Collaborative Research: Extended Family Support and Housing Stability of Youth Over Time

Family rejection is a well-known cause of youth homelessness. This project extends a 1-yearlong study in to a 2-yearlong study to understand how support from extended family members over time shapes pathways of housing stability and safety before youth end up at shelters or on the streets. The longitudinal study documents the roles and practices of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and adult siblings in providing long-term shelter and housing stability for youth whose parents are unsupportive or ambivalent about their children’s identities and behaviors. The research is innovative in its focus on youth who are experiencing challenges at home but are not yet homeless and in following the youth for 2 years as they transition into emerging adults. The study advances the science on familial social support and homelessness. Researchers draw from the study’s findings to engage in outreach to youth shelters and programs and inform practitioners and decision-makers on strategies to prevent youth homelessness. To understand the role of non-parental relatives and how their support shapes the housing stability and safety of youth, this project extends a 1-yearlong study of 83 youth (originally aged 16-19) who are at risk of homelessness into a 2-year mixed-methods longitudinal study. Participants were recruited from two states in the southwest United States, including youth in rural communities and from minority groups. Original data were collected through an initial interview, 12 monthly surveys, and a follow-up interview. This study adds an additional 12 monthly surveys and another follow-up interview, including a life history of housing instability and family support. Researchers evaluate how the forms and consistency of instrumental and emotional support that youth receive from extended family over time influence their sense of safety and housing stability. A longitudinal approach enables analysis of how family support and housing stability and safety shift over time and as the youth transition into emerging adults. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.