Professionals from many disciplines agree that homelessness is harmful to children. The child welfare system has often responded to this problem by placing homeless children in foster care and telling parents that the children will be returned when the family has obtained suitable housing. However, this requirement is often unreasonable for a family already under stress and causes harm to the children involved. Therefore, advocates for children and families have addressed these problems both in individual cases and in systemic litigation. They have successfully argued that child welfare agencies must make reasonable efforts to help homeless families avoid foster care placements. They have also filed affirmative litigation to require that State and local welfare agencies structure their programs to help homeless families and potentially homeless families to stay together. However, systemic reforms in the areas of housing and economic security are also needed to produce real improvement for these families. 38 reference notes.