Homeless Families Research Articles

The Association Between Familial Homelessness, Aggression, and Victimization Among Children

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the number of periods children were exposed to familial homelessness and childhood aggression and victimization. MethodsSurvey data were obtained from 4,297 fifth-grade children and their caregivers in three U.S. cities. Children and primary caregivers were surveyed longitudinally in 7th and 10th grades. Family homelessness, measured at each wave as unstable housing, was self-reported by the caregiver. Children were categorized into four mutually exclusive groups: victim only, aggressor only, victim–aggressor, and neither victim nor aggressor at each time point using validated measures. Multinomial, multilevel mixed models were used to evaluate the relationship among periods of homelessness and longitudinal victimization, aggression, and victim aggression compared to children who were nonvictims and nonaggressors. ResultsResults suggest that children who experienced family homelessness were more likely than domiciled children to report aggression and victim aggression but not victimization only. Multivariate analyses suggested that even brief periods of homelessness were positively associated with aggression and victim aggression (relative to neither) compared to children who were never homeless. Furthermore, childhood victimization and victim aggression significantly decreased from 5th grade to 10th grade while aggression significantly increased in 10th grade. ConclusionsChildren who experienced family homelessness for brief periods of time were significantly more likely to be a victim–aggressor or aggressor compared to those who were never homeless. Prevention efforts should target housing security and other important factors that may reduce children's likelihood of aggression and associated victimization.

Doubled-Up Homeless: Comparing Educational Outcomes With Low-Income Students

Living doubled-up is a form of homelessness that can go undetected by schools, yet the toll it takes on the lives of students is significant. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to determine how students who live in doubled-up homeless families differ from low-income students who live in permanent housing with regard to demographics, academics, and behavior problems. The study used records from a Northern California school district and a nonexperimental research design to determine how student homelessness predicts various school-related outcomes. Results indicated that doubled-up homeless students earned significantly lower grade point averages (GPAs) and were less likely to graduate on time than students in permanent housing. Doubled-up homeless students were also more likely to have truancy problems. Previous research has mainly focused on more visible forms of student homelessness (e.g., living in shelters, cars, or hotels). Given that this group has been largely avoided by research, our study suggests that this group warrants consideration. School districts need to identify students living in doubled-up families and seek ways to improve their academic experiences.

The Value of Promising Spaces: Hope and Everyday Utopia in a Salvadoran Town

ABSTRACTThis paper considers hope and utopia as value-making processes and their relation to space. It examines two localities built for homeless families and elderly individuals in post-disaster El Salvador during the early 2000s, and explores what these spaces say about their makers’ hopes for better futures. Drawing on recent works in the field of utopian studies that adopt a materialist view on utopia as an imperfect contingent process, this paper explores whether the notion of everyday utopia is helpful in order to appreciate the actualization of these spaces. It argues that anthropological scholarship on value and ordinary ethics can be a productive framework to study the pathways between hope, utopianism, and space.

Adversity and children experiencing family homelessness: Implications for health.

This study tests links between adversity and health problems among children in family emergency housing. Children who experience family homelessness are at risk to also experience high levels of stress, health problems, and need for pediatric care. Understanding the connection between stress and health holds the potential to reduce persistent health disparities. Analyses tested whether experiencing a greater number of stressful life events during the early years of life was related to worse health conditions, emergency health care utilization, and hospitalizations. Parents noted children's experience of negative stressful life events, health problems, emergency room (ER) use, and hospitalization. Two cohorts of kindergarten-aged children staying in emergency family housing participated in the study in 2006-07 (n = 104) and in 2008-09 (n = 138), with the results examined separately. In both cohorts, more health problems were acknowledged for children exposed to more negative stressful life events. Stressful life events were not related to ER use but did relate to hospitalization for the 2006-07 cohort. Results affirm links between stress in early childhood and health problems among children living in emergency housing. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that adversity in early childhood contributes to income and racial disparities in health.

Public library support of families experiencing homelessness

ABSTRACTWhile public libraries are often used by people experiencing homelessness, the value of libraries for homeless children and families has been understudied. This brief explores how public libraries can support families experiencing homelessness and how they can engage with other service providers and agencies as part of a collective impact model to support a wide array of families’ needs. Since homelessness is the result of many interconnected social and economic conditions, this paper also examines how awareness and a lack of knowledge of these factors can impact service delivery and expectations. Finally, a case study of how the Queens Library in New York City engages with family shelters to support children’s learning and exploration is included to provide best practice examples.

