Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2011): Homelessness - overseas

Lessons learned from children who have experienced homelessness: what services need to know

T. Moore, M. McArthur and D. Noble-Carr

Children and Society, vol. 25, 2011, p. 115-126

Children who accompany their parents or guardians during a period of homelessness make up 37% of all people accessing the Australian Supported Accommodation Assistance Programme services. Despite this, there has been little attention paid to understanding how they experience homelessness or how they believe that they and their families could be better supported. This qualitative study identified a need for services to engage with children as individuals in their own right and to listen to and acknowledge their experiences. Children wanted services to know how they managed adversity and for this to be acknowledged.