Homeless Mothers and Children: Crushing Impacts, Comprehensive Solutions

Pregnancy and parenting are challenging. We stress over prenatal nutrition, our children’s health and safety, balancing a job with caregiving, and so much more. Imagine navigating all of this while homeless.

Not having a place to call home has profound health and mental health consequences for both mothers and young children. Homeless mothers experience “disproportionately high rates of major depressive disorder compared with the general population,” while “young children who experience housing deprivation are exposed to a form of toxic stress that occurs at a critical moment of development, contributing to a variety of long-term health consequences.” With over 1,200,000 women and 450,000 infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness in this country, “Providing access to housing, as well as early childhood development services and other supports, should be a critical priority,” says Erin Patterson, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, SchoolHouse Connection.

The Causes

Homelessness among mothers and young children is rooted in structural and individual risk factors. Young people without a high school diploma/GED are 3.5 to 4.5 times more likely to experience homelessness. And, as Chapin Hall, University of Chicago reports, 44 percent of females ages 18 to 25 experiencing homelessness are pregnant or parenting.

Systemic issues, like unaffordable housing, and domestic violence also drive family homelessness. In fact, over 92 percent of mothers who are homeless have experienced severe physical and/or sexual abuse during their lifetime. And they are twice as likely to experience depression, three times as likely to experience PTSD, and 2.5 times more likely to be substance dependent than securely housed mothers.

Behind the Numbers: Cynthia Garcia’s Story

At the BUILD 2025 National Conference, in a session entitled, Homelessness Among Infants and Toddlers: A Cross-Sector Policy and Practice Initiative, Cynthia Garcia spoke about going from being “raped and molested for eight years, from the age of five to 13,” to experiencing violence at the hands of her husband, to abusing drugs and alcohol, to being suicidal.

At one point in her journey, she qualified for a housing voucher but was told she earned too much to also receive food assistance. She was offered a bed in a shelter instead. But the shelter system is not designed for women with children, especially babies (for example, there are no refrigerators in shelters, which means women can’t store breast milk). After ”jumping back and forth” among friends’ homes, Cynthia eventually found herself living with her infant son in her car, filling water bottles in a park bathroom at dawn to bathe both her child and herself.

With no permanent address, she was ineligible for the mental health and other supports she needed. The very instability that made services most urgent also kept them out of reach.

Improve Cross-Systems Partnerships

Our fragmented health and social services systems place a heavy burden on women experiencing homelessness, as they are left on their own to navigate complex, disconnected, and discriminatory pathways. These systems should be guided by a “no wrong door” policy so that women can access services through any entry point, regardless of where they first seek help. Niña Abonal, Project SOAR Program Director, says that:

We have to meet these mothers where they are, before they are in crisis. This means minimizing barriers and improving coordination through cross-sector partnerships and warm handoffs and ensuring that families get what they need when they need it. This can be accomplished through, for example, intake forms at pediatrician offices and hospitals checking in with women giving birth, asking, ‘Do you have a safe place to stay? Did you have enough food to eat this month? Were you having trouble affording any basic necessities?’ And then connecting them and making sure they have the information they need.

 

Communities Providing Solutions

Communities stepping in to address the needs of mothers and babies experiencing homelessness recognize that a multi-faceted problem demands a comprehensive solution:

Healthy Beginnings at Home, in four Ohio cities, is cited in policy discussions as a proven model that improves maternal and infant outcomes through stable housing. It offers a comprehensive combination of housing support and wraparound services, and is designed to help pregnant women achieve stability, access essential care, and build a healthier future for themselves and their babies.

Our House, in Atlanta, Georgia, provides a pathway to stability and independence for families experiencing homelessness through access to health care, early childhood education, housing, and employment. Their interrelated programs address the root causes of homelessness and ensure every family that leaves Our House has the tools needed to achieve lasting self-sufficiency.

Infant House, in Spokane, Washington, was created by Family Promise in response to a huge increase in their community of the number of expectant mothers experiencing homelessness, many of whom also have addiction challenges. A transitional shelter designed specifically for families with newborns, it provides intensive case management and connects families with local resources for addiction treatment.

New Moms, in Austin and Oak Park, Chicago, partners with young mothers as they progress toward housing stability. They provide housing, paid job training, and family support for young mothers and their children.

These models share key elements: stable housing, tailored supports for mothers and babies, and cross-sector coordination that reduces the burden on families.

A Holistic Strategy is Proven – and Needed

Cynthia has found her way forward. Five years after applying for public housing in California, she was offered an apartment where she and her son, now 13, have lived for the past seven years. With the support of Project SOAR Education Navigators, who connect the state’s public housing residents to essential resources, she is attending a community college and pursuing her dream career.

Her apartment, she said, “has been my stable home for the very first time in my life, where I have been able to get mental health services, the healing…more than anything…that safe space, that peace that I’ve never had ever. I feel that if I had had the proper mental health stability, I would have moved forward sooner.” Cynthia – and the many other women like her – deserve the opportunities that are proven to help them care for their babies and forge ahead in their lives. It’s up to policymakers and advocates to ensure they have them, not just in individual communities and states, but across the country.