Understanding a Growing Crisis: Exploration of Factors Associated with Families Experiencing Homelessness in Texas

Background and Purpose: Families with children have been identified as one of the fastest-growing subgroups of people experiencing homelessness, particularly in urban areas such as Texas. Family homelessness is often characterized by instability, isolation, trauma, disruption in family dynamics, and risk of health and mental health deterioration. Family homelessness exposes families and children to environments that put them at risk for adverse health, social, and economic outcomes. However, homeless services and research focus primarily on single individuals, warranting a need to understand family homelessness better. A state-funded Healthy Community Collaborative (HCC) program provides housing and wraparound services for individuals experiencing homelessness and mental health or co-occurring disorders in Texas. This study explores factors associated with family homelessness among HCC participants who are heads of households of families experiencing homelessness.

Methods: The study sample of 460 participants (ages 19-83) in a major metropolitan city in Texas was drawn from the HCC program from January 2022 to November 2022. The outcomes variable, family homelessness, was measured by the head of household’s enrollment in case management services for families experiencing homelessness. Independent variables for the study included demographic variables (age, gender, race, ethnicity), employment status, total VI-SPDAT (Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool) score, mental health needs, chronic health needs, substance abuse needs, number of homeless episodes in the last three years, and number of homeless months in the last three years). Logistic regression was conducted to identify factors related to family homelessness by comparing HCC participants enrolled in family case management services (n=104) to participants enrolled in adult (non-family) case management services (n=356).

Results: An increase in the odds of experiencing family homelessness is found among the head of household participants that are younger (OR=.98, p<.01), female (OR=.11, p<.001), Black/African American (OR=.56, p<.05), and Hispanic (OR=.47, p<.05). Participants experiencing family homelessness had more significant mental health needs (OR=.31, p<.001), chronic health needs (OR=.50, p<.05), and scored higher on the homeless service prioritization index (VI-SPDAT) (OR=1.33, p<.001). Lastly, families experiencing homeless were 1.45 times more likely to report more episodes of homelessness in the last three years (p<.05) and were .91 times less likely to experience chronic homelessness (p<.01).

Conclusion and Implications: An in-depth examination of family homelessness among HCC participants has discovered a specific, at-risk group—young, ethnic-minority, female head of households with mental health and chronic health needs with multiple episodes of homelessness in recent months appears to need timely and effective services and support. Practice and policy measures that focus on supporting such families experiencing transitional or episodic homelessness might be critical for families.