The experience of homelessness is harmful to young children’s development and well-being. High-quality early care and education (ECE) can help mitigate harm and support young children so that they are healthy and enter school ready to learn. Yet states, communities and early care and education providers face many barriers to ensuring access to care for these young children, including identifying children who are experiencing homelessness. Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released two briefs on young children experiencing homelessness. The first brief “Identifying Children Experiencing Homelessness in Early Care and Education” is designed to help understand the challenges states and communities face using data and potential opportunities for strengthening data collected to estimate rates of early childhood homelessness and identify young children experiencing homelessness. The second brief “Facilitating Access to Early Care and Education for Children Experiencing Homelessness” discusses the barriers in accessing ECE among families experiencing homelessness and describes ways in which states and communities support the enrollment of children experiencing homelessness in ECE.
