Top

Published in:

01-01-2016 | Original Paper

Housing and Support Services with Homeless Mothers: Benefits to the Mother and Her Children

Authors: Xiamei Guo, Natasha Slesnick, Xin Feng

Published in: Community Mental Health Journal | Issue 1/2016

Abstract

This study reports the mental health outcomes of a small randomized clinical trial (n = 60) that compared housing and supportive services (Ecologically-Based Treatment, EBT) to community based housing and support services (treatment as usual, TAU). Mothers receiving EBT, but not those receiving TAU, reported reductions in their children’s behavioral health problems. Reductions in mothers’ mental health problems and intimate partner violence were observed in both TAU and EBT. The current findings provide evidence supporting the efficacy of independent housing and integrated support services. Given that EBT showed similar, and in some cases superior findings to TAU, EBT may be an effective alternative for communities that do not have shelters available for those families experiencing homelessness.

Abidin, R. R. (1995). Parenting Stress Index: Professional Manual (3rd ed.). Odessa, FI: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2000). Manual for the ASEBA preschool forms & profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Wachington, DC: Author.

Bassuk, E. L., Dawson, R., Perloff, J., & Weinreb, L. (2001). Post traumatic stress disorder in extremely poor women: Implications for health care clinicians. Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, 56, 79–85.PubMed

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck depression inventory-II (pp. 1–82). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

Brinamen, C. F., Taranta, A. N., & Johnston, K. (2012). Expanding early childhood mental health consultation to new venues: Serving infants and young children in domestic violence and homeless shelters. Infant Mental Health Journal, 33, 283–293. CrossRef

Buckner, J. C. (2008). Understanding the impact of homelessness on children-Challenges and future research directions. American Behavioral Scientist, 51, 721–736. CrossRef

Chambers, C., Chiu, S., Scott, A. N., Tolomiczenko, G., Redelmeier, D. A., Levinson, W., & Hwang, D. A. (2014). Factors associated with poor mental health status among homeless women with and without dependent children. Community Mental Health Journal, 50, 553–559.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Cooke, C. G., Kelley, M. L., Fals-Stewart, W., & Golden, J. (2004). A comparison of the psychosocial functioning of children with drug- versus alcohol-dependent fathers. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 30(4), 695–710. PubMedCrossRef

Dashora, P., Slesnick, N., & Erdem, G. (2012). "Understand my side, my situation, and my story:" Insights into the service needs among substance-abusing homeless mothers. Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 938–950.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

David, D. H., Gelberg, L., & Suchman, N. E. (2012). Implications of homelessness for parenting young children: A preliminary review from a developmental attachment perspective. Infant Mental health Journal, 33, 1–9.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

El-Bassel, N., Gilbert, L., Wu, E., Go, H., & Hall, J. (2005). Relationship between drug abuse and intimate partner violence: A longitudinal study among women receiving methadone. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 465–471.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Finfgeld-Connett, D. (2010). Becoming homeless, being homeless, and resolving homelessness among women. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 31, 461–469.PubMedCrossRef

Gelberg, L., & Linn, L. S. (1992). Demographic differences in health status of homeless adults. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 7, 601–608.PubMedCrossRef

Gewirtz, A. H., DeGarmo, D. S., Plowman, E. J., August, G., & Realmuto, G. (2009). Parenting, parental mental health, and child functioning in families residing in supportive housing. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 79(3), 336–347.PubMedCrossRef

Gorzka, P. A. (1999). Homeless parents’ perceptions of parenting stress. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 12, 7–16.PubMedCrossRef

Grant, R., Gracy, D., Goldsmith, G., Shapiro, A., & Redlener, I. E. (2013). Twenty-five years of child and family homelessness: Where are we now? American Journal of Public Health, 103, E1–E10.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Griffing, S., Ragin, D. F., Sage, R. E., Madry, L., Bingham, L. E., & Primm, B. J. (2002). Domestic violence survivors’ self-identified reasons for returning to abusive relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 306–319.CrossRef

