Browsing by Subject "homelessness"
Item Autonomy Support in Parents and Young Children Experiencing Homelessness: A Mixed Method Approach(2019-12) Distefano, RebeccaBoth executive function (EF) skills and autonomy have been linked to academic achievement in early childhood. Promoting the development of these skills may be one way to prevent academic difficulties for those most at-risk, such as young children experiencing homelessness. Theoretical and empirical work points to the important role of caregivers as key socializers of EF and autonomy development through autonomy-supportive parenting behaviors. However, some scholars have suggested that autonomy support may be problematic in high-risk contexts, such as homelessness. The current dissertation examined the proposed tension between the potential benefits and drawbacks of autonomy support in families experiencing homelessness. Study 1 was a qualitative interview about autonomy support with 21 parents living in an emergency homeless shelter. Results indicated that many parents endorsed ideas that were consistent with autonomy support, but that some viewed behaviors like offering choice to young children to be inappropriate. Study 2 was a quantitative assessment with 100 parents and their 3- to 6-year-old children to further examine autonomy support in families experiencing homelessness. Unexpectedly, parent verbal IQ emerged as the sole predictor of autonomy-supportive behaviors, and autonomy support was only positively associated with EF skills in children who had not completed kindergarten. Furthermore, the relations between autonomy support and child outcomes did not depend on safety concerns, household chaos, or familial values of autonomy support. Overall, the evidence from the current project addresses gaps in our understanding of autonomy-supportive parenting in high-risk contexts.Item Development and Implementation of an Academic-Community Partnership to Enhance Care among Homeless Persons(University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, 2011) Gatewood, Sharon B.S.; Moczygemba, Leticia R.; Alexander, Akash J.; Osborn, Robert D.; Reynolds-Cane, Dianne L.; Matzke, Gary R.; Goode, Jean-Venable R.An academic-community partnership between a Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) clinic and a school of pharmacy was created in 2005 to provide medication education and identify medication related problems. The urban community based HCH clinic in the Richmond, VA area provides primary health care to the homeless, uninsured and underinsured. The center also offers eye care, dental care, mental health and psychiatric care, substance abuse services, case management, laundry and shower facilities, and mail services at no charge to those in need. Pharmacist services are provided in the mental health and medical clinics. A satisfaction survey showed that the providers and staff (n = 13) in the clinic were very satisfied with the integration of pharmacist services. The quality and safety of medication use has improved as a result of the academic-community collaborative. Education and research initiatives have also resulted from the collaborative. This manuscript describes the implementation, outcomes and benefits of the partnership for both the HCH clinic and the school of pharmacy.Item Dyadic Behavioral Coregulation And Child Physiological Activity In Homeless/Highly Mobile Parent-Child Dyads: A State-Space Grid Analysis(2020-05) DePasquale, CarrieThe quality of parent-child interactions, particularly in toddlerhood, shapes children’s development across the lifespan. This is particularly true for families experiencing chronic stress and adversity, for example homelessness and high mobility (HHM). Evidence suggests that parent-child interaction quality and child physiological self-regulation, specifically respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), can be important protective factors that mitigate the impact of chronic stress on children’s socio-emotional adjustment. However, we do not understand the microsocial dynamics of parent-child behavioral interaction, how this is associated with child physiological regulation in real-time, or how this real-time biobehavioral association predicts broader indices of children’s socio-emotional well-being. In this light, the current study takes a combined developmental psychopathology-dynamic systems approach to assess how microsocial parent-child interaction processes coordinate with child RSA in real-time in N=100 families currently experiencing HHM. This study also investigated the extent to which real-time biobehavioral coordination correlates with broader indices of child adjustment: specifically, observed child executive functioning and parent-reported child socio-emotional adjustment. Children were 3-6 years old (M=4.92, SD=1.21) and families were all currently living in an urban emergency housing shelter at the time of assessment. Microsocial parent-child interaction processes were assessed during three different interaction tasks via state-space grid methodology. Child RSA was measured via ambulatory heart rate monitors during the interaction tasks. Prior to interaction, children completed the Minnesota Executive Functioning Scale and parents reported on their children’s socio-emotional adjustment via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and a subscale of the Health and Behavior Questionnaire. Multi-level vector autoregressive analyses suggested that child RSA in one moment was positively associated with dyadic behavioral coregulation in the next moment. However, dyadic behavioral coregulation did not conversely predict subsequent child RSA. These associations did not vary across tasks. For individual dyads, the association between child RSA and behavioral coregulation ranged from moderately negative to strongly positive. Still, the magnitude of this within-dyad association did not significantly predict child observed executive functioning or parent-reported socio-emotional adjustment. Results are interpreted in light of their implications for understanding risk and protective factors for families experiencing HHM. Methodological and statistical lessons are also discussed.Item Efficiency, Equity, and Eliminating Homelessness in Hennepin County(2024-05-01) Adams , Edward; Banishoraka, Yasmin; Gebeck, Madison; Goudie-Averill, Alex; Makari, DeborahThe Coordinated Entry System (CES) is a process utilized by Hennepin County to facilitate the intake, assessment, and referral of homeless individuals and families with the highest