Families with Children

This report investigates the availability of data with which to construct a typology of homeless families with the hope that such a typology would foster a better understanding of these families' characteristics, service needs, interactions with human services systems, and the dynamics of their use of emergency shelter and other services and assistance.

Final Report Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Office of Human Services PolicyU.S. Department of Health and Human Services Fall 2007

Contents

Prepared for:U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation Office of Human Services Policy

By: Karin Martinson, John Trutko, Demetra Smith Nightingale, Pamela A. Holcomb, and Burt S. Barnow The Urban Institute(*)

Contents Strategic Action Plan Framework Each year, approximately one percent of the U.S. population, some 2-3 million individuals, experiences a night of homelessness that puts them in contact with a homeless assistance provider, and at least 800,000 people are homeless in the United States on any given night.

States increasingly are focusing on the TANF goals relating to promoting and supporting healthy marriage. To understand how state policies may affect marriage, it is useful to first examine the extent to which existing public assistance programs provide benefits to both married-parent and single-parent families.

This study examines eligibility and participation among married and single parents in TANF and Food Stamp Programs. Results show that even among eligible families below 200% of poverty, married parents are less likely to participate in TANF and Food Stamps compared to single parents.