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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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Connect with websites that can build your knowledge and support your work.

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

Minnesota Parents Know/Help Me Grow
Referral program available to parents and providers who have a concern about  a child’s development.

Zero to Three
Informs, trains, and supports professionals, policymakers, and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers.

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

Research
Research and Discovery

The principle of research and discovery is The Visible Child's community-driven approach to research. The fundamental purpose of this approach is to capture the perceptions of the practitioners and those whom they serve as “practice-based evidence” within the context of the best “evidence-based research”. The voices of those who have experienced homelessness are combined with those of professionals in the field in order to understand homelessness and find evidence-based ways to mitigate the trauma caused by homelessness on families and their children.

Research and discovery assist us to better understand the direct and underlying causes of family homelessness and identify promising practices to provide children with the developmental and academic foundation they need to achieve success throughout their lives.

The unique partnership between the Family Housing Fund and the Supportive Housing Provider Group, supplemented with resources from the University of Minnesota, offered a forum to problem solve, learn, and respond together. The Family Housing Fund supplied the resources, including coordination support; the Provider Group provided the data, practical wisdom of serving families, and collective staff support. Solutions were explored, tested, documented, and shared.

The The Visible Child Initiative will continue to bridge the gap, of as much as 15 years, between the publication of research and its impact on practice by making information on the impact of homelessness on children useful and accessible to all stakeholders.