Since the mid-1980s families have been the fastest growing segment of the homeless population in the United States. Homeless programs were not designed for families, but rather as rehabilitative institutions for individuals. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 supported efforts to reduce the number of families in homeless shelters and transitional housing programs, but families experience of these programs are not yet understood. This paper presents analysis of 80 interviews with family caregivers experiencing housing instability and homelessness to examine the effects of various housing interventions (i.e., homeless shelters, transitional housing programs, short-term housing subsidies through Community-Based Rapid Rehousing programs, and long-term housing choice vouchers) on family processes and caregiver well-being. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to address the following questions about families experiences with the housing service system: (a) How do various living situations affect family routines and rituals? (b) How do service intensive housing programs and independent living situations affect parents support networks? (c) What challenges do parents encounter as they attempt to obtain stable housing through the housing service system, and what strategies do they use to address these challenges? Findings support the de-institutionalization of homeless programs, and the implementation of a community-based service approach for families experiencing homelessness.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-07202012-121921 |
| Date | 30 July 2012 |
| Creators | Mayberry, Lindsay Satterwhite |
| Contributors | Marybeth Shinn, Craig Anne Heflinger, Deborah W. Rowe, Chandra Y. Osborn, Velma McBride Murry |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07202012-121921/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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