Originally posted on WBUR.

Megan Sandel, a physician who serves as co-director of Boston Medical Center’s Grow Clinic for Children, cautioned Tuesday that housing displacement can spiral into years of lingering health effects.

Evictions, she said, “really alter people’s life courses in ways that are unconscionable.”

“In our research and others’, we have seen that even up to five years after an eviction, we’ll see higher rates of maternal depression, higher rates of children being in fair or poor health, having developmental delays, and even having higher rates of being hospitalized,” Sandel, who also serves as a co-lead with Children’s HealthWatch, said. “This is not just a one-time impact. This can change the trajectory of a family.”