THE HOMELESS CHILD HEALTH-CARE INVENTORY - ASSESSING THE EFFICACY OF LINKAGES TO PRIMARY-CARE

Each year, the New York City homeless family shelter system provides t ransitional housing for nearly 20, 000 homeless children. While the he alth care needs of these children are substantial, there is currently no system-wide mechanism for ensuring that they have access to appropr iate medical care. This report analyzes information from the Homeless Child Health Care Inventory, a survey conducted by Montefiore Medical Center's Division of Community Pediatrics, to examine the adequacy of health care resources available to the homeless children in New York C ity. Results showed that available health care resources varied consid erably throughout the shelter system and that nearly 50% of homeless c hildren in New York City did not have access to appropriate medical ca re.