No Easy Way Out: One Community's Efforts to House Families Experiencing Homelessness

Family homelessness is a persistent major social and public health problem. The present study used 3 years of data from a community's homeless management information system in a survival analysis that examined correlates of time to housing for 133 homeless families. A Cox regression found that veterans were 491% more likely to exit homelessness than nonveterans. Families staying with a family member or friend before entering a rapid rehousing program were 24% less likely to exit homelessness than those who were staying in an emergency shelter or other temporary housing. While 77% of the families found stable housing, the findings suggest variability of outcomes across rehousing programs and the necessity of addressing the complex needs of single, female-headed homeless families.

Service Providers' Perspectives on Permanent Supportive Housing for Families

This article examines the perspectives and experiences of staff who work for a pilot permanent supportive housing program for families. The program follows Housing First principles by providing supportive housing to chronically homeless families with disabling conditions (typically substance abuse and/or mental health issues). Nine service providers participated in in-depth, semistructured interviews in which they described their experiences with the program, including facilitators and barriers to providing high-quality services for this difficult-to-serve population. The findings indicate that stabilizing families is particularly challenging in part because of the complexity of their needs, both material and instrumental, that are dynamic and ongoing. Implications for practice are discussed, as the Housing First model, established as a best practice for single adults, is applied to families.

“The Least of Our Worries”: Mapping Diverse Perspectives on Nutrition Promotion for Homeless Families in Shelter to Advance Pragmatic Implementation

“The Least of Our Worries”: Mapping Diverse Perspectives on Nutrition Promotion for Homeless Families in Shelter to Advance Pragmatic Implementation

Integrating Early Childhood Mental Health and Trauma-Informed Care for Homeless Families With Young Children

Rogers, Bobich, and Heppell’s (2016) case study illustrating the successful application of an "Incredible Years" intervention with a 4-year-old girl and her family in the context of a homeless shelter provides an opportunity to consider the intersecting perspectives of infant and early childhood mental health and trauma-informed care. Cathy’s exposure to intimate partner violence, her mother’s chronic depression, and her homelessness occurred during the critical developmental stages of prenatal development and the first four years of life, impacting her developing understanding of relationships and her emotion regulation. A trauma-informed perspective provides an understanding of the links between Cathy’s history of trauma and her presenting symptoms of tantrums, aggression, and "moodiness," leading to recommended parenting strategies that support co-regulation and eventually self-regulation of emotions. Although the Incredible Years intervention was successful in reducing Cathy’s symptoms, the addition of trauma-focused interventions may have the added benefit of helping Cathy to directly play and talk about her experience, together with her mother, so that both can understand and integrate their traumatic experiences and her mother can restore her role as a "protective shield" for her family. Finally, the opening provided by implementation of a successful parenting intervention could lead to a broader consultation aimed at creating a trauma-informed organization within the transitional living shelter.

Emotional Health Among Adolescents Experiencing Family Homelessness

Emerging Knowledge for Clinical Practice Podium Presentations focusing on the Research Agenda Priority of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Presented at NAPNAP’s 37th National Conference on Pediatric Healthcare, March 17, 2016, Atlanta, GA Nearly 2.5 million children and adolescents were homeless in the U.S. in 2013. These youth are at an increased risk of physical and mental health problems. The purpose of this study is to determine whether family homelessness is associated with suicidality during adolescence, and whether developmental assets moderate this association. Adverse childhood experiences associated with family homelessness can threaten brain development and lifelong health. Studies in the last decade have focused on mental health and suicide risk among runaway adolescents who are homeless, but not on adolescents who are homeless with their families. This unique population now comprises 37% of the total U.S. homeless population, but suicide-related outcomes among this group have not yet been reported. We also do not yet know how developmental assets – such as social connectedness, positive identity, school connectedness, empowerment, parent connectedness, and academic orientation – impact these outcomes among homeless youth. Does family homelessness within the past year predict recent self-injurious behavior, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among adolescents? What role do developmental assets play in protecting homeless adolescents from suicidality compared to non-homeless youth? In this observational cohort study, we utilized cross-sectional data from 113,197 students age 12 to 19 from the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey. We used logistic regression to estimate odds of self-injurious behavior, suicidal ideation, and previous suicide attempt for adolescents who experienced family homelessness in the past 12 months compared to those who did not, adjusting for age, sex, race, poverty status, and school location. We used multivariate regression to test for moderation of suicidality by developmental assets among homeless and non-homeless youth. The University of Minnesota IRB approved this study. The mean age of the respondents was 14.9 years (SD 1.34). 4.1% (N=4594) of the sample reported being homeless with their parents or adult family member within the last 12 months. Among these youth, 29.1% (N=1317; AOR 2.52, 95% CI 2.34-2.69) reported self-injurious behavior, 21% (N=940; AOR 2.30, 95% CI 2.14-2.48) reported suicidal ideation, and 9.3% (N=416; AOR 3.24, 95% CI 2.91-3.60) reported at least one suicide attempt within the last 12 months. Developmental assets decreased the odds of these outcomes for all youth, but were less protective for homeless youth than non-homeless youth. Youth who have been homeless with their families during the past year are at significantly higher risk of suicidality than their non-homeless peers. Internal and external factors that protect against suicidality are somewhat less impactful among youth who have experienced family homelessness, implicating family homelessness as a marker of extreme risk during adolescence. Future research among this group should take broader ecological factors into account, ideally in a longitudinal manner. Preventive interventions among homeless youth may need to not only promote developmental assets but also address the need for stable housing and the mitigation of extreme psychosocial risk.

