Homelessness is a devastating experience for children and their families. Families, the majority of whose members are children, now comprise more than one-third of the overall homeless population. Most of these children are less than six years old. Various assumptions have driven policy and the allocation of resources to programs serving these families. Although decades of research and field experience suggest strategies for preventing and reducing this problem, perspectives differ, hindering the development of effective solutions. In this article, we explore some of these assumptions, including (a) definitions of homelessness used to count the numbers of families and determine resource allocation, (b) the needs of children and responses to the impact of adverse childhood experiences, and (c) whether services matter and should be integrated with affordable housing. We conclude by suggesting various directions to ensure that these children are protected and have the opportunity to grow and thrive. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 41 is April 1, 2020. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

中文翻译：

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重置政策以消除家庭无家可归。

对儿童及其家庭而言，无家可归是一种毁灭性的经历。现在，大多数成员为子女的家庭占无家可归总人口的三分之一以上。这些孩子大多不到六岁。各种假设推动了为这些家庭提供服务的计划的政策和资源分配。尽管数十年的研究和现场经验提出了预防和减少此问题的策略，但观点各不相同，这阻碍了有效解决方案的开发。在本文中，我们探讨了其中的一些假设，包括（a）用于计算家庭数量和确定资源分配的无家可归的定义，（b）儿童的需求以及对不良童年经历的影响的应对措施，（c）服务是否重要，并应与经济适用房结合在一起。最后，我们提出了各种建议，以确保这些儿童受到保护并有成长和成长的机会。《公共卫生年度回顾》（第41卷）的预期最终在线发布日期为2020年4月1日。有关修订的估算，请参见http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates。