 |
|
Study finds significant number of kids experience family homelessness
July 28, 2009A new multisite study by UCLA and RAND Corp. researchers and colleagues has found that 7 percent of fifth-graders and their families have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives and that the occurrence is even higher - 11 percent - for African American children and those from the poorest households.
The study also found that children who had experienced homelessness at some point during their lives were significantly more likely to have an emotional, behavioral or developmental problem; were more likely to have witnessed serious violence with a knife or a gun; and were more likely to have received mental health care.
The research is the first population-based study to describe the lifetime prevalence of family homelessness among children and its association with health and health care.
The findings will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health and are currently available online by subscription.
"It was unexpected to see such a high prevalence of family homelessness in this sample of fifth-grade students, especially since this number only included children whose parents reported that they were literally homeless - staying in places like shelters, cars or on the streets," said lead author Dr. Tumaini R. Coker, clinical instructor of pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and an associate natural scientist at RAND. "Our results suggest that in a classroom of 28 fifth-graders, two students would have been homeless at some point in their lives."
Researchers analyzed data from Healthy Passages, a multisite study of 5,147 fifth-grade students funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Interviews of students and parents were conducted over the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years and included children from Birmingham, Ala.; Houston, Texas; and Los Angeles.
After controlling for sociodemographic factors, indicators of general child health were similar for children who had experienced homelessness (ever-homeless) and those who had never been homeless (never-homeless), but indicators of emotional, behavioral and developmental health were not.
"Ever-homeless children were significantly more likely to have a parent report that they had an emotional, behavioral or developmental problem and to have received mental health-related services," Coker said. "Our study is not able to say whether an experience of homelessness caused these problems. Further research will help us understand the relationship between the emotional, behavioral and developmental problems and the episodes of homelessness."
"Clinicians should be aware of the possibility that their patients could be homeless," said senior author Dr. Mark A. Schuster, the William Berenberg Professor of Pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School. "In addition to helping such families obtain housing services, clinicians may find that their patients also have mental health problems that should be addressed."
The next stage of research will be to use longitudinal data to understand the temporal relationships between emotional, developmental and behavioral problems and episodes of homelessness.
Additional sites involved in the study included the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Texas, Houston.
In addition to Coker and Schuster, study authors included Marc N. Elliott, David E. Kanouse, Jo Anne Grunbaum, Janice Gilliland, Susan R. Tortolero and Paula Cuccaro. The authors have no financial ties to disclose.
University of California - Los Angeles
Homelessness Current Events and Homelessness News RSSFilling the gap: The importance of Medicaid continuity for former inmates
It is time for states to suspend, rather than terminate, the Medicaid benefits of inmates while they are incarcerated, say correctional health care experts from The Miriam Hospital in a commentary published online by the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Program reduces hospital and emergency department use among homeless adults with chronic illnesses
An intervention that provided housing and case management to homeless adults with chronic medical illnesses reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
New Study Shows That One-Third Shelter Youth Have Been Institutionalized; Almost One-Half Suffered Violence in the Home
In one of the largest-ever studies of homeless youth in New York City history, researchers at Columbia University's Center for Homelessness Prevention, in partnership with Covenant House -- the City's largest agency serving street youth, offer a stark portrait of youth disconnected from the world of work and education and with intense histories of family violence.
Bipolar disorder linked to risk of early death from natural causes
Bipolar disorder appears to increase the risk of early death from medical illnesses, according to a literature review study published as the lead article this week in the journal Psychiatric Services.
Family rejection of LGB children linked to poor health in early childhood
For the first time, researchers have established a clear link between family rejection of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents and negative health outcomes in early adulthood.
Study links child hunger and poor health to unstable housing
A new study shows that children whose families move frequently or live in overcrowded conditions are more likely to suffer from hunger and poor health than those in stable housing.
Pivotal Emory study focuses on teens at risk for psychosis
Emory University in Atlanta is playing a key role in the largest, most comprehensive study ever funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of adolescents and young adults at risk for developing a psychotic disorder.
New approach needed to tackle child abuse and neglect
Leading child advocates have called for a new approach to tackling child abuse and neglect amid rising rates of abuse notifications and children being brought into State care.
Study highlights risky behavior, lack of care among HIV-infected crack users
Doctors who treat HIV-infected crack users refer to them as "the forgotten population." A study being presented at this week's International AIDS Conference in Mexico City reveals that these patients frequently lack outpatient health care, do not receive life-saving antiretroviral therapy and continue to engage in risky sexual behavior that likely contributes to HIV transmission.
NASA data helps pinpoint impacted populations in disaster aftermath
When two catastrophic natural disasters struck within days of each other in May 2008, disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and health officials, as well as members of the news media tapped into a unique set of NASA data products describing the location of the exposed populations.