Gulcur, L., Stefancic, A., Shinn, M., Tsemberis, S., & Fischer, S. N. (2003). Housing, hospitalization, and cost outcomes for homeless individuals with psychiatric disabilities participating in Continuum of Care and Housing First Programmes. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 13, 171–186.CrossRef

Haber, M. G., & Toro, P. A. (2004). Homelessness among families, children, and adolescents: An ecological-developmental perspective. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 7(3), 123–164.PubMedCrossRef

Hanrahan, P., McCoy, M. L., Cloninger, L., Dincin, J., Zeitz, M. A., Simpatico, T. A., & Luchins, D. J. (2005). The mother’s project for homeless mothers with mental illnesses and their children: A pilot study. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 28(3), 291–294.PubMedCrossRef

Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (Hearth Act). PL 111–22.

Karim, K., Tischler, V., Gregory, P., & Vostanis, P. (2006). Homeless children and parents: Short-term mental health outcomes. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 52, 447–458.PubMedCrossRef

Kertesz, S. G., & Weiner, S. J. (2009). Housing the chronically homeless: High hopes, complex realities. Journal of the American Medical Association, 301, 1822–1824.PubMedCrossRef

McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Re-Authorized (2002). 42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq 725.

Meyers, R. J., & Smith, J. E. (1995). Clinical guide to alcohol treatment: The Community Reinforcement Approach. New York: Guilford Press.

National Alliance to End Homelessness (2006). Promising strategies to end family homelessness. Washington, DC: Author.

National Alliance to End Homelessness (2014). The State of Homelessness in American 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014, from http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/the-state-of-homelessness-2014.

National Center on Family Homelessness. (2006). America’s homeless children. Newton, MA: Author.

Padgett, D. K., Stanhope, V., Henwood, B. F., & Stefancic, A. (2011). Substance use outcomes among homeless clients with serious mental illness: Comparing Housing First with Treatment First programs. Community Mental Health Journal, 47, 227–232.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Park, J. M., Metraux, S., Culhane, D. P., & Mandell, D. S. (2012). Homelessness and children’s use of mental health services: A population-based study. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 261–265.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Patterson, M., Moniruzzaman, A., Palepu, A., Zabkiewicz, D., Frankish, C. J., Krausz, M., & Somers, J. M. (2013). Housing First improves subjective quality of life among homeless adults with mental illness: 12-month findings from a randomized controlled trial in Vancouver, British Columbia. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48, 1245–1259.PubMedCrossRef

Pavao, P., Alvarez, J., Baumrind, N., Induni, M., & Kimerling, R. (2007). Intimate partner violence and housing instability. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32, 143–146.PubMedCrossRef

Raudenbush, S., Bryk, A., & Congdon, R. (2011). HLM 6.09 for Windows. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International, Inc.

Robins, L. N., Cottler, L. B., Bucholz, K. K., Compton, W. M., North, C. S., & Rourke, K. (2000). Diagnostic Interview Schedule for the DSM-IV (DIS-IV). St Louis, MO: Washington University School of Medicine.

Rog, D. J., & Buckner, J. C. (2007). Toward understanding homelessness: The 2007 National Symposium on Homelessness Research. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/homelessness/symposium07/Overview/index.htm.

