Addressing the Urgent Housing Needs of Vulnerable Women in the Era of COVID-19: The Los Angeles County Experience

Nichole Goodsmith; Roya Ijadi-Maghsoodi; Rebeca M Melendez; Emily C Dossett

doi:10.1176/appi.ps.202000318

Addressing the Urgent Housing Needs of Vulnerable Women in the Era of COVID-19: The Los Angeles County Experience

Psychiatr Serv. 2021 Mar 1;72(3):349-352. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202000318. Epub 2020 Nov 10.

Authors

Nichole Goodsmith¹, Roya Ijadi-Maghsoodi¹, Rebeca M Melendez¹, Emily C Dossett¹

Affiliation

¹ VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, and National Clinician Scholars Program, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles (Goodsmith); Division of Population Behavioral Health, Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles; HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles; and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles (Ijadi-Maghsoodi); East Los Angeles Women's Center, Los Angeles (Melendez); Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles; and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Dossett). Ruth S. Shim, M.D., M.P.H., and Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H., are editors of this column.

Abstract

For people experiencing homelessness, COVID-19 underscores existing health and social inequities, introduces additional threats to health and safety, and calls for rapid and creative solutions to reduce risk. This column focuses on the particular challenges of two frequently intersecting subpopulations of individuals experiencing homelessness: pregnant women and survivors of domestic violence. The authors describe rapid efforts and cross-agency collaboration in Los Angeles-home to the nation's largest number of unsheltered individuals-to provide these groups with safe interim housing in the context of COVID-19. The authors discuss gaps in care and recommendations for the future, calling attention to the unique mental health and social needs of these highly vulnerable women.

Keywords: COVID-19; Domestic violence; Homelessness; Housing; Pregnancy; Women.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19*
Crime Victims*
Domestic Violence*
Female
Humans
Ill-Housed Persons*
Intersectoral Collaboration
Local Government*
Los Angeles
Pregnancy
Public Housing*
Survivors*
Vulnerable Populations

Grants and funding

K12 DA000357/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States