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News Tip: Expert Can Comment on Record-High Child Homelessness Rates

Such high rates likely to have 'serious repercussions for children,' says Anna Gassman-Pines

A new report from the National Center on Family Homelessness finds that 2.5 million U.S. children are homeless, an all-time high. Child homelessness increased in 31 states and the District of Columbia, and the situation is particularly dire in Alabama, Mississippi and California, which had the worst rates of child homelessness, the study found. The report includes rankings for all 50 states. Minnesota, Nebraska and Massachusetts fared the best.•    Quote: “Instability is not good for children’s development, and homelessness is a severe form of instability,” says Anna Gassman-Pines, an assistant professor of public policy and neuroscience at Duke University. “Such high rates of homelessness are likely to have serious repercussions for children, including behavior problems, difficulties in school and more.” •    Bio: Gassman-Pines is an assistant professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and a faculty fellow at the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy. A developmental psychologist, Gassman-Pines studies how poverty and inequality influence child development. http://fds.duke.edu/db/Sanford/ccfp/agassman.pines•    For additional comment, contact Anna Gassman-Pines at:agassman.pines@duke.edu