Project Homeward Bound

Project Homeward Bound is a program created by The Michael Bolton Charities and the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) to assist homeless women and their children.

The Michael Bolton Charities (MBC) has supported YCSC's efforts to build and sustain community collaborations on behalf of homeless families to assist them in the transition from shelter living to the establishment of permanent, safe housing in the community. The program is designed to work towards stability and safety for children and to help mothers to understand and address their needs in order to prevent poor developmental and cognitive outcomes. The MBC has made it possible for the YCSC to provide a clinical team consisting of a social worker and a family support worker who offer a comprehensive approach to the complex issues associated with homelessness. Services provided by the team include evaluation, assessment, case management, advocacy, clinical and substance abuse counseling, referral to other community resources, brief treatment, parent counseling, parenting skills training and domestic violence services. YCSC begins the process of engagement with families while they are still at the shelter and continue to work with the family post discharge to assist in the transition to secure permanent housing. The team is able to remain involved with the family for as long as needed to regain a more stable and predictable level of functioning. In the year 2000, Project Homeward Bound served 52 children and 18 homeless families in the New Haven, Connecticut area.

In 1998, Project Homeward Bound developed an important relationship with Christian Community Action (CAA), a major shelter provider in the New Haven area, which has played an influential role in shaping and expanding YCSC's knowledge, interests and interventions. CAA operates two family shelters in New Haven. One site, located on Sylvan Avenue, provides ten apartments and seven additional apartments are located on Davenport Avenue. There are a total of 85 beds between the two buildings. One and two parent-headed families are eligible for admission to the shelter. It is the philosophy of CCA to promote family independence and value self-determination. As a result, the shelter is structured to provide individual apartments, with no communal living areas and few mandatory group activities. Because the shelter can accommodate families that need more than one bedroom, it is one of the few shelters in New Haven able to serve larger families. Families typically stay at the shelter for sixty days. The Department of Social Services (DSS) provides funding for 80% of the program. Most families in the shelter meet DSS criteria for emergency housing, however, there are a few slots available for families that do not meet all DSS criteria but are in need of emergency services. In additional to referrals to Homeward Bound directly from CCA case managers, social workers from DSS frequently make direct referrals for service for families that they have placed in the shelter.

The collaboration with CCA has provided an opportunity to work with a wide range of women and their families, who have confirmed our assumptions that although there is no single cause for homelessness, substance abuse, domestic violence and untreated psychiatric illness are common characteristics of families who are chronically unable to maintain stable living arrangements. However, recent experiences by YCSC has demonstrated that in addition to the risk factors described above, a significant portion of the women referred to the Homeward Bound Project are cognitively limited, meaning that their capacity for thinking and decision making is below normal limits. In addition to this very significant limitation, these women generally have poor communication skills and difficulty with inter-personal relationships, as a result it may be exceedingly difficult for them to ask for and get the services they need. 

These problems are often compounded by the fact that the majority of women in the shelter system are poor and marginalized by the community. At the same time, because of their sincere wish to care for their children and prevent their removal from them, these women try to present themselves as capable and competent parents, particularly in the eyes of the public service workers in the systems upon which they are dependent. Although they may not understand fully what is expected of them, or how to access services that are recommended, they may be too embarrassed to reveal their lack if understanding or, in severe cases, their inability to read or write. YCSC has learned that effective intervention with this population requires not only a comprehensive clinical assessment of the needs of both parent and child, but also the ability to remain with the family over time. Building trust and respect is a slow process that YCSC has found will lead to a more honest and useful intervention. Frequently the women referred to Project Homeward Bound have not had positive experiences in past relationships with service providers. The ability to be patient, accepting and flexible, while maintaining the ultimate goal of stabilizing the family and assisting the mother to provide a safe, nurturing and needs satisfying environment for her children is essential to the potential success of this program.

YCSC's experiences since 1994 have provided insight into what the future directions should include for the Homeward Bound Project. Locating and securing safe affordable housing remains a challenge for all of the Homeward Bound clients. Supportive housing is needed that provides ongoing assistance with daily living skills and intensive parental support. A natural expansion of our collaborative efforts should be the New Haven Housing Authority. There are model programs that provide long-term family supportive services along with housing. The potential to participate in this type of housing program will be explored with the Director of the New Haven Housing Authority. Additionally, a priority for the Homeward Bound Project will be the dissemination of YCSC's experiences provided home-based services to families who have been unable to maintain stable housing. YCSC's successes in engaging families and helping them reach their goals as a result of a long-term sustained intervention will be the subject of an article written for publication in appropriate child welfare journals.

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