A Cross-Systems Approach to Supportive Housing in Child Welfare

Background/Purpose

Homelessness and child welfare involvement are interrelated in multiple and complicated ways. Homelessness may precipitate child welfare involvement; families who are homeless, unstably or unsafely housed may have children removed from their care; families may lose subsidized housing when children are removed; or inadequate housing may delay reunification. Issues underlying homelessness and child welfare involvement (i.e., mental illness, substance misuse, domestic violence, severe poverty) are typically addressed through fragmented interventions rather than a coordinated multi-system approach, missing interactive effects of multiple problems and leaving trauma symptoms under-recognized. Our purpose is to present findings from a cross-systems approach to ensuring safe, affordable and stable housing for homeless, child welfare involved families with complex needs.

 

Methods

Data are derived from a mixed-methods process evaluation and an experimental outcome evaluation in which families in a small, Midwestern city are randomly assigned to the supportive housing/child welfare initiative or the control condition--standard child welfare services available in the community.  Sources of data include surveys/interviews with providers and families, screening and randomization protocols, and management information systems.    

 

Findings

Attention to infrastructure was essential for building a cross-systems approach involving public and private child welfare, housing, mental health, substance use, domestic violence, education, job training, and other organizations.  Interagency teams were developed at administrative levels (agency leadership), operational levels (program directors), and at case-specific levels (providers and families). Surveys and key informant interviews reveal a shared understanding of, and commitment to, program principles and goals. The project reached families with very high needs:  all were either on the street, in shelters, or otherwise unstably housed at referral; all were at or below 30% Area Median Income; and 75% had received services addressing mental health or substance misuse. All families had open child welfare cases in which the goal was to keep the family together, either by reunifying children in care (52%), preventing placement (42%), or both (6%).  

The collaborative process expedited moving families into safe, furnished housing: 93% were housed within 14 days of enrollment, and 96% of all families remained housed. Family satisfaction with regard to their experience with the program, their own progress, and optimism regarding the future, is quite high.  Furthermore, the collaborative structures created essential systems level changes, modifying screening, referral, assessment, and housing applications to reduce barriers to families accessing permanent housing; successfully authoring and gaining City and HUD approved preference language for child welfare involved families to benefit from housing vouchers; and successfully acquiring additional housing funds. 

 

Implications

Effectively addressing the complex intersection of homelessness and child welfare involvement requires a comprehensive and collaborative community-based approach. Multiple systems are involved, each with its own assumptions, values, policies, and procedures. When systems are not working together with a common vision, individually they give up on families that are not progressing according to expectations. In order to meet the complex needs presented by homeless child welfare-involved families, strategies at multiple levels across and within organizations are essential; these strategies must be re-assessed carefully and continuously.