ArticleJournal of social service research2021
Understanding Mechanisms Driving Family Homeless Shelter Use and Child Mental Health.
Article in Journal of social service research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Participatory systems mapping: a review of population health research practice.Health research policy and systems · 2026Pooled it
- Success of community-based system dynamics in prevention interventions: A systematic review of the literature.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Mothers' perceptions of how homelessness and housing interventions affect their children's behavioral and educational functioning.The American journal of orthopsychiatry · 2023Trial
- Looking back on childhood experiences of homelessness: Stories of ongoing residential instability and resilience.American journal of community psychology · 2026Article
- Using community-based system dynamics to understand connections between housing and education: A case study with implications for homelessness prevention school-housing partnership.American journal of community psychology · 2025Article
- Domains of Housing Instability and Intimate Partner Violence Risk Among U.S. Tenants.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Systems thinking in local government: intervention design and adaptation in a community-based study.Health research policy and systems · 2023Article
- A Scoping Review of the Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Persons Experiencing Homelessness in North America and Europe.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Prevention Adaptation of an Evidence-Based Treatment for Parents Involved With Child Welfare Who Use Substances.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Profiles and Predictors of Neurodevelopmental Functioning among Young Children Experiencing Family Homelessness.Early childhood research quarterlyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Homeless shelters throughout the U.S. are overcrowded and under-resourced. Families with children face substantial barriers to timely, successful shelter exit, and prolonged shelter stays threaten child mental health. This community-based system dynamics study explored barriers to timely, successful shelter exit and feedback mechanisms driving length of stay and child mental health risk. Group model building - a participatory systems science tool - and key informant interviews were conducted with clients (N = 37) and staff (N = 6) in three family homeless shelters in a Midwestern region. Qualitative content analysis with emergent coding identified key themes feedback loops. Findings indicated overcrowding delayed successful shelter exit; longer stays exacerbated crowding and stress in a vicious cycle. Furthermore, longer stays exacerbated child risk for mental disorder both directly and indirectly via crowding and caregiver stress. Capacity constraints limited families served, while contributing to ongoing unmet need. Future research should investigate the roles of these dynamic feedback relationships in the persistent vulnerability of homeless families. Service design should prioritize interventions that alleviate crowding and subsequent threats to mental health such as private or scattered-site shelter accommodations, affordable child care, and homelessness prevention to facilitate successful shelter exit and mitigate child mental health risk.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.