Academic Risk and Resilience in the Context of Homelessness

Family homelessness in the United States has increased over the past two decades, raising concerns about associated risks for child development. In this article, we describe a translational research program focused on academic risk and resilience in homeless and highly mobile children. We find that although these children share many risk factors with other disadvantaged children, they are higher on an underlying continuum of risk. Additionally, marked variability has been observed among children who experience homelessness, both in risk level and achievement, with many children manifesting resilience. We discuss implications for research and efforts to address disparities in achievement.