Abstract
To date most research on homelessness has centered on urban and metropolitan environments, with little data on the characteristics of rural families experiencing homelessness. This study presents characteristics of a sample of rural families experiencing homelessness and describes the structure, immediate outcomes, and cost of a community designed transitional family housing program. Study findings suggest these families face complex and varied challenges similar to other populations experiencing homelessness. The diversity of the population supports the idea that housing programs for families experiencing homelessness in both rural and urban settings should offer programs that are service intensive and of sufficient duration to allow for a tailored approach. This research highlights that, in rural communities, family homelessness can be a product of more than a lack of affordable housing. To be most successful, in addition to providing stable housing in a safe and secure environment, attention to cost-effective interventions that maintain family unity must include a wide range of services for the whole family.
Highlights
-
This study evaluates a high-barrier, transitional housing program focusing on recovery in California.
-
Rural families experiencing homelessness in this sample were predominantly Caucasian, with distinctively little diversity.
-
Most families were headed by single mothers, with two to three children, with almost one-third of mothers noting reliable childcare as important to their acquiring stable employment.
-
Approximately half of the sample reported family histories of substance abuse, childhood adversities, and mental health challenges.
-
Suicide attempts were above national reports for the general public but consistent with other samples experiencing homelessness.
-
Special attention should be given to younger families without criminal or drug program histories.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Argent, N., & Rolley, F. (2006). Inhabiting the margins: A geography of rural homelessness in Australia. In P. Cloke & P. Milbourne (Eds.), International perspectives on rural homelessness (pp. 208–230). Routledge.
Belanger, K., & Stone, W. (2008). The social service divide: Service availability and accessibility in rural versus urban counties and impact on child welfare outcomes. Child Welfare, 87(4), 101–124. http://www.cwla.org/pubs.
Bassuk, E. L., DeCandia, C. J., Tsertsvadze, A., & Richard, M. K. (2014). The effectiveness of housing interventions and housing and service interventions on ending family homelessness: A systematic review. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(5), 457–474. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000020.
Biel, M. G., Gilhuly, D. K., Wilcox, N. A., & Jacobstein, D. (2014). Family homelessness: A deepening crisis in urban communities. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(12), 1247–1250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2014.08.015.
Bommersbach, T. J., Stefanovics, E. A., Rhee, T. G., Tsai, J., & Rosenheck, R. A. (2020). Suicide attempts and homelessness: Timing of attempts among recently homeless, past homeless, and never homeless adults. Psychiatric Services, 71(12), 1225–1231. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000073.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1992). Ecological systems theory. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Six theories of child development: Revised formulations and current issues (p. 187–249). Kingsley.
Brott, H., Kornbluh, M., Incaudo, G., Banks, L., & Reece, J. (2019). Placing a spotlight on rural homelessness: Identifying the barriers and facilitators to successfully supporting homeless families within rural communities. Journal of Poverty, 23(3), 179–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2018.1549184.
California State Auditor. (2018). Homelessness in California. State government and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority need to strengthen their efforts to address homelessness (Report 2017-2112). https://bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2017-112.pdf.
California State Auditor. (2019). Youth experiencing homelessness. California’s education system for K-12 inadequately identifies and supports these youth (Report 2019-2104). https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2019-104.pdf.
Chaviano, C. L. (2016). A place of our own: A narrative review of the family housing services literature. Child & Family Social Work, 21(1), 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12102.
Coohey, C., Easton, S. D., Kong, J., & Bockenstedt, J. K. W. (2015). Sources of psychological pain and suicidal thoughts among homeless adults. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 45(3), 271–280. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12126.
Culhane, D., Gross, K., Parker, W., Poppe, B., & Sykes, E. (2008). Accountability, cost-effectiveness, and program performance: Progress since 1998. Department of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania. https://repository.upenn.edu/spp_papers/114.
DeCandia C. J., Bassuk E. L., Richard, M. (2017) Assessment of families experiencing homelessness: Analysis of current practice. In M. Haskett (Ed.) Child and family well-being and homelessness (pp. 49–63). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50886-3_4.
DeVerteuil, G. (2005). The relationship between government assistance and housing outcomes among extremely low income individuals: A qualitative inquiry in Los Angeles. Housing Studies, 2(3), 383–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673030500062350.
Dworsky, A., & Courtney, M. E. (2009). Homelessness and the transition from foster care to adulthood. Child Welfare: Journal of Policy, Practice, and Program, 88(4), 23–56. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301455.
