Intersections of family homelessness, CPS involvement, and race in Alameda County, California
Open accessAbstract
The homelessness and child protective services (CPS) systems are closely linked. This study examines the patterns and sequence of families' involvement with homeless shelters and CPS, as well as whether involvement in each system predicts involvement in the other using linked administrative records for 258 families recruited in emergency shelters in Alameda County, California. More than half of families were reported to CPS at some point, but less than one-fifth ever had a report substantiated. Reports that were uninvestigated or unfounded increased in the months leading up to shelter entry and spiked immediately afterward, but substantiations and child removals increased only later. Shelter use before study entry was associated with CPS referrals and investigations after study entry, although not with substantiated cases or child removals. However, CPS involvement before study entry was not associated with returns to shelter after study entry. These results imply that an unsubstantiated report of neglect or abuse may serve as an early warning signal for homelessness and that preventive strategies aiming to affect both homeless and child protective systems should focus on reducing homelessness. CPS workers should evaluate families' housing needs and attempt to link families to appropriate resources. Black families were disproportionately referred to CPS after shelter entry after controlling for other family characteristics, but race was not associated with substantiations of neglect or abuse or with child removals. Findings lend modest support to human decision-making and institutional explanations of racial disproportionalities in CPS involvement, especially for reporters outside of the CPS system.
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In Rodriguez and Shinn's study of 258 families in emergency homeless shelters, more than half had been reported to CPS at some point before their current shelter stay.
“In Rodriguez and Shinn's (2016) study of 258 families in emergency homeless shelters, more than half had been reported to CPS at some point before their current shelter stay.”
From An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity (2020) · cites this paper as Rodriguez & Shinn, 2016
The Results (Predicting the Course of Homelessness and Use of Child Protective Services; page unavailable) state that 104 of 258 families—about 40%—had been referred to CPS before study entry. The paper says more than half were referred at some point, but that figure is not limited to the period before their current shelter stay. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAfter shelter entry, Black families in Rodriguez and Shinn's study were disproportionately referred to CPS even after other demographic characteristics were controlled for, implicating racial bias as a contributor to the disproportionate referral of Black mothers.
“Perhaps more telling is that after shelter entry, Black families in their study were disproportionately referred to CPS even after other demographic characteristics were controlled for, implicating racial bias as a contributor to the disproportionate referral of Black mothers.”
From An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity (2020) · cites this paper as Rodriguez & Shinn, 2016
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredHomeless families are more likely to be involved with CPS than low-income families more generally.
“Homeless families are more likely to be involved with CPS than low-income families more generally (Rodriguez & Shinn, 2016).”
From An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity (2020) · cites this paper as Rodriguez & Shinn, 2016
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Sorted by citations
An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity
Bullock, H. E., Reppond, H. A., Truong, S. V., & Singh, M. R. (2020) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1111/josi.12406 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
- Authors
- Rodriguez, J. M., & Shinn, M.
- Affiliations
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rodriguez, Jason M.
- Venue
- Child Abuse & Neglect
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-07
- Volume
- 57
- Pages
- 41-52
- ISSN
- 0145-2134 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4936919
- OpenAlex
- W2439921694
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 3.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Child Abuse & Neglect (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- HUD (# H-21617RG)
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- National Institute of Child Health (R01HD666082)
- Human Development to Vanderbilt University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Homelessness and Social Issues
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
- Social Sciences › Law › Legal and Social Justice Studies
- Keywords
- family homelessness, child protection services, racial disparities, child removal, homeless shelters, Black families, Alameda County
- MeSH terms
- Child Protective Services, Adolescent, Adult, California, Child, Preschool, Family Characteristics, Female, Ill-Housed Persons, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Middle Aged, Young Adult
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