Intersections of family homelessness, CPS involvement, and race in Alameda County, California

The homelessness and child protective services (CPS) systems are closely linked. This study examines the patterns and sequence of families’ involvement with homeless shelters and CPS, as well as whether involvement in each system predicts involvement in the other using linked administrative records for 258 families recruited in emergency shelters in Alameda County, California. More than half of families were reported to CPS at some point, but less than one-fifth ever had a report substantiated. Reports that were uninvestigated or unfounded increased in the months leading up to shelter entry and spiked immediately afterward, but substantiations and child removals increased only later. Shelter use before study entry was associated with CPS referrals and investigations after study entry, although not with substantiated cases or child removals. However, CPS involvement before study entry was not associated with returns to shelter after study entry. These results imply that an unsubstantiated report of neglect or abuse may serve as an early warning signal for homelessness and that preventive strategies aiming to affect both homeless and child protective systems should focus on reducing homelessness. CPS workers should evaluate families’ housing needs and attempt to link families to appropriate resources. Black families were disproportionately referred to CPS after shelter entry after controlling for other family characteristics, but race was not associated with substantiations of neglect or abuse or with child removals. Findings lend modest support to human decision-making and institutional explanations of racial disproportionalities in CPS involvement, especially for reporters outside of the CPS system.

Asthma-Like Symptoms in Homeless Children in the Greater Paris Area in 2013: Prevalence, Associated Factors and Utilization of Healthcare Services in the ENFAMS Survey.

IntroductionAsthma remains poorly studied in homeless children. We sought to estimate the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms (ALS) and to identify the factors associated with ALS and healthcare service utilisation.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional survey of a random sample of sheltered homeless families was conducted by interviewing 801 parents of children (0–12 years) in 17 languages. ALS were defined as wheezing or night cough without fever during the previous year. Poisson regression models with robust error variance were used to compute prevalence ratios (PR) for factors associated with ALS and healthcare service utilisation for ALS.ResultsThe prevalence of ALS among the children was 19.9%. Poor housing sanitation was significantly associated with ALS, as being born in the European Union. Most of the children with ALS had used healthcare services (85.4%). The main barriers to accessing such services were having lived in France for less than 49 months, having difficulties in French and living in poor housing conditions.ConclusionALS prevalence seemed lower than in the general child population, possibly because of the children's origins. Environmental factors associated with ALS point to the need to improve the indoor environment of family shelters. The relatively high rate of healthcare service utilisation should not overshadow existing barriers.

ALTERNATIVE OUTLINES OF IMMIGRATION: A CASE OF REPOPULATION OF EXISTING ABANDONED SPANISH TOWNS

One of the most sensitive tragic situations today, in regards to human relations in Europe is the illegal immigrants’ issue. But it is no longer mainly a subject of borders’ transgression, obsolete sovereignties, or labor-hand marketing. Huge population masses without fixed course are driven by different urgent motives from their countries of origin – North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe,– they have no choice but to move in search of places to settle and provide a decent home for their families. In the form of another drama in this case of heritage and environment, some old rural villages of Spain – as there are in other southern European countries – have been completely abandoned and their current status, in ruins, results of the economic, political and urban trends of the past 75 years. Connecting these issues, it could be considered a promising future for those homeless families as well as for those dying towns through integrated solutions of mutual benefit. This research examines the resurgence of human being’s value over any other concept of relative temporarily value, and where a town’s roots are more important than any commercial interest and real estate speculation.

