Intersections of family homelessness, CPS involvement, and race in Alameda County, California

Abstract

The homelessness and child protective services (CPS) systems are closely linked. This study examines the patterns and sequence of families’ involvement with homeless shelters and CPS, as well as whether involvement in each system predicts involvement in the other using linked administrative records for 258 families recruited in emergency shelters in Alameda County, California. More than half of families were reported to CPS at some point, but less than one fifth ever had a report substantiated. Reports that were uninvestigated or unfounded increased in the months leading up to shelter entry and spiked immediately afterward, but substantiations and child removals increased only later. Shelter use before study entry was associated with CPS referrals and investigations after study entry, although not with substantiated cases or child removals. However, CPS involvement before study entry was not associated with returns to shelter after study entry. These results imply that an unsubstantiated report of neglect or abuse may serve as an early warning signal for homelessness and that preventive strategies aiming to affect both homeless and child protective systems should focus on reducing homelessness. CPS workers should evaluate families’ housing needs and attempt to link families to appropriate resources. Black families were disproportionately referred to CPS after shelter entry after controlling for other family characteristics, but race was not associated with substantiations of neglect or abuse or with child removals. Findings lend modest support to human decision-making and institutional explanations of racial disproportionalities in CPS involvement, especially for reporters outside of the CPS system.

Evicted children and subsequent placement in out-of-home care: A cohort study

“…Evictions increase vulnerability to homelessness [ 21 ], demonstrated to be associated with increased involvement by child protective services [ 22 ], and previous research has also shown that children in homeless families are at greater risk for out-of-home placements [ 23 – 25 ]. In one previous American study, inadequate housing, identified by interviews with caseworkers and caregivers, increased risk for out-of-home placement in families under investigation by child protective services [ 26 ].…”

An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity

“…Nationally, it is estimated that 29% of women involved with CPS experienced IPV in the previous year (Hellmuth et al., 2015). Homeless families are more likely to be involved with CPS than low‐income families more generally (Rodriguez & Shinn, 2016). In Rodriguez and Shinn's (2016) study of 258 families in emergency homeless shelters, more than half had been reported to CPS at some point before their current shelter stay.…”

“…Homeless families are more likely to be involved with CPS than low‐income families more generally (Rodriguez & Shinn, 2016). In Rodriguez and Shinn's (2016) study of 258 families in emergency homeless shelters, more than half had been reported to CPS at some point before their current shelter stay. Still, less than one‐fifth had a report substantiated.…”

Methods for Influencing Social Policy: The Role of Social Experiments

“…Analysis of the enrollment phase of the study (Gubits, Spellman, Dunton, Brown & Wood, ) provided quantitative data on the restrictiveness of many programs in the homeless service system, and the extent to which families turned down offers of transitional housing and rapid rehousing that policy makers think should be attractive; qualitative data helped to explain why (Fisher, Mayberry, Shinn & Khadduri, ). Links to administrative records helped to understand the relationship of homelessness to child protective services—and excess reporting (but not substantiation) of child abuse and neglect for African American families (Rodriguez & Shinn, ).…”