title: "They just asked me why I became homeless": "failure to ask" as a barrier to homeless women's ability to access services post-victimization.
abstract: As "access brokers" to resources for their clients, homeless shelter workers are often in a position to aid victimized homeless women in securing medical and psychological services post-victimization. Given high rates of victimization within this population, we would expect that a routine part of a shelter's case management process would involve queries regarding victimization. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with 42 victimized homeless women in Chicago and Detroit, we sought to discover the extent to which such queries were pursued by staff at their current shelter. What we found is that women are seldom asked to provide a complete history that includes experiences of violent victimization and its effects. From these results, we make several recommendations aimed at improving homeless victims' access to services.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huey
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Broll
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hryniewicz
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fthenos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002641:Chicago; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012938:Social Perception; D012946:Social Welfare; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016387:Women's Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult