Homeless women with children. The role of alcohol and other drug abuse.

For some women with children, alcohol and other drug use may be an important risk factor for homelessness because it may interfere with a woman's capacity to compete for scarce resources such as housing, employment, or services. The impact of various policy decisions on homeless women, their dependent children, and the family unit is considered, including women's right to privacy, criminalization of drug use, and scarcity of appropriate treatment programs for homeless women.