Housing and Services for Homeless Families

1
Housing and Services for Homeless Families

• Homeless Policy Academy
• April 20, 2005
• Marybeth Shinn
• New York University

2
Todays Presentation

• The nature of homelessness for families
• Housing the central service
• Other services for other goals
• How should housing and services be organized?

3
Homelessness Is Common for Poor, Young, Minority
Families

• 7 of adults in national phone survey in lifetime
  (Link et al., 1994)
• 3 in 5 years (Link et al., 1994)
• 16 of poor Black NY children 0-4 in 1 year
  (Culhane Metraux, 1999)

4
Homeless Families Are Similar to Other Poor
Families

• High rates of depression
• High exposure to violence
• Poor education, work histories
• High rates of single parenthood
• (Bassuk et al., 1996 Shinn et al., 1998)
• Differences are largely due to life stage and
  resources

5
Differences from Other Poor Families

• Younger, with young children
• More ethnic minorities
• Fewer housing and economic resources
• More substance abuse
• (Bassuk et al., 1996 Shinn et al., 1998)

6
Characteristics Depend on Service Systems

• More single parents where shelters exclude men or
  cannot house families together
• More frequent moves where shelter systems limit
  length of stay

7
Homelessness Is a River, Not a Lake

• Homelessness is preceded by residential
  instability 5 moves in 18 months (Rog et al.,
  1995)
• Homelessness is temporary
• But without housing help, repeat episodes are
  common 53 have had previous episode (Rog et
  al., 1995)

8
Housing Stabilizes Families

• 88 with Section 8 certificates and services
  housed after 18 months across 9 cities
• City variation in service packages unrelated to
  stability rates
• (Rog et al., 1995)

9
Housing Stabilizes Families

• Families with subsidized housing and no special
  services were as stable as welfare families after
  5 years in NYC (Shinn et al., 1998)
• 80 were in own place for 1 year without a move
• Only 18 of families without subsidies were stable

10
Affordable Housing Key to Ending Homelessness

• Risk factors different from solutions
• In NYC, no family characteristic predicted
  stability, once subsidized housing was controlled
  (Shinn et al., 1998)
• Risk factors important because they limit access
  to housing
• Caveats Welfare an entitlement subsidies paid
  directly to landlord

11
How to Increase Access to Affordable Housing

• Increase incomes
• Reduce housing costs
• Reduce barriers to access

12
Increase Incomes

• Increase minimum wage
• Education, training for higher wage
• Expand EITC, increase access
• Access to other income subsidies
• TANF, SSI, food stamps
• Day care, WIC

13
Reduce Housing Costs

• Section 8, other subsidies
• Use TANF for housing aid
• Use CDBG for housing
• Convert transitional to permanent housing
• Assistance for new renters

14
Problems with Housing Assistance

• Limited resources
• Queue jumping, perverse incentives
• Targeting difficult (Shinn et al., 1998)
• 10 of public assistance caseload
• 66 of those entering shelter

15
Reduce Barriers to Access

• Enforce fair housing laws
• African Americans treated more poorly than whites
  in 22 of rental tests (Turner, 2002)
• Require set-asides as remedy for discrimination

16
Reduce Barriers to Access

• Minimize barriers for ex-prisoners and families
• 1.5 million children had parent in prison in 1999
  (Mumola, 2000)
• Prevent evictions

17
Services for What?

• Housing to end homelessness
• Services for other goals
• In New York, housing ended homelessness, but
  families were troubled in other ways

18
Questions for Service Providers, Researchers

• What are goals of services?
• What are benefits?
• Are there harmful side effects?
• Where should services be offered?

19
Stabilize Schooling

• School mobility leads to lower achievement (GAO,
  1994)
• Homeless children more mobile, more likely to be
  held back
• NYC Achievement declined during homelessness,
  then rebounded (Rafferty et al., 2004)

20
Reduce Family Separations

• High rates of family separation
• 65 of homeless women, 7 of homeless men live
  with ANY of their children nationally (Burt et
  al., 1999)
• 44 of homeless families vs. 8 of welfare
  families in NYC separated from child after 5
  years (Cowal et al., 2002)

21
Predictors of Separation (NYC)

• Substance abuse
• Domestic violence
• Institutional placement of mother
• Often for substance abuse treatment
• Homelessness (extra scrutiny?)

