Supporting Families Experiencing Homelessness: Current Practices and Future Directions

​​​​​​Homelessness among families with children in the U.S. is rising rapidly due to the economic downturn. Supporting Homeless Families: Current Practices and Future Directions aims to raise the standard of services provided to families without homes through practices that are strengths-based and culturally competent. This book provides a contextual overview of family homelessness. An ecological and developmental framework for understanding the implications of homelessness from infancy through adulthood are presented with reference to existing research. The book also addresses innovative designs for providing collaboration between and among diverse services that interface with families experiencing homelessness. In doing so, the importance of providing families with culturally competent services that support them during episodes of homelessness as well as the period of re-housing are addressed. Examples of empirically proven interventions and best practices are showcased, and roadblocks to success and sustainability are discussed.

Mary Haskett, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at North Carolina State University. Her program of research is designed to gain understanding of factors that contribute to harsh parenting and factors that promote resilience of young abused children. She currently serves on the editorial boards of Child Abuse & Neglect and Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Dr. Haskett is President of the APA Section on Child Maltreatment and Co-chairs the Interdivisional Task Force on Promoting Positive Parenting in the Context of Family Homelessness.

Dr. Staci Perlman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies with a joint appointment in the Delaware Education Research and Development Center at the University of Delaware and the 2013 Visiting Scholar at the People’s Emergency Center (PEC) in Philadelphia. Her work focuses on using partnership-based research to promote the development and well-being of vulnerable children, youth, and families. Most recently, she has worked with Joe Willard of the People's Emergency Center to examine the prevalence and influence of homeless experiences among youth enrolled in Philadelphia's public high schools. Dr. Perlman also serves as the co-chair of the APA Taskforce on Promoting Positive Parenting in the Context of Homelessness and was the 2011 recipient of the Child Maltreatment Section of the American Psychological Association’s Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Practice in the Field of Child Maltreatment.
Beryl Ann Cowan, JD, PhD, is a clinical and community psychologist and attorney whose research interests include mental health needs of marginalized high risk children and their families at the interface of social services systems and judicial systems, including foster care and juvenile justice settings. Dr. Cowan’s was previously a Sr. research associate at The National Center on Family Homelessness where she was involved in studiesof the mental health needs of military families. She has served on the American Psychological Association (APA) Presidential Task Force on Psychology’s Contribution to End Homelessness, and is currently a member of the APA Interdivisional Task Force on Promoting Positive Parenting in the Context of Family Homelessness.