Penn Social Policy & Practice Researcher Studies Homelessness and Academic Achievement

One million American school children are homeless each year, and many more are thought to move frequently. A researcher from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice is the lead author on a new longitudinal study linking homelessness and frequent moving with children's achievement. J. J. Cutuli 's research aims to better understand and promote the factors that allow children to do well and show resilience, even in the face of homelessness and poverty. He has studied the processes of long-term risk and resilience in academic achievement, mental health and medical conditions. His work illustrates how multiple factors at different levels can work together to protect children from the negative consequences of risk, allowing them to go on to show resilience. Cutuli, a faculty research associate, grew up in Havertown, Pa., and graduated from Penn with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in philosophy in 2004.