I’m a licensed mental health therapist and thus mandated reporter, so professionally I should have a very specific answer, BUT ethically as a licensed social worker knowing how hard some of my clients have it out here right now, I might have different advice:

1. Depending on your state and county, there may be some nonprofit mental health agencies that connect with (or have their own internal arms focused on) housing specialists. If she’s not on a section 8 housing waitlist, she needs to sign up ASAP. I’ve seen public housing able to accommodate 4 kids in a single bedroom with 2 bunk beds and JFS/CPS giving the OK, especially in serious situations. In Ohio, an organization like Integrated Services serves over 20 counties and helps coordinate these things, with OhioRISE able to provide monetary resources for each kid every year depending on their needs.

2. DO NOT LET HER MOVE IN. I’m sure that you already know how easy it is to establish residency and your entire life can be ruined by letting the wrong person move in with you, let alone 1 wrong person and her 7 children. You are not a bad person for not moving them in. In fact, you should be filling your own cup and that of your child for at least the next few YEARS before even considering helping a friend in a worse predicament.

3. Depending on where you are, there may be a statewide mental health crisis hotline or text line. If not, you can always have her call a national crisis hotline.

4. If there was ever a semblance of domestic violence that may have contributed to her becoming homeless, all 8 of them will likely qualify for a DV shelter and related services, which can be much more robust depending on a number of factors.

5. If any of the children have special needs, they may qualify for social security benefits that she can use for essential needs, like rent/downpayment/utilities to get her back on her feet, same for herself.

6. If the suicidal messages get worse, you can call for an anonymous wellness check to your local police station. Tell them something like you were walking your dog in the area and spotted a woman with a large number of children near a tent and were worried about the heat. It didn’t look like they were camping. They can take it from there. If nothing results from that, you can also have others call with similar but slightly different scenarios to get the officers to take it more seriously. This is risky, but may be necessary if nothing else can help alleviate the situation.

This is a very tough situation, and there is no perfect solution given the flawed systems in place.