Cycles of Risk
People who grew up in precarious home environments are more likely to raise children in similar contexts, although that’s not necessarily their intention. The risk factors associated with homelessness are especially dangerous in this way; they get passed down generationally. Studies have found a strong relationship between the amount of childhood maltreatment and family dysfunction that homeless parents experienced and the amount that their children were experiencing. Poverty has also been also associated with child maltreatment, indicating that young people are growing up exposed to the same risks their homeless parents did.
For example, women who were abused as children are more likely to become targets for violence as adults through no fault of their own. If they have children with abusive partners, then their children are at risk for poverty, abuse, residential instability, foster care placement, and many other predictors of future homelessness, creating a cycle of risk that’s extremely difficult to break out of.
The Toiletries Delivery is enabling a couple of our HACA members to build, test, and develop a toiletries delivery service that fills the gaps they see in the existing homelessness system. This process is helping us understand how we can proactively enable people experiencing homelessness to help themselves by developing opportunities for them to help their community.
The Toiletries Delivery is enabling a couple of our HACA members to build, test, and develop a toiletries delivery service that fills the gaps they see in the existing homelessness system. This process is helping us understand how we can proactively enable people experiencing homelessness to help themselves by developing opportunities for them to help their community.
About The i-team
From 2017 through 2019, the Austin i-team used a proven innovation approach to work with partners both inside and outside of city government to deeply understand issues and develop new approaches to solving urban challenges. The team worked to improve the city's homelessness systems. The i-team was supported by the City of Austin and a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Bloomberg Philanthropies supports i-teams in more than 20 cities in four countries. Multi-year grants are awarded to cities to create in-house i-teams to help city leaders innovate effectively and tackle critical challenges. The i-teams bring new problem-solving tools and techniques to cities to deliver results for residents across multiple issue areas. The i-teams program is part the American Cities Initiative, a suite of investments that empower cities to generate innovation and advance policy that moves the nation forward.
