Runaway and Homeless Youth

This pocket-sized brochure is intended for young people graduating from or leaving transitional and independent living programs. It features the stories of three young people who offer advice about becoming independent, realizing dreams, getting help and staying in touch. Youth workers can add their contact information to the detachable postcard in the back. 
Each year, thousands of youth come to the United States illegally without a parent or guardian. Many of them wind up in immigration court without a lawyer to help them navigate the system. To find out what youth workers can do to help these young people, NCFY spoke with Megan McKenna, who directs communications and advocacy for Kids in Need of Defense, or KIND, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that...
When a young person lives on the streets or in an abusive home, their brain develops differently than if they lived in a stable, safe environment. To learn more about the teen brain, trauma and healthy ways to stimulate young people’s frontal lobes, NCFY spoke with Heather Higgins, director of training and development at The Upside Down Organization, which demystifies brain science for...
"Residential treatment for sexually exploited adolescent girls: Acknowledge, Commit, Transform (ACT)" (abstract), Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 33, No. 11, November 2011.
“Lighthouse Independent Living Program: Predictors of Client Outcomes at Discharge,” Children and Youth Service Review, April 2011.
The Health Resources and Services Administration announces the availability of funding from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part D Grants for Coordinated HIV Services and Access to Research for Women, Infants, Children, and Youth. Organizations that provide family-centered primary medical care to women, infants, children and youth living with HIV are invited to apply. This program aims to improve...
Youth workers know that homeless people are often invisible to their larger communities.
Q: Our transitional living program is, for the first time, planning to house youth in their own apartments around our city. What can we do to make sure our youth are good tenants and don't have issues with their landlords?
“Screening homeless youth for histories of abuse: Prevalence, enduring effects, and interest in treatment” (abstract), Child Abuse & Neglect, 35(5), June 2011.
At the Orion Center in Seattle, young people learn yoga, rock climbing and knitting. They make greeting cards and mosaics, and play guitar or drums during jam sessions with professional musicians. But Director Ruth Blaw is quick to emphasize, “We’re not a rec center.”
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National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth | P.O. Box 13505 | Silver Spring, MD 20911-3505 | (301) 608-8098 | ncfy@acf.hhs.gov