Discuss the effect of homelessness on the lives of young people and evaluate how well current policy supports these children and their families.

Whether the child’s homeless condition is one where they are on the streets or in temporary or deficient housing, the effect of this homeless state causes many different degrees of retardation on the child’s development.
The effects of homelessness begin when the child’s family first begins to struggle with the payments on the family home. This could be a result of being unable to pay mortgage repayments, causing mortgage arrears and house repossessions; or unable to keep up with the rent payments. The child and the family lose their homes and a high percentage of these families are placed into temporary accommodation where there could be problems with overcrowding, lack of play area, cold and dampness and lack of a nutritious diet. Families can be moved several times causing the family and the child to become stress and anxious, the child feels uncertain about the future.
“The experience of homelessness can be broken down into three distinct phases: the initial loss or the ...