Safe Transitions for Teens: Assessing the Impact of Intimate Partner Transitional Housing on Adolescent Residents

Adolescents exposed to adult intimate partner violence (IPV) are at high risk for teen dating violence (TDV), bullying perpetration and victimization, peer violence, and juvenile justice system (JJS) involvement, creating the potential for polyvictimization experiences with consequences across the lifespan. Housing and homelessness are pressing issues for families exposed to IPV. However, there is a gap in research on community-level interventions to reduce risk and increase protective factors for exposed teens. IPV transitional housing (IPVTH) programs provide housing and support services to families who have experienced IPV but remain primarily untested— especially for impact on adolescent residents. To address these gaps, the research team will use the structure of an Office on Violence Against Women (VAW)-funded study, Safe Transitions, which examines the longitudinal effects of IPVTH among adult residents, to recruit an adolescent cohort of IPVTH residents and analyze the impact of supportive housing on adolescent violence. This project, Safe Transitions for Teens, will develop knowledge on trajectories of risk behaviors for teens in IPVTH, parent-child relationship impacts, and the role of IPVTH in addressing risk and increasing protective factors for interpersonal violence victimization and perpetration in a high-risk group of adolescents.

The investigators will conduct semi-structured interviews with 40 adult parents enrolled in the Safe Transitions study and 40 of their adolescent children, and 30 IPVTH service providers. Using learning from qualitative analysis, the research team will recruit and longitudinally follow 250 adolescent IPVTH residents (aged 12-17) whose parents are enrolled in Safe Transitions. The study will employ a mixed-method, multi-generational, longitudinal approach to examine the prevalence of TDV, peer violence, bullying, and JJS involvement at five-time points over two years among adolescent IPVTH residents. In addition, they will test the impact of IPVTH on adolescent and family risk/protective factors for adolescent violence. Repeated measures hierarchical linear modeling will be used to assess outcomes over time and differences in risk and protective factors for parent-adolescent dyads. Thematic analysis will be used for qualitative data.

Adolescents living with their parents in IPVTH will be recruited from existing Safe Transitions sites in five states – Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Texas – and additional sites being onboarded. An advisory board of subject matter experts, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, will guide the study. Additions to the Safe Transitions website (i.e., https://ccie.ucf.edu/safe-transitions/) will facilitate real-time dissemination. Manuscripts, brief reports, webinars, and conference presentations will be produced for academic and practitioner outlets, participating agencies, and NIJ. In addition, the final research report and study data will be archived at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). CA/NCF