Children who experience homelessness have an increased risk for negative outcomes in several developmental areas (Bucker, 2008). While there are numerous programs that hope to mediate these and other risks by offering services to families experiencing homelessness, there is a paucity of research that addresses how children\u27s psychosocial needs are being addressed in existing programs (Gewirtz, Hart-Shegos, & Medhanie, 2008). In addition, there is also a lack of research which represents the children\u27s and parents\u27 perspectives and experiences in supportive housing programs, such as transitional and permanent supportive housing, or in-home case management programs. With this phenomenological qualitative study, I attempted to capture the previously disenfranchised voices of the children and their families who are affected by the policy decisions and programs currently being implemented by agencies serving families experiencing homelessness. More specifically, I explored the experiences of children whose families were receiving services via programs designed after either the continuum of care philosophy, which includes transitional and permanent supportive housing emphases, or the housing first philosophy, which is an in-home case management program. It is hoped that this in-depth examination of the experiences of 13 children, complemented by an investigation of their parents\u27 perceptions, may help inform the design and evaluation of programs that serve homeless families.
Data analysis revealed three super-ordinate themes concerning the children\u27s experiences. The first super-ordinate theme involved contextual factors such as the families\u27 residential stability, maternal factors, family composition, situational and family stressors, parenting styles, friends, and the children\u27s own self motivation. The second super-ordinate theme that emerged included the participants\u27 perceptions regarding the benefits of the agency\u27s programs. One theme under this super-ordinate theme included the participants\u27 perceptions that the program provided resources to their children that parents believed they could not provide themselves. A second theme was the participants\u27 belief that the children experienced improved psychosocial outcomes. The final theme emerging in this super-ordinate theme was the perception that the program provided opportunities for exposure to positive new experiences for the children. The third super-ordinate theme involved the participants\u27 evaluation of the program in which they were participating. The themes in this area included the importance of the relationships in the program, positive aspects such meeting the needs of the families, and the changes that the participants desired for the program
