Creating a Family Centered Wellness Team: Lessons learned in creating an integrated continuum of care for families facing homelessness, addiction, and trauma recovery.

Abstract

Homelessness is often experienced by women and children, and recent evidence suggests that women and children are the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. Homelessness is often accompanied by mental illness, substance abuse, and histories of violence, for both women and their children. While trauma informed care has been incorporated into women's treatment systems there has not been widespread application of this knowledge to family centered work with homeless families. This paper explores the need for family strengthening approaches and identifies one model currently being evaluated that seeks to decrease service fragmentation, increase positive family interaction, and deepen the family's connections with each other and with the community.