Patterns of Homelessness over time and their relationship to Alcohol, Drugs, and Violence

Prior studies of US homeless populations have found disproportionately high rates of mental health and substance abuse problems. In particular, rates of these problems as well as violent victimization are high and have been found to be associated with chronic and repeat homelessness. Welfare populations present a unique opportunity for studying homelessness, as they have been estimated to capture anywhere between 18-52% of the homeless population. Using data from the Welfare Client Longitudinal Study, a total of N=718 aid recipients were followed and re-interviewed at 12, 24, and 36 months after baseline. Homeless was defined as any public or private homelessness or a doubled-up living situation where the respondent did not consider themselves welcome at the residence. A Latent Class Growth model of homelessness identified 3 homelessness trajectories, defined as Low, Descending, and High. Those in the High Homeless trajectory had the highest rates of psychiatric distress (p<.01), DSM-IV drug diagnoses (p<.05), weekly drug use (p<.001), and violent victimization (p<.001) than the descending or low trajectory groups. In a multinomial logistic regression analysis, the only variable significantly differentiating each of the 3 groups was violent victimization; highest in the High homelessness group and lowest in the Low Homelessness group. These results are consistent previous findings, that victims of violence are at a higher risk for repeated homelessness. Future research should assess not only the presence but the duration of homelessness to target those most at risk for extreme forms of homelessness.