OVERVIEW OF local MENTAL-HEALTH-RELATED RESEARCH
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Problems Among Homeless Families in Sacramento
thesis by
Amede B. Kyubwa
B.A., California State University, Sacramento, 2001. M.P.A Golden Gate University, 2005
Project
Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirement For the Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at California State University, Sacramento
Approved by:
, Committee Chair , Second ReaderJacqueline Carrigan, Ph.D. Kevin Wehr, Ph.D.
This study assessed the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse problems among homeless parents who sought services at Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center's Family Shelter Program from June 1999 to June 2005. The study revealed that more than thirty seven percent (37.1%) of the homeless families had mental health problems, as compared to the estimates of less than tenth percent (6.47%) of the general population of Sacramento County. This study also found nearly half (45.5%) of the homeless families reported a history of substance abuse problems while only 5.8 % of the general population of Sacramento County report substance abuse problems. While none of the homeless family demographic variables carried any predictive value for predicting mental health or substance abuse problems with exception of ethnicity, those with mental health problems were more likely to have substance abuse problems.
I became interested in assessing the prevalence of mental illness and substance abuse among homeless families in Sacramento as a result of personal experiences working as a counselor at the Family Shelter. While working at the shelter, I realized that a majority of homeless persons have dependency issues or mental problems that keep them from living the life that most people take for granted. They are not, as often portrayed in the media and even in some academic writings, people who choose to live life outside societal norms. I decided to conduct an empirically based examination of the relationship between mental illness and substance abuse conditions among homeless families. The data for this study comes from intake files of homeless families who entered the Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center’s (SAEHC) Family Shelter Program. SAEHC is a contracted non-profit county agency that provides homeless families with an opportunity to receive food, shelter, and basic accommodations for a period of 60 days, while saving income in an effort to secure permanent housing. The comprehensive intake package consists of a series of questions on family demographics (age, sex, ethnic background, marital status, level of education, income, and source of income), homelessness issues, types of public assistance utilized, and health issues.