Group homes, emergency shelters, and transitional living centers provide housing on a temporary basis for varying amounts of time. They:
- Serve the homeless by providing food and overnight lodging.
- Provide educational, counseling and vocational services to homeless and destitute individuals and families for extended periods.
- Address long-term specific issues of youth for whom family care is undesirable or unavailable. Education, counseling, health care and specific training seek to meet the needs of such groups as pregnant teens, emancipated minors, and wards of the juvenile court.
- Address specific health or societal driven needs of particular populations.