The Role of Recovery Housing: Prioritizing Choice in Homeless Services

ABSTRACTHousing options for people exiting homelessness and seeking recovery from substance use disorders are limited. Policies tend to favor low-demand models such as housing first and permanent supportive housing that do not require abstinence, but offer immediate housing placement based on consumer choice and separate housing from clinical services. While these models have proven effective in promoting housing retention, especially among individuals with a primary diagnosis of mental illness, evidence to support positive outcomes related to people with a primary or co-occurring substance use disorder are mixed. Recovery housing models provide abstinence-focused environments and integrated peer support embedded within a recovery framework. Various models exist along a continuum from fully peer-run to clinically staffed residences. However, this continuum is typically separate from the homeless services system, and many barriers to integration persist. Recent national dialogues have begun to explore opportunities to integrate housing and substance use recovery approaches to meet the needs of people who need both types of support. This perspective paper argues that recovery housing is essential for supporting some homeless individuals and families. Within a comprehensive continuum based on choice, both recovery housing and low-demand models can support housing retention, reduce homelessness, promote recovery, and foster self-determination.

Lost in Limbo: An Exploratory Study of Homeless Mothers' Experiences and Needs at Emergency Assistance Hotels

Increases in family homelessness have led several states to use hotels and motels as shelters. Except for investigations into “welfare hotels” of the 1980s, research on this practice is largely nonexistent. This study explored the experience of living in an emergency assistance hotel through in-depth interviews with 10 homeless mothers, triangulated with proximity analyses of the walking distance and public transit time between emergency assistance hotels in Massachusetts (n = 49) and 6 basic need types. Four themes emerged from interviews: living in limbo, profound isolation, role conflict, and immense difficulty meeting basic needs—which proximity analyses further illustrated. Findings suggest the need for systems to consider homeless families' mobility barriers and assess the built environment around hotels used to shelter families.

An ecological study of families in transitional housing – ‘housed but not homed’

This article discusses the sense of homelessness among nine homeless families who are in transitional housing in Singapore, where homelessness is minimal and mostly out of the public eye. This study is significant as it investigates homelessness experienced by married couples with children in Singapore, unlike most other research which has examined homelessness among singles or single-parent families, and which is based in Australia, Europe, and the US. The sense of homelessness was shaped by the ecological environment that comprised systemic elements such as kin support, housing policies, and non-housing policies like citizenship, education, welfare, and so forth. Homelessness was seen as (i) a loss of complete autonomy, control, privacy, and comfort; (ii) the lack of physical, practical, and emotional support from kin; (iii) a compromised ‘sense of family’ and family decisions; and (iv) hope and endurance while interacting with the ecological system.

Family Options Study: 3-Year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families

The Family Options Study: Three-year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families documents the outcomes of the 2,282 formerly homeless study families approximately 37 months after having been randomly assigned to one of four housing and/or services interventions. The findings at 37-months in large part mirror the findings documented at 20 months, with the long-terms outcomes again demonstrating the power of a voucher to convey significantly improved housing outcomes to formerly homeless families, when compared with the housing outcomes of families offered other interventions. Families offered a permanent subsidy experienced less than half as many episodes of subsequent homelessness, and vast improvements across a broad set of measures related to residential stability. Many of the non-housing outcomes of interest that were strongly influenced by the offer of a voucher in the short-term, such as reductions in psychological distress and intimate partner violence, are still detected, but some positive impacts found at the 20-month followup are not detected at the longer, 37-month followup. For example, 20 months after random assignment, assignment to SUB reduced the proportion of families with child separations in the 6 months before the survey--this effect was not detected in the 6 months before the 37-month survey. Also in this longer window of observation, some positive impacts in the child well-being domain have emerged. Families offered a voucher continue to be significantly more food secure and experience significantly less economic stress than families offered the other interventions. On measures of employment and earnings, the modest negative impacts of vouchers relative to usual care have fallen, although some remain statistically significant.

The Data Dilemma in Family Homelessness.

Current estimates of homelessness in the U.S. are biased toward counts of sheltered or visibly unsheltered individuals. Those who remain out of sight during counts and/or live in places or circumstances that elude the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) definition of homelessness remain undercounted. Underreporting the unique characteristics associated with subgroups of people experiencing homelessness also limits access to the services that best meet their needs. As national counts drive policy and funding for housing-related services, front-line providers have too few resources to treat less visible and understood populations. We argue that homeless families are particularly vulnerable to these trends and explore how current data collection and reporting approaches thwart family homelessness interventions and prevention.

