Partners of the Opportunity Starts at Home multisector affordable homes campaign published on June 30 a new peer-reviewed commentary in Academic Pediatrics that calls on pediatricians to advocate equitable affordable housing investments. Authored by NLIHC and Children’s HealthWatch, the article highlights decades of research demonstrating the importance of a safe, stable, affordable home as a foundation for health from the prenatal period and across the lifespan.
The authors examine four domains of housing critical to positive child health outcomes: quality, stability, affordability, and neighborhoods. They describe specific housing policies and practices to ensure all children live in homes that promote healthy growth and development. In particular, the authors recommend housing investments such as expanding Housing Choice Vouchers and the National Housing Trust Fund, as well as creation of a new permanent program that would offer short-term assistance to keep people stably housed during the current economic crisis.
As pediatricians, the Children’s HealthWatch authors see first-hand the connections between housing and health and are uniquely positioned to advocate housing policy solutions. “I know my patients need safe, affordable, stable homes to thrive,” said Megan Sandel, pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and co-lead principal investigator for Children’s HealthWatch. “The federal government is the only entity that can make housing for health available for everyone. We need strong, federal housing policies that ensure my patients and their families are able to achieve optimal health.”
Children’s HealthWatch is a nonpartisan network of pediatricians, public health researchers, and children’s health and policy experts. Children’s HealthWatch is also a founding partner and Steering Committee member of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign.
Click here to read a pre-proof version of the article.
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