Homeless Children and Their Families’ Perspectives of Agency Services

Abstract

While numerous programs aim to mediate the risks for children experiencing homelessness, there is a lack of research representing the children's and parents' perspectives in supportive housing programs. With this phenomenological qualitative study, the authors share the voices of 22 participants, including children and their families, regarding their experiences while receiving services from a homeless agency. Participating parents perceived that the program provided resources to the children that they could not provide themselves, opportunities for exposure to positive new experiences, and improved psychosocial outcomes for their children. Participants also discussed desired program changes and the responsiveness of agency staff regarding unmet needs of the children. Implications for policies and programs are discussed.

Common trust and personal safety issues: A systematic review on the acceptability of health and social interventions for persons with lived experience of homelessness

“…Mothers expressed feelings of pride when they observed positive changes in their children’s health and social outcomes after participating in maternal programs. They felt that family-oriented interventions allowed them to become effective mothers [54,66,71,82]: “It’s awesome because it makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing you know, that I’m being a good parent”. [54]…”

“…[66,67,70] This was particularly prominent among women [54,75,82] and their children. [71] Youth, in particular, felt stigmatized for admitting to having mental health issues; this led to feelings of low self-worth and expectations of failure. [59,69,72,77,81,84] As participants gained insights into their mental illness, they acquired a sense of control over their own lives.…”

A Theory of Mental Health and Optimal Service Delivery for Homeless Children

“…Another interpretation is that homeless shelters provide the equivalent of all mainstream services “in house,” eliminating the need for outside services during a shelter stay. Many shelters do provide a number of services to families, but type and quality of services differ widely by shelter and city (Lorelle and Grothaus 2015; Samuels et al 2015). A third interpretation is that upon shelter entry and throughout the duration of a shelter stay, families are unable to maintain contact with mainstream services, even when services are still needed.…”

Bridges and Barriers

“…A phenomenological qualitative study by Lorelle & Grothaus (2015) looked at the experiences of parents and children that received services from an agency in one of three supportive housing programs. Interviews were conducted and themes emerged, with 89% of the parents indicating at least one benefit of the program.…”

“…The themes that were positively related included the following: the program provides services that parents feel they cannot, their children have improved psychosocial outcomes, they are satisfied with the services, and they have supportive relationships with the staff. Themes were also identified as areas of improvement: specific changes to the program, lack of supportive relationships with staff, and children's needs that were unmet (Lorelle & Grothaus, 2015). This type of research is likely to produce effective change and positively direct programs and policies, as participants who have been marginalized in the past are given the opportunity to have a voice (Fraenkel, 2006).…”