needs to housing opportunities. This study sought to identify the challenges Hennepin County staff and service providers face when moving homeless individuals and families through CES and offer recommendations on how to increase efficiency and ensure equity in the referral process to guarantee successful housing outcomes. Through qualitative interviews with the aforementioned actors and quantitative analysis of key County reports, we make offerings around assessments, documentation, HMIS, program and referral misalignment, County and service provider goals, County-provider collaboration, and comprehensive support for clients.Item Strategies to Improve Point-In-Time (PIT) Counts of Unsheltered Homelessness(2021-05) Bergmann, Susan; Hilty, Rowan; Hirilall, Ashley; Kraft, LaurenThe Hennepin County Office of Housing Stability requested assistance from students at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs to conduct a study about how best to reform and improve their point-in-time (PIT) count of people experiencing homelessness. The Hennepin County CoC’s PIT counts of both sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness contribute to the determination of federal funding received to support the County’s population experiencing homelessness. Current counting methods are resource-intensive—particularly for the unsheltered count—and likely yield an underestimate of people experiencing homelessness. These concerns have led to skepticism about the practicality of the PIT count, as well as confusion around funding allocations. The team conducted research over a four-month period, beginning late January 2021. The study relied on frequent meetings with Hennepin County, a literature review to learn about sampling methodologies and how other communities conduct their counts, and interviews with stakeholders and experts to better understand the PIT count process. The literature review revealed several innovative methods for sampling and estimating and the interviews highlighted concerns expressed by those directly involved with the process.Item Strategies to Improve Point-in-Time (PIT) Counts of Unsheltered Homelessness: An Evaluation of Hennepin County's Current Approach and Summary of Lessons Learned from Other Communities(2021-05) Hilty, Rowan; Bergmann, Susan; Kraft, Lauren; Hirilall, AshleyThe Hennepin County Office of Housing Stability requested assistance from students at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs to conduct a study about how best to reform and improve their point-in-time (PIT) count of people experiencing homelessness. The Hennepin County CoC’s PIT counts of both sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness contribute to the determination of federal funding received to support the County’s population experiencing homelessness. Current counting methods are resource-intensive—particularly for the unsheltered count—and likely yield an underestimate of people experiencing homelessness. These concerns have led to skepticism about the practicality of the PIT count, as well as confusion around funding allocations. The team conducted research over a four-month period, beginning late January 2021. The study relied on frequent meetings with Hennepin County, a literature review to learn about sampling methodologies and how other communities conduct their counts, and interviews with stakeholders and experts to better understand the PIT count process. The literature review revealed several innovative methods for sampling and estimating and the interviews highlighted concerns expressed by those directly involved with the process. This report provides background on the PIT count process, a summary of the methodological approaches from the literature review, findings from the interviews, and recommendations to strengthen future counts. Lastly, we summarize provide three key recommendations for the Hennepin County CoC to prioritize as they prepare for the next PIT count amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: 1. Create a strategically designed sampling approach to use in future iterations of the unsheltered PIT count and build quality checks into a sampling strategy to help inform ongoing process improvement. 2. Increase connection and collaboration with the network of organizations, agencies, and other stakeholders involved in the PIT count. 3. Use targeted approaches to increase the number of volunteers, particularly those who are racially diverse and/or those with lived experiences of homelessness.Item When you can’t go home: Associations between family environment and suicidality for transgender youth with histories of homelessness(2019-05) Morrow, QuinlynTransgender youth who are or have been homeless are at an increased risk of suicide. To better understand risk and protective factors for suicide in this population, the present qualitative study analyzed interviews with 30 racially diverse transgender young people (ages 15-26) who had experienced homelessness. Inductive qualitative content analysis revealed that gender-based rejection from family members, other dysfunctional family dynamics (e.g., domestic violence, substance abuse), and mental illness appeared to increase risk of both homelessness and suicide, rather than homelessness itself increasing suicide risk. Results show that although homelessness was a stressor in these young people’s lives, conflict and rejection from family members could also be severe stressors. In these instances, participants managed conflictual relationships in ways that allowed them to maintain relationships when safe, and to create distance when relationships were not supportive. Findings suggest that clinicians and other service providers working with homeless transgender youth need to be mindful of the intersectional nature of potential familial stressors, wherein gender-based prejudice can interact with other family dysfunction to make the home unsafe, and to facilitate their clients’ agency in establishing appropriate boundaries with family members. Additionally, efforts to support trans youth may need to focus on advocating for the expansion of social safety net programs that provide access to basic necessities in order to proactively reduce harm to transgender people, regardless of their specific family circumstances.Item Why Homeless Individuals "Get Stuck": A Closer Look at Shelter Use and Intervention Points in Hennepin County.(Minneapolis: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2011) Edwards, Ashley; Hyk, Jennifer; Kendall, Amelia; Larson, Jennifer; Negash, Tesfaye