THE MENTAL-HEALTH OF CHILDREN IN HOMELESS FAMILIES AND THEIR CONTACT WITH HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL-SERVICES

Previous research indicates that children in homeless families have a high risk of physical and mental illness. This study reports the initi al stage of a longitudinal research programme to measure the prevalenc e of psychiatric disorders among parents and children in homeless fami lies. A sample of parents in 113 homeless families were interviewed wi thin 2 weeks of admission to seven homeless centres in the City of Bir mingham, and compared with a sample of 29 low-income families who were not homeless. Both sets of interviews used the Child Behaviour Checkl ist (CBCL), the Communication Domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behaviou r Scales (VABS), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI), and height and weight percent iles. A sub-sample of children was also interviewed. The results indic ate that 85% of families became homeless because of domestic or neighb ourhood violence, that in 54% of families in homelessness coincided wi th the separation of the partners, and that 49% of mothers had current psychiatric morbidity. Children in homeless families had delayed comm unication and higher mean scores for mental health problems than the c omparison sample. Homeless children were also more likely to have had histories of abuse, and less likely to have attended school or nursery school since becoming homeless. Homeless families had high rates of c ontact with primary healthcare and social services, but few had been i n contact with specialist child and adolescent mental health services. These results indicate a need for a co-ordinated action by housing, s ocial services, education, health services, and the police to prevent families from becoming homeless by protecting victims nf domestic and neighbourhood violence from further violence and intimidation. Hence t he need to rapidly re-house into permanent accommodation those who do become homeless, to maintain education for their children, and to ensu re that such families have access to effective social support and heal thcare.