Los Angeles County is currently experiencing a family homelessness crisis and Black and Latinx individuals are affected (in shelter and doubled up) at disproportionally higher rates. Spanish-speaking families are a rapidly growing population of families experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County and there continues to be a gap in knowledge of how to best provide linguistically and culturally responsive services. Further, over 1.2 million children under the age of six years old experience homelessness every year and they make up over half of all children in emergency shelters. Young children who have experienced homelessness have mental health concerns two to four times greater than low-income but housed children. This study will work with minoritized families with children under 6 years old, purposively recruiting a representative sample of Spanish-speaking families. We will collect data on parent and homeless service worker perceptions of mental health care, shelter settings, parenting while experiencing homelessness, and child emotional and behavioral health. We aim for this study to inform multisystem resilience strategies for family mental health at the 1) family intervention level, and 2) shelter level, including strategies for supporting parents and homeless service providers working with minoritized families experiencing homelessness.

Bio:
Alyssa Palmer, PhD is a NIMH T-32 Postdoctoral Fellow in the science of child mental health treatment at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Palmer completed her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in developmental psychopathology and clinical science. Her program of research focuses on identifying, accurately measuring, and leveraging processes of multi-system resilience to promote early childhood mental health in the context of poverty, including familys experiencing homelessness. As a first-generation college graduate from a low-income background, Alyssa is dedicated to engaging in translatable, relevant, and community-engaged research and service.