Horizons for Homeless Children is the only organization in the Commonwealth dedicated exclusively to supporting and advocating for the needs of children and their families who are experiencing homelessness. Our Policy and Advocacy work expands our impact beyond our early learning classrooms and shelter-based programs to advance our vision of ending homelessness among families with young children.
Homelessness among families with young children is a policy choice. In Massachusetts, we have accepted family homelessness for far too long. Horizons for Homeless Children advocates for new policy directions that would end family homelessness in the Commonwealth.
Our advocacy work prioritizes legislation, appropriations, and regulatory changes that support the families we work within three major policy areas:
Housing Policy: We support policies that help prevent family homelessness from occurring, and then assist when families do experience bouts of homelessness.
Early Education and Care Policy: We are proponents of policies that help families afford quality care and those that adequately fund providers serving at-risk children.
Anti-Poverty and Income Security: We are committed to supporting policies that empower the families Horizons serves and those like them to meet their own basic needs and chart a path towards economic success.
Rising income and wealth inequality in Massachusetts underscore the need for the legislature to further invest in our most vulnerable communities. Horizons prioritizes policies that lift up families experiencing homelessness and hardship, with a specific focus on three areas: early education and care, housing supports, and income security. Such policies fall into two tiers based on their proximity to our families and expertise:
Tier 1: Bills focusing directly on issues of family homelessness or Horizons’ service delivery. Horizons supports these policies most actively and directly.
Tier 2: Bills on issues of housing, early education, or poverty that affect families facing housing instability. Horizons supports these policies in coalition with other organizations