Homelessness in the United States: Implications for Critically Ill Children

Homelessness is a growing crisis in the United States (U.S.). Across the country, children represent a large proportion of the homeless population. When these children experience critical illness, it poses significant and specific burdens to the child and family, compounded by the social stressors inherent in being housing insecure. Yet research on homelessness in critically ill children remains limited. Here, we provide an overview of the current U.S. homeless population, discuss what is currently known about homelessness and critical illness to inform future research, and close with a proposed homelessness screening and intervention model for use in the pediatric intensive care unit that can further be applied to all pediatric inpatient settings.