22
Proportion of Mothers Separated by Housing Status
and Risk
23
Services to Stabilize Families

• Homelessness should not be a reason to separate
  families
• Avoid subjecting homeless families to extra
  scrutiny
• Housing resources are often needed for
  reunification

24
Services for Substance Abuse

• Treatment that does not require separation from
  children
• Treatment that does not require shelter entry

25
Other Services for All Poor Families

• To increase incomes
• To address mental health, trauma
• To address health problems

26
Research Needed on Linking Housing and Services

• No studies comparing transitional housing with
  permanent housing
• Data on housing stability suggests TH is
  unnecessary
• Unclear what proportion of families could benefit
  from intensive services (e.g., supportive
  housing)
• SAMHSA study underway

27
Advantages of Housing Programs with Onsite
Services

• One-stop shopping convenient for families
• Easy for providers to reach families

28
Disadvantages of Housing Programs with Onsite
Services

• Stigma
• NIMBYism
• One size does not fit all
• Hard to transition in place, thus increased
  mobility
• Service providers in dual role of helper and
  enforcer

29
Disadvantages of Homeless-Only Services (Onsite
or Not)

• Perverse incentives
• Resentment from nonhomeless
• Isolation from mainstream services
• Formerly homeless families unlikely to have
  regular source of medical care (Duchon et al.,
  1999)
• Specialized funding stream

30
Conclusions

• Homeless families are not a species apart
• Affordable housing is critical to end their
  homelessness
• Other services should be designed to integrate
  rather than isolate homeless families

31
References

• Bassuk et al. (1996). The characteristics and
  needs of sheltered homeless and low-income housed
  mothers caring for the uninsured and
  underinsured. Journal of the American Medical
  Association, 276(8), 640-646.
• Burt et al. (Urban Institute) (1999).
  Homelessness Programs and the people they
  serve Findings of the National Survey of
  Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients
  Technical report prepared for Interagency Council
  on the Homeless. Washington, D.C. The Council.
• Cowal et al. (2002). Mother-child separations
  among homeless and housed families receiving
  public assistance in New York City. American
  Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 711-730.
• Culhane, D.P. Metraux, S. (1999). One-year
  prevalence rates of public shelter utilization by
  race, sex, age and poverty status for New York
  City (1990, 1995) and Philadelphia (1995).
  Population Research and Policy Review, 18 (3).
• Duchon et al. (1999). The relationship of
  residential instability to medical care
  utilization among poor mothers in New York City.
  Medical Care, 37, 1282-1293.
• United States General Accounting Office (GAO
  1994). Elementary school children Many change
  schools frequently, harming their education.
  Washington, DC. Government Printing Office.
• Link et al. (1994). Lifetime and five-year
  prevalence of homelessness in the United States.
  American Journal of Public Health, 84, 1907-1912.
• Mumola, C. J. (2000). Incarcerated parents and
  their children. U.S. Department of Justice,
  Bureau of Justice Statistics. http//www.ojp.usdoj
  .gov/bjs/pub/pdf/iptc.pdf.
• Rog, et al. (1995). Implementation of the
  Homeless Families Program 2. Characteristics,
  strengths, and needs of participant families.
  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65, 514-528.
• Rafferty et al. (2004). Academic achievement
  among formerly homeless adolescents and their
  continuously housed peers. Journal of School
  Psychology, 42, 179-199.
• Shinn et al. (1998). Predictors of homelessness
  among families in New York City From shelter
  request to housing stability. American Journal
  of Public Health, 88, 1651-1657.
• Turner (2002) Discrimination in metropolitan
  housing markets. Washington, DC U.S. Department
  of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy
  Development and Research. http//www.huduser.org/P
  ublications/pdf/Phase1_Report.pdf.