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Publication Date: 2019
Homelessness is a devastating experience for children and their families. Families, the majority of whose members are children, now comprise more than one-third of the overall homeless population. Most of these children are less than six years old. Various assumptions have driven policy and the allocation of resources to programs serving these families. Although decades of research and field experience suggest strategies for preventing and reduci...
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press
Publication Date: 2018
Youth homelessness is a major public health problem that garnered increased interest and focus in recent years in Canada and the United States. The connections between youth homelessness and child welfare, foster care, and juvenile justice have been well established (Bender, Yang, Ferguson, & Thompson, 2015; Dworsky & Courtney, 2009; Zlotnick, 2009). Similarly, service providers and policy makers have become aware of the high rates of hom...
Organization: The National Center on Family Homelessness
Publication Date: 2014
America's Youngest Outcasts documents the number of homeless children in every state, their well-being, their risk for child homelessness, and state level planning and policy efforts. Using findings from numerous sources that include well-established national data sets as well as our own research, we rank the states in four domains, and then develop a composite of these domains to rank the states from 1 (best) to 50 (worst).
Publication Date: 2004
The authors examined the association between exposure to violence and different indexes of mental health among 95 extremely poor children (age range = 8-17 years) and analyzed potential moderators and mediators. Findings indicated that 62% of youths had been exposed to at least 1 form of violence. Controlling for other explanatory factors, exposure to violence was significantly associated with internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety) ac...
Publication Date: 1996
This special issue of the Journal is devoted to describing the plight of women receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and the potentially adverse impact of the new welfare reform legislation. When Congress passed and the President signed the welfare law in August 1996, they committed themselves to putting low-income women to work. Overlooking the needs of very young children, they based their legislation on the American ethic of...
Publication Date: 1998
OBJECTIVES: This study describes the development status of 127 homeless and 91 low-income housed infants and toddlers. METHODS: The Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Vineland Screener were used to gather data. RESULTS: There were no differences between homeless and low-income housed children. However, younger children in both groups performed better than the older children on most summary scores. CONCLUSIONS: Homeless and low-income hou...
Organization: National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Homelessness and Extreme Poverty Working Group
Publication Date: 2005
This resource provides a important information about trauma and it's prevalence and impact on homeless children.
Facts on Trauma and Homeless Children
Who Is Homeless in America?
How Does Trauma Enter the Lives of Homeless Children?
How Can Programs and Services Help Families Exposed to Trauma?
How Can We Provide Trauma-Specific Services to People Experiencing Homelessness?
Where Can I Get Further Information?
Other Resources
Source Material (Aut...
Publication Date: 1994
This manual is designed for shelter providers who serve clients with mental illness, substance abuse or dual diagnosis. It discusses the knowledge and skills necessary to cope with this population as well as the shortage of services, logistical problems and attitudes of providers and clients that are obstacles to accessing community services. The manual focuses on forming an effective helping relationship and understanding clients' needs so that...
Publication Date: 1999
BACKGROUND. Knowledge of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its risk behaviors have not been systematically studied in homeless mothers. The identification of the factors associated with HIV-risk practices will guide interventions for low-income housed and homeless women. METHODS. We interviewed 220 homeless and 216 low-income housed mothers living in Worcester, Massachusetts, to gather information on demographic, psychosocial, and HIV-ris...
Publication Date: 1999
Surveys conducted over the past two decades have demonstrated that homeless Americans are exceptionally diverse and include representatives from all segments of society—the old and the young; men and women; single people and families; city dwellers and rural residents; whites and people of color; and able-bodied workers and people with serious health problems. Veterans, who are among the most honored citizens in our society, appear in substantial...
Publication Date: 1997
Objective: To assess the mental health of homeless and poor housed youths, using the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) Version 2.3, and to examine mental health service use. Method: As part of a comprehensive study of homeless and housed families in Worcester, MA, data were collected on 41 homeless and 53 poor housed (never homeless) youths aged 9 to 17 using both the parent and youth...
Publication Date: 2001
This article looks at the variables that affected repeated instances of family homelessness in contrast to families that experience only a singular event of homelessness.
Little is known about the dynamics of homelessness among families that have been homeless more than once. Using longitudinal data from the Worcester Family Research Project, this article describes the duration of family homelessness, compares the characteristics of mothers who h...
Publication Date: 2011
Homeless Families • Homeless families comprise 32% of the overall homeless population. • 84% are female‐headed. • Most mothers do not have a high school diploma. • 92% have experienced severe physical and/or sexual abuse in their lifetimes. • 63% have reported physical assaults by an intimate partner as adults. • Homeless mothers have 4‐5 times the rates of depression compared to their housed counterparts.
Publication Date: 2002
Data from the Worcester Family Research Project were analyzed to determine whether social support processes are altered by poverty and whether kin and nonkin support are differentially related to mental health in low-income mothers. The authors found that conflict with family and friends predicted adverse mental health and more strongly predicted these outcomes than emotional and instrumental support. Moreover, sibling conflict was a stronger pre...
Organization: SAMHSA
Publication Date: 2011
There are very high rates of trauma among people experiencing homelessness. Ensuring that agencies provide trauma-informed homeless services is crucial to supporting recovery from trauma and homelessness. SAMHSA’s HRC offers a large number of resources to help agencies become trauma-informed. This article offers eight tips to help move your agency toward being trauma-informed.
This article is adapted from “Shelter from the Storm: Trauma-Informed...
Organization: SAMHSA
Publication Date: 2011
Trauma-informed care is recognized as an important approach to serve trauma survivors who are experiencing homelessness. But what does the research say about the effectiveness of trauma-informed care? This article offers a summary of research findings related to trauma-informed care.
Research shows that people who are homeless have experienced high rates of trauma. Many who enter the homeless services system have experienced violence, loss, and d...
Publication Date: 2010
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) designed the Services in Supportive Housing (SSH) program to help prevent or reduce chronic homelessness. Funded and managed by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the program’s 62 grantees work in 25 states and the District of Columbia. SSH Grantees provide individuals and families who have experienced chronic homelessness the services and treatment they need to sta...
Organization: National Center on Family Homelessness
Publication Date: 2009
This toolkit provides information for homeless services providers about integrating trauma-informed care principles into their organizations. This toolkit was developed to address the high prevalence of trauma amongst those experiencing homelessness.
The prevalence of traumatic stress in the lives of families experiencing homelessness is extraordinarily high. Often these families have experienced on-going trauma throughout their lives in the form...
Publication Date: 2010
Approximately 1.5 million children experience homelessness in America each year. The current economic recession and staggering numbers of housing foreclosures have caused the numbers of homeless families to increase dramatically. The impact of homelessness on families and children is devastating. Without a place to call home, children are severely challenged by unpredictability, dislocation, and chaos. Homelessness and exposure to traumatic stres...
Publication Date: 2010
Hiring and retaining appropriate staff is essential for programs serving those who have experienced chronic homelessness. This paper describes specific staffing challenges and strategies from the Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness (CICH), an 11-site, multi-agency Federal program designed to serve people experiencing chronic homelessness who also have a disabling condition such as substance use or mental health problems. (Au...