Poster #99 - Reaching Vulnerable Children: A Trauma-Informed Treatment Model for Working with Homeless Children and Families

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Of the nearly 550,000 people who experience homelessness in the United States, approximately 35% are families with children (HUD, 2016). Homeless children, who may be victimized and exposed to violence, familial instability, and parental mental health problems, have high rates of mental health concerns (e.g., Haber & Toro, 2004). In addition, homeless children experience physical health effects that range from higher rates of respiratory illnesses and vision problems to long term emotional and behavioral problems (Barnes et al., 2017). It is estimated that at least 83% of homeless children have been exposed to at least 1 episode of violence (National Center on Family Homelessness, 2008), and these children demonstrate behavioral health symptoms at a higher rate than in comparable low-income populations (NCTSN, 2005). Exposure to trauma, community violence, and instability can have long term effects on children’s physical and emotional development. In 2014, the National Center for Child Homelessness called for the development of targeted services to address the high prevalence of trauma and risk for developmental and mental health problems among homeless children. Because effective parenting predicts better outcomes in homeless children, including school performance, peer acceptance, and trauma symptoms (Herbers et al., 2014), efforts to connect homeless children to mental health services and support parent-child relationships may support resiliency in these children. However, traditional clinic-based services may not be adequate given transportation issues, the transitory nature of homelessness, and competing priorities (e.g., finding housing).

In our efforts to engage homeless families, we partnered with a local transitional school for homeless children and a family shelter to develop and implement a trauma-informed treatment model, in which services take place at the school and shelter. To expose as many children as possible to positive coping and social skills, we offer universal social-emotional skills groups and trauma-informed yoga. For children who require more help, we offer a trauma support group, crisis management, and individual therapy. We also offer parenting groups and a brief trauma-informed parent-child intervention to give parents behavior management strategies and psychoeducation about the effects of homelessness and trauma. Since July 2017, we have provided trauma-informed social-emotional skills groups and yoga to 294 children aged 3-14 years (51% male). We have also provided short-term trauma-informed therapy (mean sessions = 5.36; range = 1-13) to 34 of these children. Of those who reported ethnicity (N=198), children were 64% African American, 12% Latino/a, 11% Caucasian, 10% multi-ethnic, and 3% Native American. Of those whose parents consented to a trauma screen (N=79), all had a trauma history, the majority (81%) reported exposure to domestic violence, and 33% reported more than one type of trauma exposure. These results support research indicating a high prevalence of trauma exposure, especially domestic violence, for homeless children and point to the feasibility of programs to provide mental health services to these families. Policy implications include the importance of collaborating with community partners, providing services at locations where families already go, offering universal services that are not “therapy,” and developing interventions that are flexible and impactful.

Authors

• Deanna K Boys, UC Davis CAARE Center
  Presenting Author

• Brandi N Hawk, UC Davis CAARE Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan G Timmer, UC Davis CAARE Center
  Non-Presenting Author