Family Reunification

Family reunification refers to two distinct aspects of homelessness service provision:

  • Reuniting homeless youth with their family
  • Reuniting homeless parents with children who have are not currently in their care.

There are many considerations that need to be taken into account for either of these to occur. It is important that the safety of children and youth is paramount, however, numerous children are removed from families simply because parents lack the resources to provide stable housing and other necessities of life. Once those have been obtained family reunification should be high priority.

For youth who have left home voluntarily (or through lack of choice) it is important to take their experiences under advisement. Family reunification does not have to mean reuniting the family under one roof. Rather, families might engage in activities to build a trusting, familial bond with each other.

Also see Family Reconnection for more.