Adolescent Development part 3
Lecture 11 Homeless Youth – 23-03-16
Outline:
- Definitions and dimensions
- Homeless youth in Holland
- Homeless youth in US
- Precursors
- Consequences
- Exiting homelessness
- Programs and interventions
- The movie and sequel
Homeless youth
Young people between the ages of 12 and 25 who have no regular place to
stay.
- Runaways (left home without parent/guardian’s consent)
- Throwaways (kids who were kicked out of the house)
- System kids (left problematic social service placements = 50%)
- Street kids (those lacking basic shelter)
Other facts:
- Runaways in shelter younger and female
- Youth barred from welfare hotels
- 12% left foster care or group home just before going on the street
- 90% return home after a month
- 99% return home within 12 months
Homeless youth in the Netherlands
- homeless people 25.000 – 35.000
- estimated number of homeless youth: 3200
- actual number estimated to be 5000-10.000 (6000)
- 320 beds available in shelters
Who are they?
- 70% male
- Most between 16 and 21 (58%)
- Ethnic minority (33%) (overall population is 12% ethnic minority)
- Increased in recent years (likely due to changes of intake services of
people with learning disabilities)
- 2 out of 5 homeless youth form a risk to safety of other people –
physical or verbal threats, petty crime.
- 33% have frequent contact with crisis services
Support for homeless youth poorly organized in the NL (Wolf & Planije,
2004)
- Available services are highly fragmented
, - No comprehensive shelter and support services for homeless young
people (too few beds)
- Funded from diverse sources therefore criteria for entry varies.
- Exclusion criteria fierce:
o Serious mental problems
o Addiction
o Undocumented immigration status
o Health problems requiring considerable physical care
o Aggressive behavior
o Learning problems
- No systematic means of documenting number of homeless, who
uses shelters or crisis centers, and the effectiveness of this aid.
Precursors of homelessness:
- Stressful family backgrounds
- Economic instability
- Problem behaviors (drug use, delinquency, teen pregnancy)
- Residential instability (family, foster care)
- More often the precipitating event that leads to leaving home occurs
in the family:
o Physical and sexual abuse
o Parental substance abuse
o Irreconcilable differences between parent and child
o Frequent moves and unstable housing
o Neglectful parenting
Pathways of homelessness (is drug use the reason?) Mallett et al. 2005
302 homelss youth in Melbourne, Australia 107 drug users (one third)
Serving our youth: findings from a national survey of service providers
working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth who are
homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Durso, L. E., & Gates, G. J. (2012).
- Data from the LGBT Homeless youth provider survey, a web-based
survey conducted from October 2011 through march 2012.
, - The survey was designed to assess the experience of homeless
youth organizations in providing services to LGBT youth. It also
assessed the prevalence of LGBT youth within the homeless
populations being served by these organizations.
- 381 respondents completed at least part of the survey, representing
354 agencies throughout the US.
Results: LGBT youth represent between 30 and 43% of those served by
drop-in centers, street outreach programs and housing programs.
Consequences:
- survival sex greater risk of contracting AIDS or HIV-related
illnesses. (5-17%).
- Greater risk for:
o Anxiety, depression, conduct disorder, post-traumatic stress,
drug abuse, and addiction.
o Poor health and nutrition, they are often in starvation mode,
nutrition levels are very poor. Others are obese because all
their eating is junk food.
o Low self-esteem
- Difficulties attending school because of legal guardianship
requirements, residency requirements, improper records and lack of
transportation.
- Lack job skills to support themselves financially.
- Premature death
Mortality in a cohort of street youth in Montreal – Roy, Haley, Leclerc,
Sochanski, Boudreau & Boivin (2004) JAMA, 292, 569-574
, - Objectives. To estimate mortality rate among street youth in
Montreal and to identify causes of death and factors increasing the
risk of death.
- Design, setting and population. January 1995 – September 2000.
- 1013 street youth 14 – 25 years of age were recruited in a
prospective cohort with semi-annual follow-ups.
- 26 youth died between assessments.
- Mortality rate was 921 per 100.000 person-years of observation and
the mortality rate for this group was 11.4.