Dworsky, A., Napolitano, L., & Courtney, M. E. (2013). Homelessness during the transition from foster care to adulthood. American Journal of Public Health, 103(Suppl. 2), S318–S323. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301455.
Edalati, H., & Nicholls, T. L. (2019). Childhood maltreatment and the risk for criminal justice involvement and victimization among homeless individuals: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 20(3), 315–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838017708783.
Eriksson, M., Ghazinour, M., & Hammarström, A. (2018). Different uses of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory in public mental health research: What is their value for guiding public mental health policy and practice? Social Theory & Health, 16, 414–433. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-018-0065-6.
Fischer, R. (2000). Toward self-sufficiency: Evaluating a transitional housing program for homeless families. Policy Studies Journal, 28(2), 402–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.2000.28.issue-2.
First, R. J., Rife, J. C., & Toomey, B. G. (1994). Homelessness in rural areas: Causes, patterns, and trends. Social Work, 39(1), 97–108. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/39.1.97.
Fowler, P. J., Brown, D. S., Schoeny, M., & Chung, S. (2018). Homelessness in the child welfare system: A randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of housing subsidies on foster care placements and costs. Child Abuse & Neglect, 83, 52–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.07.014.
Fowler, P. J., Henry, D. B., Schoeny, M., Landsverk, J., Chavira, D., & Taylor, J. J. (2013). Inadequate housing among families under investigation for child abuse and neglect: Prevalence from a national probability sample. American Journal of Community Psychology, 52(1), 106–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-013-9580-8.
Green, C. A., Perrin, N. A., Leo, M. C., Janoff, S. L., Yarborough, B. J. H., & Paulson, R. I. (2013). Recovery in serious mental illnesses: Trajectories, characteristics and the role of mental health care in the STARS Study. Psychiatric Services, 64(12), 1203–1210. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201200545.
Groton, D. B., Gromer, J. M., Mennicke, A. M., Lee, J., Gul, M., Dupree, E. M., & Munn, J. (2017). “Give us a chance:” Understanding job seeking among women experiencing homelessness. Journal of Employment Counseling, 54(3), 115–131. https://doi.org/10.1002/joec.12060.
Gubits, D., Shinn, M., Wood, M., Brown, S. R., Dastrup, S. R., & Bell, S. H. (2018). What interventions work best for families who experience homelessness? Impact estimates from the Family Options Study. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 37(4), 735–766. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6168747/pdf/nihms970065.pdf.
Gubits, D., Shinn, M., Wood, M., Bell, S., Dastrup, S., Solari, C. D., Brown, S., McInnis, D., McCall, T., & Kattel, U. (2016). Family options study: 3-year impacts of housing and services interventions for homeless families. U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3055295.
Guo, X., Slesnick, N., & Feng, X. (2016). Housing and support services with homeless mothers: Benefits to the mother and her children. Community Mental Health Journal, 52(1), 73–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9830-3.
Henry, M., Cortes, C., Shivji, A., & Buck, K. (2014). The 2014 Annual homeless assessment report (AHAR) to Congress: Part 1, point-in-time estimates of homelessness. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2014-AHAR-Part-1.pdf.
Henwood, B. F., Shinn, M., Tsemberis, S., & Padgett, D. K. (2013). Examining provider perspectives within Housing First and traditional programs. American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 16(4), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487768.2013.847745.
Herner, M., Parker, C., McClellan, N., Muscato, L., & Guenther, E. (2018). Unmet needs of homeless at a shelter in an area undergoing urbanization. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 13(2), 100–109. https://journals.brandonu.ca/jrcd/article/view/1415/349.
HUD Exchange. (n.d.). Point-in-time count and housing inventory count. U.S. Department of Health and Urban Development. https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/hdx/pit-hic/.
HUD Exchange. (2019). CoC homeless populations and subpopulations reports. U.S. Department of Health and Urban Development. https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/.
Jones, R., Reupert, A., Sutton, K., & Maybery, D. (2014). The interplay of rural issues, mental illness, substance use, and housing problems. Journal of Mental Health, 23(6), 317–322. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2014.951476.
Justus, A. N., Burling, T. A., & Weingardt, K. R. (2006). Client predictors of treatment retention and completion in a program for homeless veterans. Substance Use & Misuse, 41(5), 751–762. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826080500411353.
