. They may dig deep within their reservoir of personal stamina and find their way out of the swamp of precarity. They may be determined enough to avoid the pitfalls seen in their peers. They may realize that they can lead others out of this morass.

Escaping homelessness shouldn’t rely on luck and chance.

Making Bad a Little Better is available on bookshop.org. Diane Nilan can be reached at dianehearus@gmail.com. 

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