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Minnesotans have a reputation of being tireless and effective advocates for all children. We are recognized for our willingness to speak up to insure that all children have a healthy start in life. No one needs this healthy start more than children who have been homeless. Watch Video

NEW 2009 Statewide Homeless Research This study from Wilder Research found more homelss children than ever, with half of homeless children age 5 or younger and racial and ethnic minorities disproportionately affected. Click here to read

The Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness has released Minnesota’s Roadmap for Ending Homelessness: a comprehensive set of strategies for maximizing and aligning future work on this initiative. Click here to view PDF

Homelessness and accompanying trauma can have a profound negative impact on all areas of a child's development.  Yet, children and youth continue to represent a growing population of the homeless.  To learn more, read Wilder Research 2009 Minnesota homeless fact sheet, Homeless Children in Minnesota and their Families.

 
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Minnesota Parents Know
Parenting information to parents about children newborn to adolescent.

Minnesota Parents Know/Help Me Grow
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Zero to Three
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Safe Start Center
Broaden the knowledge of and promote community investment in evidence-based strategies for reducing the impact of children's exposure to violence.

YouthLink                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Creates relationships with youth and the community, creating future opportunities of empowerment, self-sufficiency, and connectedness.

Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness
Research on family homelessness, data and ideas that will inform and enhance public policy on serving homeless families

About Us
The Visible Child Initiative

Public policy and service strategies developed over the past 25 years to address homelessness grew out of concern for a growing population of homeless adults. As our nation has recognized the increase in the number of homeless families, the adults in the household remain the primary focus, leaving children who are also traumatized by the conditions associated with homelessness often invisible.

In 2005, the Supportive Housing Provider Group, a group of 17 supportive housing organizations, and the Family Supportive Housing Center, LLC (a subsidiary of the Family Housing Fund, see www.fhfund.org) partnered with Dr. Abigail Gewirtz, a clinical psychologist and University of Minnesota researcher, on an assessment of the needs of 450 children living in supportive housing. The assessment revealed that risk factors for children living in supportive housing significantly escalated with age. In addition, the assessment identified a surprising lack of data on the needs of young children newborn to 4 years old. (See Psychosocial Status of Homeless Children in Supportive Housing under the Research and Discovery Tab).

The realities seen by the supportive housing providers, combined with knowledge gained from the 2005 assessment, led to the creation of The Visible Child Initiative. The Visible Child Initiative brings together research, practice, public policy, and community to elevate the needs of children who have experienced homelessness. The vision of The Visible Child Initiative is to implement a multi-faceted campaign to elevate an understanding of the needs and status of children who have experienced homelessness. The Visible Child Initiative will focus its resources to minimize the impact of homelessness by bridging research knowledge with strategic practice, policy, and community support for the healthy development of children who have experienced homelessness. Through a family-centered approach (see Family-Centered Supportive Housing under the Research and Discovery tab), we are committed to mitigating the potential for generational homelessness that happens when homeless children grow up to head our community’s future families.

Supportive housing offers an opportunity to leverage community resources to lessen the traumatic effects of homelessness and invest in children’s healthy development. The Visible Child will insure that support service staff in shelter and supportive housing have the best evidence-based research knowledge and tools available to support the social and emotional needs of children and influence positive parenting practices.

To learn more about The Visible Child Initiative, contact Sharon Henry-Blythe at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (612) 375-9644 ext. 19.