Study finds significant number of kids experience family homelessness

Those from homeless families more likely to suffer mental health problems

Amy Albin | 7/27/2009 9:40:00 AM

A new multisite study by UCLA and RAND Corp. researchers and colleagues has found that 7 percent of fifth-graders and their families have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives and that the occurrence is even higher — 11 percent — for African American children and those from the poorest households.

The study also found that children who had experienced homelessness at some point during their lives were significantly more likely to have an emotional, behavioral or developmental problem; were more likely to have witnessed serious violence with a knife or a gun; and were more likely to have received mental health care.