Evidence Matters Features the Impact of Housing and Neighborhood on Children

Evidence Matters Features the Impact of Housing and Neighborhood on Children

The fall 2014 issue of Evidence Matters: Transforming Knowledge Into Housing and Community Development Policy, focusing on the effects of housing and neighborhood on children's life outcomes, is now available. The issue surveys the state of the evidence concerning the connections between various housing and neighborhood characteristics and a range of outcomes including physical and mental health, emotional welfare, educational achievement, and economic opportunity. It examines research on a prominent place-based initiative to improve conditions for children living in low-income communities and profiles a number of organizations working to promote healthy homes and housing stability for children.

Key Findings

• Evidence shows that poor housing quality is strongly predictive of emotional and behavioral problems. Lead-based paint, mold and moisture problems, and pest infestations are among the physical housing conditions that threaten children's well-being.
• Research on the effects of neighborhood characteristics suggests that neighborhood contexts shape children's outcomes and opportunities, although it has been difficult to distinguish clear causal factors among the many neighborhood, family, and individual variables involved.
• The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative is a place-based intervention targeting low-income communities. A study of children in Making Connections neighborhoods finds the greatest school quality improvements for students who changed school districts, supporting previous research that found school mobility can improve educational outcomes when it leads students to higher-performing schools.
• Local organizations can increase their capacity to protect children from threats posed by unhealthy homes and housing instability through collaboration with other service providers, academics, and local and federal government partners.