Early Childhood Homelessness State Profiles

In January 2016, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released the first 50-state profile on Early Childhood Homelessness as part of an interagency collaboration with multiple departments and agencies participating on the early childhood workgroup of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). These include ACF and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The profile compiles data and information from multiple sources on young children who are experiencing homelessness.

Homelessness is a reality for many families with young children in the United States. In 2018, about a third of all people who stayed in a shelter were families with children, and nearly half of children served by HUD -funded emergency and transitional housing providers were age five or younger (HUD, 2019).