Promoting Children’s Mental Health in Family Supportive Housing: A Community–University Partnership for Formerly Homeless Children and Families

Abstract

Emerging research indicates that significant numbers of formerly homeless families residing in permanent supportive housing have caregivers with substance use and mental health disorders, and children with histories of exposure to violence, abuse, and out-of-home placement. These factors place children at risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes, including later homelessness, providing a strong rationale for embedding child-focused prevention and intervention services in supportive housing contexts. This article describes a developing community-university partnership whose goal is to advance practice and research in the adaptation and dissemination of mental health prevention and early intervention for children in supportive housing.

Identifying Unmet Mental Health Needs in Children of Formerly Homeless Mothers Living in a Supportive Housing Community Sector of Care

“…Since 2003, allocation of supportive housing resources by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has been limited to households with caregivers with disabilities (primarily mental illness, chemical dependence and HIV/AIDS) who also meet criteria for chronic homelessness, defined as twelve consecutive months of homelessness, or four episodes in the last 3 years. These criteria suggest that families in supportive housing may have significant histories of risk and adversity, providing a rationale for the urgency to learn more about the adjustment and needs of children in these settings (Gewirtz 2007). An example of such supportive housing services is the Healthy Families Network (HFN).…”

Predicting Risk of Placement: A Population-based Study of Out-of-Home Placement, Child Maltreatment, and Emergency Housing

“…First, families living in emergency housing might participate in programming that mediates some of the risks associated with out-of-home placement. In addition to meeting basic needs such as shelter and food, many emergency housing programs provide parenting supports (Gewirtz, 2007). These supports can help parents develop the skills needed to create and sustain positive parent-child relationships.…”

Promoting Protective Factors and Strengthening Resilience

“…These children are at risk for child maltreatment and other adverse outcomes (Gewirtz 2007 ). Collaborators in the Healthy Families Network include university researchers, 17 nonprofi t supportive housing agencies, and a nonprofi t housing intermediary in a large metropolitan area in the Midwest.…”

“…An assessment of this process found improved knowledge and practice among providers, including an enhanced understanding of the role and usefulness of research-and evidence-based practice in community settings and a greater knowledge of child development and mental health. Researchers also reported having a greater appreciation of the skills and expertise of providers working directly with families and the external pressures experienced by provider agencies, such as fi nancial constraints (Gewirtz 2007 ). Reported challenges included limitations on provider resources, such as diffi culty providing suffi cient coverage to enable staff to attend seminars, as well as high turnover and burnout rates among staff.…”