Pathways towards stable housing for parents and children exiting residential services

Abstract

This report is the result of the research project Pathways towards Stable Housing for Parents and Children Exiting Residential Services, which was funded by the Housing Agency Research Support Programme. This research was conducted in collaboration with Childhood Matters in the Bessborough Centre throughout 2022. Childhood Matters is a residential support and assessment service for parents with infant children. While living on the unit, parents take part in a parenting assessment while also engaging in a programme of therapeutic support and key working tailored to meet their individual needs.

Multidisciplinary assessments of parenting capacity are provided throughout using a framework that is underpinned by Infant Mental Health and Parenting Development. Parents and children live on site for sixteen weeks, before transitioning back into the community. The lack of appropriate, accessible housing results in many parents being discharged to homeless services either with their children or alone, with many of the children being placed in foster care due to their parents’ living situations. The lack of access to suitable accommodation places parents and children at significant risk, both in the short-term and longterm. This issue is not isolated to people leaving Childhood Matters in the Bessborough Centre and can be observed in a number of different residential settings.

This research documents the necessity of including parents and children exiting tertiary services, who are facing homelessness and housing instability, in future policy development. A viable and practical model for successful transition from residential services to living in the community is needed in Ireland. Currently, there are few pathways available to people, and particularly families, who are exiting residential settings and facing housing precarity, instability or homelessness. Through gathering the views of service users (both past and present) in the Parent and Infant Unit in Childhood Matters, Local Authority staff in Homeless Services, staff in NGOs, and combining with data of homeless service use, housing supports and Childhood Matters, a picture emerges of possible routes towards accessible, suitable and stable accommodation options. Amalgamating these findings with the economics of homeless services, a model for supported housing aimed at assisting families, who may have complex needs, exiting residential settings into accommodation in the community was developed