Preschool | Early Childhood

NCHE Resources

Early Care and Education for Young Children Experiencing Homelessness

Given the detrimental effects on development caused by homelessness, young homeless children benefit from receiving quality early care and education services; yet, many barriers limit homeless children’s access to these services. This NCHE brief provides information and suggests best practices to facilitate collaboration between schools, service provider agencies, and early childhood programs, and to increase the enrollment of and provision of services to families with young children experiencing homelessness.
Go to Early Care and Education for Young Children Experiencing Homelessness.

Supporting Young Children Experiencing Homelessness: Spotlight on State Coordination for Early Childhood Education

This brief is an extension of the Early Care and Education for Young Children Experiencing Homelessness brief. It spotlights state coordination for early childhood education of young children experiencing homelessness.
Go to Supporting Young Children Experiencing Homelessness: Spotlight on State Coordination for Early Childhood Education.

Other Resources

Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive!

Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive! is a coordinated federal initiative to encourage healthy child development, universal developmental and behavioral screening for children, and support for families and providers caring for young children. The initiative consolidates materials from a wide array of federal agencies and non-federal partners, and includes tools designed specifically for a variety of audiences, including housing and homeless shelter providers.
Visit the Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive! website.

Early Childhood Homelessness State Profiles

This 2020 report from the U.S. Department of Education compiles data from multiple sources from the 2017-18 school year to provide information on the extent of early childhood homelessness and the availability of federally-funded early childhood education for young children experiencing homelessness across the United States.
Download Early Childhood Homelessness State Profiles. (2021)
Download Early Childhood Homelessness State Profiles. (2020)
Download Early Childhood Homelessness State Profiles 2019. (June 2019)
Download Early Childhood Homelessness State Profiles 2018. (December 2018)

Early Childhood Self-Assessment Tool for Family Shelters

This tool from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is designed to help shelter staff members create shelter environments that are safe and developmentally appropriate for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The tool provides recommendations and information on how shelter environments, programming, policies, and staff can support early childhood safety and development.
Download the Early Childhood Self-Assessment Tool for Family Shelters.

Early Childhood Self-Assessment Tool for Family Supportive Housing

This tool, developed collaboratively by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Corporation for Supportive Housing, is designed to help supportive services and property management staff create environments and supportive services that are safe and developmentally appropriate for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The tool includes recommendations and information on how the physical spaces, programming, supportive services, policies and procedures, and staff can support early childhood safety and development.
Download the Early Childhood Self-Assessment Tool for Family Supportive Housing.

Early Education Home Visiting: Supporting Children Experiencing Homelessness

This brief from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) discusses the benefits of early education home visiting programs for support families experiencing homelessness and offers several suggested models for implementing this type of program.
Download Early Education Home Visiting: Supporting Children Experiencing Homelessness.

Helping Young Children Grow and Learn: A Guide for Families and Shelter Providers

This guide from Project HOPE will help parents and shelter providers support children’s early learning. Goals of the booklet include helping those working with young children to use everyday activities to encourage learning and growth, notice any concerns in a child’s development, and locate resources for more information about early development.
Download Helping Young Children Grow and Learn: A Guide for Families and Shelter Providers.

Meeting the Child Care Needs of Homeless Families: How Do States Stack Up?

This report from the Institute for Children, Poverty, & Homelessness (ICPH) explores the extent to which child care assistance for low-income families provided through the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is meeting the needs of homeless families with young children. The report examines each state’s CCDF plan for federal Fiscal Years 2014-15 and analyzes the state’s approach to serving young homeless children under that plan in key areas related to barriers and challenges faced by homeless families.

Download Meeting the Child Care Needs of Homeless Families: How Do States Stack Up?.

Resources for Young Parents and Children Experiencing Homelessness

This youth.gov webpage gives practitioners, policymakers, and young parents access to resources about programs, guidance, practices, and supports available to young homeless parents and their children, including resources on parenting supports, such as fact sheets for parents and providers and a review of relevant home visiting research; resources related to mental health and substance use issues, ranging from evidence-based practices to fact sheets on Medicaid eligibility for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness; and webinars on topics such as engaging young fathers, integrating early childhood home visiting and homelessness systems, and access to health care for pregnant and parenting youth.

Visit the Resources for Young Parents and Children Experiencing Homelessness webpage.

State Early Childhood Profiles: Improving the Odds for Young Children

These state profiles from the National Center for Children in Poverty provide a unique picture of the policy choices states make to promote healthy development and school readiness. It reviews policies that promote healthy development, high-quality early care and education, and effective parenting for young children.

Visit the State Early Childhood Profiles: Improving the Odds for Young Children webpage.

Supporting Children and Families Experiencing Homelessness

This interactive learning series from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is intended for professionals in Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care, including early childhood and school-age child care providers, CCDF Lead Agency or designated entity staff, and other key stakeholders. Learn how to identify families experiencing homelessness, conduct community outreach, and much more.
Visit the Supporting Children and Families Experiencing Homelessness learning module webpage.

Strengthening At Risk and Homeless Young Mothers and Children

Funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Strengthening At Risk and Homeless Young Mothers and Children is under the guidance of a Coordinating Center consisting of American Institutes for Research (AIR), the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) and ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families(ZTT). The Initiative seeks to improve the housing, health, and development of homeless and at-risk mothers and children, and provides valuable resources to assist other groups addressing similar issues on its website.
Visit the Strengthening At Risk and Homeless Young Mothers and Children webpage.

Using the Best That We Know: Supporting Young Children Experiencing Homelessness

This publication, developed by Project HOPE, explores the effects of homelessness on preschool-aged children and discusses best practices in early intervention for young children experiencing homelessness.
Download Using the Best That We Know: Supporting Young Children Experiencing Homelessness.

Well-being of Young Children after Experiencing Homelessness

This research brief from the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services examines the well-being of young children 20 months after staying in emergency homeless shelters with their families. Using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Family Options Study, the brief explores young children’s pre-reading skills, pre-math skills, developmental delays, and behavior challenges. It also examines housing instability, child care instability, and enrollment in center-based care and Head Start, and associations between housing and child care stability and child well-being.

Download Well-being of Young Children after Experiencing Homelessness.

Sample Forms, Materials, and Policies

ESSA Title I, Part A and Head Start Act: LEA (Local Education Agency)/Head Start Coordination Guidance

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act) and the Head Start Act, require LEAs receiving Title I funds and Head Start programs, respectively, to coordinate both with each other and other early childhood providers. This guidance from North Carolina provides a framework for developing formal memoranda of understanding (MOUs) for coordination across local programs, and may be adapted by other states to develop their own guidance.
Download ESSA Title I, Part A and Head Start Act: LEA (Local Education Agency)/Head Start Coordination Guidance.

Georgia Memorandum of Agreement

This memorandum of agreement between the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Head Start Association outlines how local Head Start and Early Head Start Programs will collaborate with the State Coordinator for Homeless Education and local homeless education liaisons to serve young homeless children more effectively in early care and education settings.
Download the Georgia Memorandum of Agreement.