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Services for Homeless Youth

The report documents that although approximately half of these youth feel less secure on the streets than they did at home, almost 40 percent said they felt safer since leaving. Interviewees stated that this was “primarily because they were out of unsafe homes, no longer being abused, or were away from family members” (p.4). In the words of one 17-year-old female:

I would change the law that says when cops find a runaway they bring them back to their parents. Usually the parents are abusing the kid and that’s why they’re a runaway. Cops should send a kid to a teen shelter (p.27).

Despite their past and present situations, over two-thirds believed they were mentally healthy. However, one in five did not consider themselves to be mentally healthy due to trauma experiences, drug use, and/or a specific mental diagnosis. Most (60 percent) had received a form of mental health treatment at some point in their lives – however, several of them stated that these services ended abruptly for unclear reasons, leaving them without the support they needed:

I went through therapy for a year and a half and then (the foster care system) had to cut me off because they felt like I was going to be co-dependent to my therapist. I think it was more that they didn’t want to continue spending the money on me seeing someone….

Although the majority of these youth used a variety of services available to them, close to half reported an experience that made them not want to return to seek services. They reported being treated poorly or rudely. One 17-year-old male stated “I was mistreated, like I chose to be homeless” (p.98). Some stated that “excessive bureaucracy” (p. 7) prevented them from using services. Others reported poor shelter conditions or conflicts with other service users.

Overall, these youth wished that services for them would increase and that law enforcement would stop criminalizing them for trying to get by. They also hoped that services would do more than just meet their immediate survival needs and that someone would offer services to “help them move towards independence and stability” (p.7).

I think they should have a place for all the homeless people, try to help them, try to let them get a job or something – teach them how their life can change. – Female, 18, p.133

Questions for Discussion:

• Does it surprise you that most of these youth feel mentally healthy?
• What does the fact that 40 percent of homeless youth would rather live on the streets than in their homes say about their situation?
• Should many of the activities associated with being homeless (e.g., squatting, begging), be criminalized?
• What can we do to best serve the needs of homeless youth?
• What kinds of experiences have you had with transition programs that help homeless youth achieve “independence and stability”?
• Are such programs available in your area?

Your thoughts…

Comments:

This lousy mass production system that we have hurts our kids! I would say that the majority of them that are calling them selves homeless and running away are not so to speak mentally ill or having a brain disease, they are being thrown out as too hard to handle first by the schools, then by their parents, then abused and thrown out by step parents, foster parents, group homes and the system at large. Once they are 18 they are adults and you can ask them if they want you to change that law, probably not, they want to be adults they don't want people bossing them around in that way. They want to be independent so work with that to help them get jobs and assist them to get the skills they need to survive. If they have no other support, no family that loves them by all means give them any assistance that you can, but stop grabbing them for so called mental health treatments, to protect them from what, and saying it is in their best interest, and then putting them in foster homes and group homes that they want to run away from. Work with any family that ask for help, and let the family come to you to ask for that help, by all means if a kid comes to you for help and the family refuses then help that kid away from that family, but use family preservation as much as possible. Posted Sunday, June 22, 2008 by Janie Lee, M.Ed. at 01:18 AM

This is an important article for many, but nothing in this report was surprising to someone who works with homeless youth. In Seattle we have some thin data that says that half the youth on the streets are "throw away youth," kicked out of their home by a hostile step parent and without services. A disproportionate number were "refugees" from foster care where they felt the rules applied to them as teenagers were demeaning and did not reflect their developmental status only an agencies liability concerns. It is my experience that mental illness in the homeless youth population is not that different from the general population of youth = 20% warrant a formal diagnoses. But developmental disruption and accumulating trauma warrant counseling anyway. My big issue with homeless youth is the meaningless, yet life altering boundary of 18 years of age. Homeless youth attach to each other and age 18 is an utterly arbitrary divide that does not prevent friendships and even love relationships. If laws from federal to local could change to allow for programmatic groupings, i.e. 16 to 21 for homeless youth services it would solve a lot of problems. In Seattle our very good housing efforts for youth can let an 18 year old boy take is dog with him to his new appartment, but not his 17 year old girlfriend. Posted Sunday, May 18, 2008 by Charles Huffine, MD at 03:15 PM

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