Damnificados

In the novel’s epilogue the theme is Hebrew history, with Hitler’s Germany and the Jewish Holocaust as the time and place where humanity’s hatreds and horrors culminate. Ezequiel, Simon’s friend, inherits the Antikythera device, travels back to the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, and transports a budding Annelies Marie Frank to Boca Raton as the novel’s last deliverance. In this closing section of the novel, a triad of artists, creators, and writers triggers the reader’s epiphany: Ehecatl, Elohim, and Anne Frank call on us to remember, and to name the past for what it really was. Roberto Cantú California State University, Los Angeles JJ Amaworo Wilson. Damnificados. Oakland, California. PM Press. 2016. 274 pages. It is said that historians provide accuracy while artists provide truth, which can be best illustrated by the novel Damnificados . According to author JJ Amaworo Wilson , the novel is based on the true story of the Tower of David in Caracas, Venezuela— an unfinished and empty building later taken over by a group of homeless families (the damnificados who give the book its title) and turned into a thriving community. Wilson takes this real-life story and molds it into a fantastic fable about the collision between the haves and the have-nots in a fictional South American city. The difference is this: the tower was depicted in the documentary TV series as a haven for criminals, but in the novel it becomes more of a sanctuary for the oppressed class, the damnificados who are the damaged and wounded victims of life’s effluvia—they are everywhere. The book starts with Nacho leading his band of outsiders into the tower. Nacho is a teacher, steeped in the lore of ancient books like The Epic of Gilgamesh, who tells stories to understand the world. Despite his disabilities, his stories are stories of hope, inspiration, and rebuilding. He is Moses preparing his people for the trek in the wilderness. His brother Emil, the pragmatist, arrives at the tower in a boat, weathering a torrential rain that almost wipes out the damnificados. When the evil Torres brothers who control the political, economic, and military power of the city decide to drive away the homeless from the tower, the Trash War breaks out. The damnificados use their combined strength and unorthodox faith to organize themselves and to outwit the powerful evil that threatens their survival. The end of the novel is not a dispersal of victory for the damnificados but a diaspora of hope: “There’ll be other towns and other places to call home.” The epoch of the tower becomes history when it is swallowed by a sinkhole. Damnificados is a great read. Two-headed beasts, biblical floods, dragonflies to the rescue, massacres involving multilingual ghosts, and a trash truck acting as a Trojan horse—magical realism threads through this very human struggle. Wilson introduces archetypes of hope and redemption that are also deeply familiar—true love, vision quests, the hero’s journey, even the possibility of a happy ending. In this sense, the novel can also be read as documentary literature, which illustrates and predicts that social justice will prevail in the end. Yang Jing Nanjing Normal University Franco Nasi Translator’s Blues Trans. Dan Gunn Sylph Editions This curious addition to Sylph’s Cahiers Series explores the gap between languages through the observations of Franco Nasi’s narrator as he travels from Italy to the United States. Punctuated by illustrations from Massimo Antonaci’s sketchbook, this monograph spans essay and fiction effortlessly while engaging the reader with its philosophical implications. Nota Bene Ryu Murakami Tokyo Decadence Trans. Ralph McCarthy Kurodahan Press Ryu Murakami sketches Tokyo across three decades in fifteen short stories from the perspective of narrators with access to the seamier side of Japan’s capital city. Whether speaking through divorce lawyers, bartenders, or audacious call girls, the acclaimed author of The Audition captures the unique flavor of the city through his cutting dialogue and often achingly beautiful descriptions. WORLDLIT.ORG 89 ...

Time-Limited Case Management for Homeless Mothers With Mental Health Problems: Effects on Maternal Mental Health

Objective: In this study we test the effect of a time-limited case management model targeting homeless mothers who are experiencing mental health problems. Adapted from an empirically informed intervention to prevent recurrent homelessness among individuals, the Family Critical Time Intervention (FCTI) supports mothers with children for a 9-month period as they move from homeless shelters into affordable housing. The case management team uses a structured intervention to encourage mothers to create and maintain necessary connections in the community for key family supports. Method: We use a longitudinal randomized controlled trial (N = 210) to test whether homeless mothers referred to FCTI experience greater declines in psychopathology compared with those receiving homeless services-as-usual. All families receive access to affordable housing. Hierarchical linear models examine changes in symptomatology at shelter entry and 3, 9, and 15 months later. Results: Results suggest all homeless mothers report significant and clinically meaningful declines in mental distress over time, regardless of intervention condition. Treatment effects do not vary by prior homelessness experiences or receipt of mental health services. Conclusions: Homelessness presents acute stress for mothers that diminishes over time after families rehouse. In addition, improvements in maternal mental health fail to explain prior findings that associated FCTI with benefits in child and adolescent behavior. Taken together, FCTI with connection to affordable housing provides a useful approach with homeless families; however, additional research needs to articulate mechanisms involved in the intervention.