CHAMPIONS Project Policy Brief in partnership with the Childhood Trust: Developing a roadmap to give children experiencing homelessness a better future: Preventing the exacerbation of the impacts of COVID-19 on an already vulnerable population

Children living in temporary accommodation (TA) experience health and educational inequalities, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and could further impact their future prospects if we don’t act now. A generation of children in TA has been deeply affected by the pandemic with potential lifelong impacts. Urgent cross-sectoral action is needed to support this generation.
Furthermore, our research shows that children in TA were already behind their peers in terms of health and educational markers before COVID-19 due to systemic inequalities which still need to be tackled to prevent burdening further generations with homelessness and healthcare inequities.
The CHAMPIONS team, The Childhood Trust and Human Rights Watch have therefore worked together to produce evidence-based recommendations for policy-makers to ensure that children experiencing homelessness are given the best start in life. This generation of children should not be left behind as the nation moves on from the pandemic and onto battling the cost of living crisis, as the latter will only increase the number of children experiencing homelessness and the longevity of the issues they face.