Conclusions:
- Factors associated with death:
o Current heavy substance use (injection)
o Current heavy alcohol use
o Homelessness
o HIV infection
Lecture 11 Homeless Youth – 23-03-16
Outline:
- Definitions and dimensions
- Homeless youth in Holland
- Homeless youth in US
- Precursors
- Consequences
- Exiting homelessness
- Programs and interventions
- The movie and sequel
Homeless youth
Young people between the ages of 12 and 25 who have no regular place to
stay.
- Runaways (left home without parent/guardian’s consent)
- Throwaways (kids who were kicked out of the house)
- System kids (left problematic social service placements = 50%)
- Street kids (those lacking basic shelter)
Other facts:
- Runaways in shelter younger and female
- Youth barred from welfare hotels
- 12% left foster care or group home just before going on the street
- 90% return home after a month
- 99% return home within 12 months
Homeless youth in the Netherlands
- homeless people 25.000 – 35.000
- estimated number of homeless youth: 3200
- actual number estimated to be 5000-10.000 (6000)
- 320 beds available in shelters
Who are they?
- 70% male
- Most between 16 and 21 (58%)
- Ethnic minority (33%) (overall population is 12% ethnic minority)
- Increased in recent years (likely due to changes of intake services of
people with learning disabilities)
- 2 out of 5 homeless youth form a risk to safety of other people –
physical or verbal threats, petty crime.
- 33% have frequent contact with crisis services
Support for homeless youth poorly organized in the NL (Wolf & Planije,
2004)
- Available services are highly fragmented
, - No comprehensive shelter and support services for homeless young
people (too few beds)
- Funded from diverse sources therefore criteria for entry varies.
- Exclusion criteria fierce:
o Serious mental problems
o Addiction
o Undocumented immigration status
o Health problems requiring considerable physical care
o Aggressive behavior
o Learning problems
- No systematic means of documenting number of homeless, who
uses shelters or crisis centers, and the effectiveness of this aid.
Precursors of homelessness:
- Stressful family backgrounds
- Economic instability
- Problem behaviors (drug use, delinquency, teen pregnancy)
- Residential instability (family, foster care)
- More often the precipitating event that leads to leaving home occurs
in the family:
o Physical and sexual abuse
o Parental substance abuse
o Irreconcilable differences between parent and child
o Frequent moves and unstable housing
o Neglectful parenting
Pathways of homelessness (is drug use the reason?) Mallett et al. 2005
302 homelss youth in Melbourne, Australia 107 drug users (one third)
Serving our youth: findings from a national survey of service providers
working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth who are
homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Durso, L. E., & Gates, G. J. (2012).
- Data from the LGBT Homeless youth provider survey, a web-based
survey conducted from October 2011 through march 2012.
, - The survey was designed to assess the experience of homeless
youth organizations in providing services to LGBT youth. It also
assessed the prevalence of LGBT youth within the homeless
populations being served by these organizations.
- 381 respondents completed at least part of the survey, representing
354 agencies throughout the US.
Results: LGBT youth represent between 30 and 43% of those served by
drop-in centers, street outreach programs and housing programs.
Consequences:
- survival sex greater risk of contracting AIDS or HIV-related
illnesses. (5-17%).
- Greater risk for:
o Anxiety, depression, conduct disorder, post-traumatic stress,
drug abuse, and addiction.
o Poor health and nutrition, they are often in starvation mode,
nutrition levels are very poor. Others are obese because all
their eating is junk food.
o Low self-esteem
- Difficulties attending school because of legal guardianship
requirements, residency requirements, improper records and lack of
transportation.
- Lack job skills to support themselves financially.
- Premature death
Mortality in a cohort of street youth in Montreal – Roy, Haley, Leclerc,
Sochanski, Boudreau & Boivin (2004) JAMA, 292, 569-574
, - Objectives. To estimate mortality rate among street youth in
Montreal and to identify causes of death and factors increasing the
risk of death.
- Design, setting and population. January 1995 – September 2000.
- 1013 street youth 14 – 25 years of age were recruited in a
prospective cohort with semi-annual follow-ups.
- 26 youth died between assessments.
- Mortality rate was 921 per 100.000 person-years of observation and
the mortality rate for this group was 11.4.
Conclusions:
- Factors associated with death:
o Current heavy substance use (injection)
o Current heavy alcohol use
o Homelessness
o HIV infection
