‘My children just deteriorated when we became homeless’: The stolen lives of families in emergency accommodation

Catherine’s eldest child returned home from school one day, looking excited. He asked if he could have his friend over for a sleepover.

It broke her heart, she says, because it’s something they cannot do as they live in a homeless hub.

“He knows he’s homeless. When I was growing up, we would have had sleepovers and play dates and it’s sad to hear my son can’t,” says Catherine.* “They were only asking if we could get bunk beds in their own bedrooms so their friends can stay over. So I have promised them we can get bunk beds when we get a house.”

Catherine’s two children were taken into care in 2019 when she was battling a drug addiction. She has been sober and in recovery for five years and was reunited with her children in 2022. Six months after their reunification, they were rendered homeless as the landlord required the property for a family member.

Human rights body’s case around homeless male asylum seekers to proceed this month

---

Man seriously injured in suspected knife attack at homeless tents in Dublin city centre

---

Not ‘pinko do-gooders’ but helpers and supporters - how volunteers power the Society of St Vincent de Paul

---

They started living in emergency accommodation in September 2022, and since then there has been a noticeable change in her children, she says.

“Before they became homeless, they were in the local school. But with becoming homeless and the travelling, they just deteriorated. They were tired and couldn’t concentrate. The kids’ behaviour completely changed and what happened was they were expelled,” she says.

[ More than 13,300 in homeless accommodation, down by 196 from last month ]

[ Single women becoming homeless at higher rate than single men, study finds ]

“They were in school before they were homeless and there were no problems. It took a toll on the kids not knowing where they were going to be next week because I didn’t know where I was going to be. If it’s hard for me as an adult, then imagine what the child is going through.”

According to the latest figures from the Department of Housing, published on Friday, there were 13,318 people in homeless accommodation in December. Of these, 3,962 were children.

The latest figures were a reduction on November’s total, when the number of homeless children topped 4,000 for the first time. However, December figures normally decrease due to evictions being delayed around Christmas or friends and family taking in individuals due to the festive period.

The record number of homeless children in November has sparked significant concern for campaign groups and representatives in the sector.

Children’s Rights Alliance chief executive Tanya Ward says even one experience of being homeless has “an extremely destabilising effect on a child, often for the rest of their lives”.

They often suffer from emotional issues, can develop a more serious mental health condition without appropriate psychological supports and can miss developmental milestones, she says.

Children don’t know what to plan for and so they can develop serious anxiety and stresses around their accommodation

—  Stephen Moffatt, Barnardos national policy manager

A 2019 Temple Street report supports this, citing research that found “the experience of homelessness inhibits the physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioural development of children”.

Stephen Moffatt, national policy manager at Barnardos children’s charity, says it works with quite a number of families in emergency accommodation and there was a “need to think about the damage on children”.

“Children might have had a relatively stable environment and suddenly being moved out of that, and taking away their protective factors, like school, family, and the emergency accommodation can be quite far away. That can be quite traumatic in itself being moved away from friends,” he says.

“Then you don’t know how long you’re going to be in that emergency accommodation. Children don’t know what to plan for and so they can develop serious anxiety and stresses around their accommodation. And often those families are going through additional adversities, they have additional things going on. They may have mental health issues, substance issues.”

Suddenly being made homeless, Mr Moffatt says, “exacerbates these issues”.

Though the growing number of children in homelessness is concerning, it does not capture the whole picture, representative groups say. Official figures do not include hidden homelessness, which Barnardos says is a significant issue among those they support.

Sandra* is a single mother of three children, one of whom has complex needs. She was living in a three-bed semidetached house in Limerick, a rented council house, when it flooded in December 2022.

“The house wasn’t liveable so I moved in with my parents. It was supposed to be short term but we’re still there,” she says.

The council took the house she originally had back, she says, as they were of the opinion that she had abandoned it. She and her three children now live with her parents in a three-bed house, but she says tensions are high and “things have been a thousand times worse” since they moved in together.

“There’s no privacy. My parents are exhausted. They had their own home and privacy, and now there is always someone somewhere. You can’t parent when you’re living with your parents,” she says.

“The dynamic of the house is going downhill. I’m not classed as homeless but I am. I’m sharing a bed with my young son. Just because it doesn’t look like we’re homeless on the outside doesn’t mean we’re not feeling broken inside.”

Mr Moffatt says it is difficult to keep track of the number of families truly affected by the housing and homelessness crisis due to the unknown prevalence of hidden homelessness.

It’s the kids that it is affecting the most. They’re not allowed to play together

—  Catherine

“We see people living in cramped spaces. There was another mother I spoke to a number of months ago that was living in an abusive relationship. She, for example, ended up leaving the home. She was sharing a bed with her 10-year-old son,” he says.

“I was speaking to a number of parents last November who have moved back into their family home because they couldn’t stick with the emergency accommodation because it was a poor standard.”

Experiencing homelessness in any of its forms is an enormous stress for parents, Catherine says, though it is the children she worries about the most.

“They’re stressed and in these places, there are strict rules. You’re put in with families that you know nothing about and that, for children, is not secure,” she adds.

“It’s the kids that it is affecting the most. They’re not allowed to play together. They’re not allowed to play in the corridors. They stay in their apartment. There were rules like the kids couldn’t be down after a certain hour. It’s very difficult living.”

*The names have been changed

• Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
• Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
• Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here