Facilitators and barriers to reunification among housing unstable families

Housing unstable families with child welfare system involvement face multiple challenges to successfully reunifying with their families. This explanatory qualitative study followed up on findings from a county-sponsored Pay for Success (PFS) RCT. The study focused on understanding the facilitators and barriers to reunification, bringing together the perspectives of a random sample of 16 housing-unstable caregivers whose children were in foster care, their PFS program workers, and their child welfare caseworkers. We conducted in-depth, in-person interviews with 52 participants. Major facilitators of reunification included strong client motivation, PFS program workers empowering and advocating for clients, the program's ability to meet clients’ basic needs, and PFS program worker/child welfare worker collaboration. The barriers participants identified included the clients’ complex and continuing challenges and crises, limited and/or toxic social support systems, and systemic issues within the court and child welfare systems, including evaluations of worthiness and a failure to collaborate. We explore findings regarding their contribution to the literature on housing unstable families involved with child welfare and implications for practice, policy, and research.