Homelessness and child welfare involvement: risks for co-occurring mental health symptoms and substance use?

Abstract

The association between homelessness, current or past history of child welfare involvement and substance use is a concern in Canada. As a result, the youth often share common experiences of maltreatment, victimization, mental health symptoms and substance use. This study was designed to examine the factors associated with co-occurring mental health symptoms and substance use among 219 youth participants aged 16–21: 150 were homeless and 69 currently involved with child welfare. Two data sets were used to conduct the analyses: The Youth Pathways Project and the Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways Longitudinal Study. The results indicate that youth who were homeless experience significant mental health symptoms and substance use, particularly when there is a history of involvement in child welfare. Homelessness is also associated with co-occurring mental health symptoms and substance use when there is a history of child welfare involvement whereas current child welfare involvement without homelessness appears to be protective. Implications for interventions and policy development are discussed, with reference to strategies targeting both youth who are homeless and those with a history of child welfare involvement.

Keywords:

• maltreatment
• substance use
• homelessness
• youth child welfare
• mental health

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge technical assistance from Wendy Hovdestead, Andrea Wills, Pascal Roberge and Erin Rutherford. We would also like to thank Natalie Vilhena-Churchill for her research assistance on this project and Touraj Amiri for his statistical support. Data for the study came from the YPP (Patricia Erickson, principal investigator) and the MAP Longitudinal Study (Christine Wekerle, principal investigator; M. Boyle, B. Leslie, E. Leung, H. MacMillan, B. Moody, N. Trocmé, & R. Waechter, co-investigators).

Findings from this study are based on a report funded by Health Canada, Office of Research and Surveillance and Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Surveillance and Epidemiology Division. The report is available online at: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/publications/nfnts-urb/index-eng.php. The timepoint of the MAP included in this study was funded by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. Funding for the YPP was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Homelessness and Diversity Strategic Grant competition; and also by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Pilot Project competition of the Institute of Gender and Health.