ABSTRACT
Mothers with young children are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. The combined stress of extreme poverty and homelessness can greatly impair the ability of single mothers to parent their children effectively. When a homeless mother gazes at her child, her own pain and sadness is mirrored back. Sara spent her first four years of life homeless. Esther tells of physical abuse at the hands of her father and was literally thrown out of her father’s house by his girlfriend when Sara was one month old. Sara continued to make progress in her ability to form attachments and in so doing began to rapidly catch up in her development. Sara was working through separation and loss. Sara continued working on difficult issues. Sara presented developmentally as a twelve- to eighteen-month-old baby. Sara quickly learned that her world was a cold and unfriendly, and she withdrew to a safer place.
