April 2024Vol. 25, No. 3Home Visiting to Support Unhoused Families
Housing instability affects many families struggling with high housing and rental costs. Despite the prevalence of housing instability, unhoused families face challenges accessing health care, child care, food assistance, and other government programs that require fixed addresses.
In recognition of this issue, the National Home Visiting Resource Center released a brief titled Home Visiting as Part of a Holistic Approach to Supporting Unhoused Families. The brief explores three programs (New Moms, Lydia Place, and Reach Dane) and one state (Minnesota) that use home visiting as a support for unhoused families. It provides an overview of each program, its goals and purposes, notable details, accomplishments, upcoming activities, and more.
New Moms is a housing program in Chicago, IL, that matches families with a housing coach who helps families set and achieve goals related to housing stability, economic stability, and family well-being. Lydia Place is a program in Washington that uses a preventive, holistic approach to address adverse childhood experiences and build on parenting strengths. Reach Dane is a nonprofit organization in Madison, WI, that partners with Early Head Start to provide home visiting in neighborhoods determined to be in need of early childhood support, including resources to help with education, employment, housing, and mental health services. The brief’s statewide look at Minnesota outlines how the Minnesota Department of Health partners with the sovereign Ojibwe Nations, Indigenous-led nonprofits, and other specialized nonprofits to provide home visiting services to unhoused children and families.
More information is available in the brief and its companion video, "Building on Strengths: Reaching Unhoused Families With Home Visiting Parent Support Programs."