Our Housing Plan ‘Delivering Homes, Building Communities’ commits to the development of a Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan to strengthen the Government’s response to child and family homelessness. The Action Plan sets out a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to preventing children and families from entering homelessness, enhancing supports for those experiencing homelessness, and reducing the length of time families spend in emergency accommodation. It brings together actions across housing, health, education, and social services to improve outcomes for children and families at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.

Developed jointly by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach, the Plan contains 43 targeted actions aimed at strengthening prevention measures, improving service coordination, and supporting sustainable exits from homelessness for children and their families. While the Plan is intended to support all children and families at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness, it recognises that some groups face a heightened risk of housing insecurity and homelessness. These include:

• one-parent families;
• families affected by domestic, sexual and gender-based violence;
• migrant families, including those with International Protection status;
• families that include a person with a disability;
• Traveller and Roma families; and
• families experiencing persistent disadvantage, trauma or intergenerational poverty.

Document 2: The rapid evidence review synthesises the academic and policy evidence on child and family homelessness as a resource for the development of the Government’s Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan. It considers four questions: the consequences of homelessness for children and families; services and supports that can mitigate these consequences while families are living in emergency accommodation; policies that can prevent families from becoming homeless; and approaches that can support sustainable exits from emergency accommodation. The review prioritises Irish evidence while drawing on international research where appropriate.

Document 3: CRIA has four sections. The first considers the measure being proposed and whether a CRIA is required. The second describes the evidence gathered and groups consulted during the development of the Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan. The third assesses the impact that this measure might have on the rights of children and young people. And finally this CRIA describes how the impacts of the Action Plan will be measured, monitored and communicated to children and young people.