Children and adolescents living without a permanent residence, with or without parent or guardian.

Homeless children face a daunting range of problems. A 1992 U.S. Department of Education report, Serving Homeless Children, stated: "...homeless children may have special social and emotional needs resulting from a destabilized, disrupted, or confused family life. These needs may be amplified in situations where homeless children are ridiculed and stigmatized at school."

Researchers have noted a range of problems among the population of homeless children, including:

• physical problems: hunger and poor nutrition; lack of or inadequate access to medical and dental care; lack of or inadequate immunization, leading to susceptibility to disease; lack of or inadequate hygiene; lack of or inadequate sleep; and susceptibility to illness and infection.
• behavior problems: antisocial behavior, disruptive behavior, and inadequate social skills such as the inability to share and the tendency to develop inappropriate relationships...