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Borges, G., Nock, M., & Wang, P. S. (2005). Trends in suicide ideation, plans, gestures, and attempts in the United States, 1990-1992 to 2001-2003. Journal of the American Medical Association, 293(20), 2487–2495. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.293.20.2487.
Lee, K. H., Jun, J. S., Kim, Y. J., Roh, S., Moon, S. S., Bukonda, N., & Hines, L. (2017). Mental health, substance abuse, and suicide among homeless adults. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 14(4), 229–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761407.2017.1316221.
Lenz-Rashid, S. (2017). Supportive housing program for homeless families: Foster care outcomes and best practices. Children and Youth Services Review, 79, 558–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.07.012.
McClelland, S., Steel, S., Marsh, L., Radasa, T., Ticas, L., DelGrande, A., Browning, G., Smith, J., Kuhlmann, K., Ice, U. V., Lottis, K., & Payment, D. (2010). Dimensions in health: A sample of rural and global health issues (Vol. 3). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/rural-cultural-health/2.
Narayan, A. J., Kalstabakken, A. W., Labella, M. H., Nerenberg, L. S., Monn, A. R., & Masten, A. S. (2017). Intergenerational continuity of adverse childhood experiences in homeless families: Unpacking exposure to maltreatment versus family dysfunction. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 87(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000133.
Padgett, D. K., Smith, B. T., Choy-Brown, M., Tiderington, E., & Mercado, M. (2016). Trajectories of recovery among formerly homeless adults with serious mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 67(6), 610–614. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201500126.
Post, P. A. (2002). Hard to reach: Rural homelessness & health care. National Health Care for the Homeless Council. https://nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Rural-Homelessness.pdf.
Searles, V. B., Valley, M. A., Hedegaard, H., & Betz, M. E. (2014). Suicides in urban and rural counties in the United States, 2006–2008. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 35(1), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000224.
Shah, M. F., Liu, Q., Eddy, J. M., Barkan, S., Marshall, D., Mancuso, D., Lucenko, B., & Huber, A. (2017). Predicting homelessness among emerging adults aging out of foster are. American Journal of Community Psychology, 60(1–2), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12098.
Shinn, M., Brown, S. R., & Gibs, D. (2017). Can housing and service interventions reduce family separations for families who experience homelessness? American Journal of Community Psychology, 60(1–2), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12111.
Shinn, M., Gibbons-Benton, J., & Brown, S. R. (2015). Poverty, homelessness, and family break-up. Child Welfare, 94(1), 105 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5760188/.
Stefancic, A., & Tsemberis, S. (2007). Housing first for long-term shelter dwellers with psychiatric disabilities in a suburban county: A four-year study of housing access and retention. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 28(3–4), 265–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-007-0093-9.
Tinland, A., Boyer, L., Loubière, S., Greacen, T., Girard, V., Boucekine, M., Fond, G., & Auquier, P. (2018). Victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder in homeless women with mental illness are associated with depression, suicide, and quality of life. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 14, 2269–2279. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S161377.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). QuickFacts. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219.
United States Government Accountability Office. (2010). Rural homelessness: Better collaboration by HHS and HUD could improve delivery of services in rural areas. Report to congressional committees. https://www.gao.gov/assets/310/307454.html.
Wallace, B., Pauly, B., Perkin, K., & Cross, G. (2019). Where’s the housing? Housing and income outcomes of a transitional program to end homelessness. Journal of Poverty, 23(2), 161–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2018.1549185.
Weinreb, L., Rog, D. J., & Henderson, K. A. (2010). Exiting shelter: An epidemiological analysis of barriers and facilitators for families. Social Service Review, 84(4), 597–614. https://doi.org/10.1086/657108.
Acknowledgements
Elements of the dataset used in manuscript have previously been reported in Brott et al. (2019). The research was supported by students and faculty at California State University, Chico. A non-profit organization provided the setting and a portion of the data collection for the project. No grants or federal funding was used to support this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
A. B. contributed to conceptualization, writing, review and editing, and formal analysis. M. L. H. contributed to writing, validation, review, and editing. S. E. B. contributed to review and editing. G. A. I. contributed to conceptualization, methodology, resources, supervision, review, and edit.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Consent to Participate
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Ethics Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of California State University, Chico.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boullion, A., Holland, M.L., Brock, S.E. et al. Rural Families Experiencing Homelessness: Demographics, Program Design, Outcome of High Barrier Transitional Housing and Rehabilitation Program. J Child Fam Stud 31, 1823–1837 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02144-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02144-6