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Conceptualizing and Creating a Homeless Families Typology

Conceptualizing and Creating a Homeless Families Typology. Debra J. Rog, Ph.D. Westat Presentation at the National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness, National Alliance to End Homelessness February 8, 2007. Presentation Overview. What is a typology and why do we need one?

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Conceptualizing and Creating a Homeless Families Typology

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  1. Conceptualizing and Creating a Homeless Families Typology Debra J. Rog, Ph.D. Westat Presentation at the National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness, National Alliance to End Homelessness February 8, 2007

  2. Presentation Overview • What is a typology and why do we need one? • Description of federally funded project to conceptualize typologies of homeless families • Prevention typology • Resource allocation • Description of two efforts to inform typology development • Reanalysis of fragile families dataset • Study in process of shelter exits in Massachusetts • Final thoughts

  3. Definition of a Typology • What is a typology? • A classification system that differentiates a population into distinct subgroups or subtypes. • It can be used to: • Describe a population; • Match groups to services; and • Predict service use and response. • Why create a homeless families typology? • To effectively target existing services; and • To identify new efforts to both prevent homelessness and its reoccurrence and intervene with currently homeless families.

  4. A “Desirable” Typology • Classifies population into subgroups that are homogeneous and non-overlapping • Incorporates both environmental and individual factors • Covers total population • Is simple to use • Has practical utility for service providers and policy makers

  5. ASPE – Funded Typology Project:Key Activities • Literature review • Review of existing data and ongoing panel studies • Identified 15 potential datasets for secondary analysis • Re-analyzed data from Fragile Families Project on subgroups of poor families (homeless, doubled-up, at-risk) • Commissioned expert papers • Expert Panel meeting • Options for potential research activities • Final report and debriefing

  6. Key Findings from Project • Need for two homeless families typologies • Prevention • Resource allocation • Staged approach to developing typologies needed • Initial development guided by existing data • Elaboration through short-term research options • Strongest, most lasting development, through ongoing national surveys and longitudinal studies

  7. Prevention Typology:Purpose • To rank families according to levels of risk of homelessness and probability of a quick exit • To distinguish families in desperate need from those with more moderate needs

  8. Prevention Typology:Framework Initial 4 Cell Model • Begin developing based on existing literature and enhance with data from one or more study options Environment Facilitators Barriers Major Family Needs Minor

  9. Prevention Typology: What We Know To Begin • Key risk factors for homelessness include: • Resources (economic and social) • Life stage (age; having young children) • Ethnicity • Mental health and substance use • Best to target population ‘at risk’ as families request shelter • Broader targeting, even among poor families, is likely to be inefficient and inaccurate

  10. Analysis to Inform Prevention Typology:Reanalysis of Fragile Families Dataset • Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study • Five year longitudinal study of new parents and children sampled from hospitals • National sample of marital and non-marital births (4,898 families at baseline) • Two waves of data currently available (1 and 3 year follow-ups) • Third wave (year 5) due in 2007 • Offered multi-site sample at high risk of homelessness and residential instability • Opportunity to: • examine incidence of homelessness • compare homeless to other poor families in range of residential arrangements

  11. Reanalysis of Fragile Families Data Set:Sample Selection • Re-analysis restricted to sample of very poor families • Total sample of 838 families meeting following criteria: • Mother 18 years of age or older • Household income ≤50% below poverty level at year 1

  12. Reanalysis of Fragile Families Data Set:Descriptive Analysis • Constructed 4 residential groups: • Risk of being homeless is low even among extremely poor women

  13. Reanalysis of Fragile Families Data Set:Inferential Analyses • Analytic Approach • Logistic regressions performed to determine risk and protective factors of experiencing homelessness and remaining stable • 3 models conducted to predict: • Year 1 status • Year 3 status • Combined status • Caveats • Resulting models have relatively “poor fit” • Samples are small • Homelessness is quite varied • Models lack contextual variables

  14. Reanalysis of Fragile Families DatasetPredictors of Homelessness

  15. Reanalysis of Fragile Families Data Set:Predictors of Homelessness(continued) = Increases probability of being homeless = decreases probability o f being homeless * = p<.05, ** = p<.01, *** = p<.001

  16. Reanalysis of Fragile Families Data Set:Predictors of Residential Stability

  17. Reanalysis of Fragile Families Data Set:Predictors of Residential Stability(continued)

  18. Reanalysis of Fragile Families Data Set:Tentative Findings • Families experiencing homelessness • Have lower household incomes • Are less likely to receive housing assistance but more likely to receive TANF • Are more likely to have experienced domestic violence and mental health problems • Families remaining residentially stable • Are more likely to live with a partner and have a greater # of adults living in the household • Are more likely to have a partner working • Are less likely to have SA, DV, and MH issues • Are more likely to have lived in public housing

  19. Resource Allocation TypologyPurpose • To classify families by the factors that: • Block their ability to exit homelessness (e.g., poor credit; past justice involvement) • Challenge their ability to achieve stability and self-sufficiency

  20. Resource Allocation Typology:Framework • Create based on 3 types of variables: • Exogenous (housing environment, housing, and health and human service access) • Endogenous(family and individual characteristics, including family support needs, broad health needs, social needs, children’s needs) • Situational (fit between the families needs and accessible resources) • Use staged approach to building framework

  21. Resource Allocation Typology: What We Know To Begin • Housing subsidies are a key predictor, but there are not enough available to meet needs • In addition: • Not all families may need full subsidy; others may need more than a subsidy • Even with subsidies, some families return to homelessness • Therefore, families range considerably in what they need to exit homelessness and remain stable

  22. Study to Inform Resource Allocation Typology:Massachusetts Exit Study • Purposes • To address knowledge gaps re: the shelter exit process • To provide prospective epidemiological study of the exit process • Study Design • Longitudinal study (12 months) of shelter work in Worcester • Three components • 1. Analysis of administrative data • 2. Interviews with 3 samples of families, including those who: • Exit shelter within 6 months • Stay in shelter longer than 6 months • are eligible for shelter services but are diverted • 3. Interviews with system-level informants • 18 month study ending in 12-07

  23. Massachusetts Exit Study:Component 2 – Exit Process • Purpose • To understand the factors that facilitate and block exit • To understand the residential arrangements after shelter • Design/Sample Selection • Early “exit” families (estimate 100 families) – interview upon exit all families exit in 2006 • “Stuck” families (estimate 85 families) • Interview at 6 months and at exit ;if not exit, 3 month follow-up • Diverted families (estimated 50 families) • Interview at point diverted & 3 month following

  24. Massachusetts Exit Study:Component 2 – Exit Process • Data Collection • Demographics and background • Family composition • Prior homelessness/housing • Employment, dept, income • Legal issues • Services received and shelter experience • Trauma • Physical and mental health • Substance use • Exit process, problem • Children’s question • Resource knowledge and use

  25. Massachusetts Exit Study:Likely Implications for Informing Resource Allocation Typology • Prospective information on the exit process • Key predictors of exit with attention to the role of: • Services and resources • Recurring trauma exposure and conflict • Credit, legal, criminal justice, and other issues • Mental health, substance abuse, disabilities • Provide a beginning foundation on the: • Nature of the population • Dynamics of the shelter system • Services available, known, and used

  26. Conclusion • Need for two typologies of homeless families • Voiced by the expert panel • Illustrated in work on the ground to pilot various triage efforts • Apparent in the range of risk evident in the Fragile Families re-analysis • Staged approach to building typologies • Provide data to guide current efforts • Build long-term capacity to refine and direct future prevention and resource allocation efforts

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