More Homelessness Current Events and Homelessness News Articles
 |
A Shelter in Our Car by Monica Gunning (Author), Elaine Pedlar (Illustrator) When her father died, Zettie and her mother left their warm and comfortable home in Jamaica for an uncertain future in the United Sates. Zettie's mother can't find a steady job so they are forced to live in their car. But her mother's unwavering love, support, and gutsy determination give Zettie the confidence that, together, she and her mother can meet all challenges. Monica Gunning's moving and authentic story about homelessness in an American city and Elaine Pedlar's strong and lively illustrations bring this moving story to life. |
 |
Homeless In America Starring: Tommy Wiseau, Greg Sestero |
 |
Voices from the Street: Truths about Homelessness from Sisters of the Road by Jessica P. Morrell (Author) Voices from the Street is a candid, guided exploration of homelessness poignant and powerful. The book aspires beyond mere literary voyeurism. Taken from over 500 interviews with those experiencing homelessness, Voices from the Street: Truths about Homelessness from Sisters of the Road is an exploration of their narratives with photographs and family maps. Monica Beemer, executive director of Sisters of the Road, explains, Our hope is that we will build a sense of community, relationship, compassion, and awareness. This book connects readers to individuals, not to ideas, theories, or politics real individuals whose stories and thoughts will enrich readers lives. |
 |
Reckoning With Homelessness (The Anthropology of Contemporary Issues) by Kim Hopper (Author) "It must be some kind of experiment or something, to see how long people can live without food, without shelter, without security." —homeless woman, Grand Central Station, winter "Homelessness is a routine fact of life on the margins. Materially, it emerges out of a tangled but unmysterious mix of factors: scarce housing, poorly planned and badly implemented policies of relocation and support, dismal prospects of work, exhausted or alienated kin. . . . Any outreach worker could tell you that list would be incomplete without one more: how misery can come to prefer its own company."—from the book Kim Hopper has dedicated his career to trying to correct the problem of homelessness in the United States. In his powerful book, he draws upon his dual strengths as anthropologist... |
 |
UNCERTAIN DAYS: Living Homeless Starring: Documentary Directed By: Joseph Piner |
 |
A Kids' Guide to Hunger & Homelessness: How to Take Action! by Cathryn Berger Kaye M.A. (Author) Kids explore what others in the world (including young people) have done and are doing to address the issues, find out what their community needs, and develop a service project. The workbook includes facts, quotations, real-life examples, write-on pages, resources, a note to adults—and a lot of inspiration to get out there and make a difference in the world. Includes exclusive interviews with author and activist Francis Moor Lappé, and Lindsey Lee Johnson, author of Soul Moon Soup, the story of a girl living on the streets with her mother. |
 |
Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness by Peter H. Rossi (Author) The most accurate and comprehensive picture of homelessness to date, this study offers a powerful explanation of its causes, proposes short-and long-term solutions, and documents the striking contrasts between the homeless of the 1950s and 1960s and the contemporary population, which is younger and contains more women, children, and blacks. |
 |
Children Underground Starring: Cristina Ionescu, Mihai Alexandre Tudose, Violeta 'Macarena' Rosu, Ana Turturica, Marian Turturica Directed By: Edet Belzberg Also With: Wolfgang Held (Cinematographer), Edet Belzberg (Producer), Jonathan Oppenheim (Editor), Jonathan Oppenheim (Producer), Alan Oxman (Producer), Michel Negroponte (Producer), Mona Nicoara (Producer) Easily one of the most astonishing and engaging cinematic works of the past decade, CHILDREN UNDERGROUND is a profoundly intimate and heart-wrenching drama -- an Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature in 2001, and winner at nearly every major |
 |
Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America by Mike Yankoski (Author) After meals from garbage cans and dumpsters, night after night Mike and Sam found their beds under bridges and on the streets. They were forced to depend on the generosity and kindness of strangers as they panhandled to sustain their existence. For more than five months, the pair experienced firsthand the extreme pains of hunger, the constant uncertainty and danger of living on the streets, exhaustion, depression, and social rejection–and all of this by their own choice. This is their story. Through Mike’s firsthand account, Under the Overpass provides important insight into the truths of the street and calls the younger generation of believers to take great risks of faith to bring Christ’s love to the neediest corners of the world. “I Am Disgusting.” Mike... |
 |
The Visible Poor: Homelessness in the United States by Joel Blau (Author) Taking an in-depth look at the causes of homelessness in the United States, Joel Blau disproves the convenient myths that most homeless are crazy, drug addicts, or lazy misfits who brought their suffering upon themselves. He shows that the current crisis was an inevitable result of economic and political changes in recent decades, systematically reviewing the explanations offered by researchers, politicians and pundits, from the deinstitutionalization of mental patients in the 1960s to the gentrification of urban neighborhoods in the 1970s to the evisceration of federal spending on social welfare in the 1980s. Blau argues that current government policies at every level are mired in pointless headcounting and quick-fix solutions that only push the homeless out of sight without touching... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |