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.

 抽象的

美国各地的无家可归者收容所人满为患且资源不足。有儿童的家庭在及时、成功地离开避难所方面面临着巨大的障碍，而长期停留在避难所会威胁到儿童的心理健康。这项基于社区的系统动力学研究探讨了及时、成功退出庇护所的障碍以及影响停留时间和儿童心理健康风险的反馈机制。在中西部地区的三个家庭无家可归者收容所中，我们对客户 (N = 37) 和工作人员 (N = 6) 进行了小组模型构建（一种参与式系统科学工具）和关键知情人访谈。定性内容分析和紧急编码确定了关键主题反馈循环。调查结果表明，过度拥挤导致避难所成功出口延迟；停留时间越长，加剧了拥挤和压力的恶性循环。此外，长时间的停留会直接或间接地通过拥挤和照顾者压力加剧儿童患精神障碍的风险。能力限制限制了家庭的服务，同时导致了持续的未满足的需求。未来的研究应该调查这些动态反馈关系在无家可归家庭持续脆弱性中的作用。服务设计应优先考虑减轻拥挤和随后对心理健康的威胁的干预措施，例如私人或分散地点的庇护所住宿、负担得起的儿童保育和预防无家可归，以促进成功退出庇护所并减轻儿童心理健康风险。