About 25 percent of children without homes need mental health care, according to a study conducted by NC State psychology professors and Community Action Targeting Children who are Homeless (CATCH).
Mary Haskett, a professor of psychology, and Jenna Armstrong, a psychology graduate teaching assistant, led the research in the developmental status and social-emotional functioning of homeless children in infants to children up to six years old. The purpose of the study was to understand the functioning of children’s social-emotional adjustment and their functioning in language, motor and cognitive skills.
“I got involved in this area of research when I was working with a local community agency that seeks to support the mental health of children who are homeless,” Haskett said. “The incredible need was apparent, and I felt my students and I had some expertise to offer.”
Haskett said she feels there has not been much of an investment in the needs of homeless families and that the public does not know much about their needs because they are often invisible to the general public.
“The aim of our current work is to draw attention to this invisible population of children experiencing homelessness right here in Raleigh,” Armstrong said. “I think this is the surprising part for many people. You do not have to leave country, state, city or local community to find children who are in desperate need of mental health services that merit our attention.”
According to Armstrong, few homeless shelters have the screening tools and processes available to detect delays and social-emotional problems that may be subclinical and the tools CATCH uses are not costly or difficult to administer.
A group of community leaders in family homelessness and experts in young children’s mental health developed CATCH, the program that assisted Haskett and Armstrong in conducting the study. The goal of CATCH is to promote the social-emotional adjustment and developmental status of children without homes.
“We go into the homeless shelters in the Raleigh area and do different assessments of the children and their mothers,” said Jasmine Davis, a senior studying psychology who participated in Haskett and Armstrong’s research. “We base research questions off the social worker’s data.”
The sample included 328 children living with their parents in one of 11 emergency shelters or transitional home programs for homeless families in Wake County.
“Working with these children is challenging and rewarding,” Armstrong said. “These are not easy kids to work with by any means and working with them is not for everyone, but I find it the most rewarding when progress is made.”
Davis said it is difficult to see the children on a regular basis because some are only there for 30 days or as long as they can stay.
“Some days you will go and you never get to see them again,” she said.
Haskett and Armstrong’s research is available in their article, “Developmental Status and Social–Emotional Functioning of Young Children Experiencing Homelessness,” and is published online in the Early Childhood Education Journal. Jennifer Tisdale of CATCH co-authored the article.
“This experience really made me want to go into social work, which is what I’m going to grad school for,” Davis said. “Just going in and getting to know these kids on a personal level, aside from the date, is really nice because you’re getting to see their faces and getting to know them and see how being homeless is affecting them.”
