Promoting children's mental health in family supportive housing: A community-university partnership for formerly homeless children and families

Abstract

Emerging research indicates that significant numbers of formerly homeless families residing in permanent supportive housing have caregivers with substance use and mental health disorders, and children with histories of exposure to violence, abuse, and out-of-home placement. These factors place children at risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes, including later homelessness, providing a strong rationale for embedding child-focused prevention and intervention services in supportive housing contexts. This article describes a developing community-university partnership whose goal is to advance practice and research in the adaptation and dissemination of mental health prevention and early intervention for children in supportive housing. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.