Sherer, M., Maddux, J. E., Mercandante, B., Prentice-Dunn, S., Jacobs, B., & Rogers, R. W. (1982). The self-efficacy scale: Construction and validation. Psychological Reports, 51, 663–671.CrossRef

Shinn, M., Schteingart, J. S., Williams, N. C., Bialo-Karagis, N., Becker-Klein, R., & Weitzman, B. C. (2008). Long-term associations of homelessness with children’s well-being. American Behavioral Scientist, 51, 789–809.CrossRef

Slesnick, N., & Erdem, G. (2012). Intervention for homeless, substance abusing mothers: Findings from a non-randomized pilot. Behavioral Medicine, 38, 36–48.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Slesnick, N., & Erdem, G. (2013). Efficacy of ecologically-based treatment with substance-abusing homeless mothers: Substance use and housing outcomes. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 45, 416–425.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Slesnick, N., Prestopnik, J. L., Meyers, R. J., & Glassman, M. (2007). Treatment outcome for homeless, street-living youth. Addictive Behaviors, 32, 1237–1251.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Smith, P. H., Earp, J. A., & DeVellis, R. (1995). Measuring battering: development of the Women’s Experience with Battering (WEB) Scale. Women’s health (Hillsdale, NJ), 1(4), 273.

Smith, J. E., Meyers, R. J., & Delaney, H. D. (1998). The community reinforcement approach with homeless alcohol-dependent individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(3), 541–548.PubMedCrossRef

Sznajder-Murray, B., & Slesnick, N. (2011). "Don't leave me hanging:" Homeless mothers' perceptions of service providers. Journal of Social Service Research, 2, 1–12.

Torquati, J. C. (2002). Personal and social resources as predictors of parenting in homeless families. Journal of Family Issues, 23, 463–485.CrossRef

Tsemberis, S. (2005). 2005 APA Gold Award: Providing housing first and recovery services for homeless adults with severe mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 56(10), 1303–1305.CrossRef

Tsemberis, S., Gulcur, L., & Nakae, M. (2004). Housing First, consumer choice, and harm reduction for homeless individuals with a dual diagnosis. American Journal of Public Health, 94, 651–656.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Vostanis, P., Grattan, E., Cumella, S., & Winchester, C. (1997). Psychosocial functioning of homeless children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 881–889.PubMedCrossRef

Ware, J. E., & Sherbourne, C. D. (1992). The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36): I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Medical Care, 30(6), 473–483.PubMedCrossRef

Ware, J. E., Snow, K. K., Kosinski, M., & Gandek, B. (1993). SF-36 health survey manual and interpretation guide. The Health Institute, Boston, MA: New England Medical Center.

Weinreb, L. F., Buckner, J. C., Williams, V., & Nicholson, J. (2006). A Comparison of the health and mental status of homeless mothers in Worcester, Mass: 1993 and 2003. American Journal of Public Health, 96(8), 1444–1448.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Weinreb, L., Nicholson, J., Williams, V., & Anthes, F. (2007). Integrating behavioral health services for homeless mothers and children in primary care. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77(1), 142–152.PubMedCrossRef

Winship, J. (2001). Challenges in evaluating programs serving homeless families. Journal of Children and Poverty, 7, 163–177.CrossRef

Yu, M., North, C. S., LaVesser, P. D., Osborne, V. A., & Spitznagel, E. L. (2008). A Comparison study of psychiatric and behavior disorders and cognitive ability among homeless and housed children. Community Mental Health Journal, 44(1), 1–10.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

Title: Housing and Support Services with Homeless Mothers: Benefits to the Mother and Her Children
Authors: Xiamei Guo
Natasha Slesnick
Xin Feng
Publication date: 01-01-2016
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Community Mental Health Journal / Issue 1/2016
Print ISSN: 0010-3853
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9830-3

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Housing and Support Services with Homeless Mothers: Benefits to the Mother and Her Children

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2016

Cross-Sectional Data Within 1 Year of the Fukushima Meltdown: Effect-Size of Predictors for Depression

Mental Health Outreach to Persons Who are Homeless: Implications for Practice from a Statewide Study

Development of a Measure of Housing and Housing Services

Implementation and Outcomes of Forensic Housing First Programs

Crisis Reliability Indicators Supporting Emergency Services (CRISES): A Framework for Developing Performance Measures for Behavioral Health Crisis and Psychiatric Emergency Programs

Needs Assessment of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees Residing Temporarily in Dallas