The Beat: Permanent Connections
"A Family Intervention to Reduce Sexual Behavior, Substance Use, and Delinquency Among Newly Homeless Youth." Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol. 50, No. 4, April 2012.
What it’s about: Support to Reunite, Involve and Value Each Other, or STRIVE, is a five-session, in-home program that aims to repair homeless youths’ relationships with their families. Researchers wanted to see how well the intervention worked at keeping homeless 12- to 17-year-olds from having risky sex, using drugs and getting in trouble with the law. Each STRIVE session uses cognitive-behavioral theories, which help families learn better problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills.
Why read it: Researchers have found a number of programs, curricula and practices that improve the education, employment, family relationships and health of at-risk youth in general....
There’s often a special connection between animals and their caretakers. Penny Ellison, who directs the Hand2Paw Foundation in Philadelphia, sees it every day. Hand2Paw empowers young adults from Covenant House Pennsylvania to volunteer in local animal shelters and help care for homeless pets.
Young people help feed the animals, exercise dogs, and stock food and water. Ellison says, “I’ve seen big guys, who say they don’t like cats, melt when they feed the baby kittens.”
Youth from Covenant House feel a certain kinship with the animals, because they too are homeless, she says, and harnessing that special bond can benefit both the young people and the animals they care...
NCFY's new video series features seven youth workers from around the country, each sharing a time when they made a big difference in a young person's life.
Up first is Linda Mascarenas from Family and Youth Services in Stockton, CA. She talks about a teen mother who eventually became a paid employee of Mascarenas' youth program.
The "When Did You Make the Biggest Difference in a Young Person's Life?" video series was shot in Portland, OR, during the 2011 National Runaway and Homeless Youth Family and Youth Services Bureau Grantee Conference in November. A complementary series titled "What's Your Most Meaningful Relationship?" features formerly homeless young people talking about the most essential people in their lives.
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"Resilient Educational Outcomes: Participation in School by Youth With Histories of Homelessness," Youth & Society, Vol. 43, No. 1, March 2011
What it's about: This study looks at how homelessness and extreme poverty affect young people's education. The researchers surveyed homeless youth to find out what factors made them more or less likely to stay in school and do well.
Why read it: Youth workers may be better equipped to help youth get an education if they understand the key factors that predict whether or not homeless youth will do well in school.
Biggest take away for youth workers: The authors suggest that supportive, stable housing is the key factor in helping youth get back on track in their schooling. Typically, they say, the longer youth are housed, and the more supports they have available to them, the more...
Seems like there’s never enough time to do all the things that need to be done to make the world a better place. Maybe that’s why Global Youth Service Day -- the largest and longest-running service event in the world, and the only day of service dedicated to children and youth -- is actually a weekend. Mark your calendar for April 20-22, 2012.
But don't stop there. Here are three things you can do to use Global Youth Service Day as a springboard for a year's worth of community service:
1. Help youth to plan and do a community service activity in April. Last year, NCFY talked to a Honolulu mentoring program before and after the big day to find out how their project went.
2. Learn about the best ways to...
Based on years of work with runaway and homeless youth and the best emerging evidence about what youth need to succeed, the Family and Youth Services Bureau believes the most crucial outcomes for runaway and homeless youth include well-being, permanent connections, safety and self-sufficiency.
In a new issue of The Exchange, NCFY's e-magazine for youth workers, we focus on ways to achieve and improve permanent connections for runaway and homeless youth. We talk to one organization that has made permanent connections a fundamental goal in all aspects of its services. We also hear about the benefits and challenges of housing young homeless couples together. And we look at how gender-specific programming can help boys and girls express themselves, build camaraderie,...
Each year thousands of young women run away from home. To survive, some girls steal. Some sell their bodies for money or a place to stay. Many use drugs and alcohol to cope with life on the streets. Eventually, many girls end up in the juvenile justice system.
NCFY spoke with Lawanda Ravoira, director of the National Girls Institute, about how to keep homeless young women out of trouble, out of jail and engaged with programs that provide support.
NCFY: Which girls are most at risk for becoming involved in the juvenile justice system?
Ravoira: Girls become involved in the system from all over, but one of the first predictors is school failure (uneven grades, suspensions and expulsions). The other big thing is trauma. We know that 92 percent of girls entering juvenile justice have been victims of physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Girls coming into the system have much...
Increased Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Migratory Homeless Youth: Exploring the Role of Social Network Composition, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 40, No. 12.
What it’s about: Researchers interviewed 13- to 24-year-old homeless youth living in Los Angeles about their substance use and sexual behavior. The researchers looked at youth who travel from city to city and youth who stay in one place and compared their social networks, risky behavior and use of services.
Why read it: Some may idealize the life of so-called “travelers,” homeless youth who go from city to city and town to town, as care-free and independent. This is one of only a few studies that have examined the unique experience of homeless traveling youth and the risks they face.
Biggest takeaway for youth workers: This study...
The latest podcast from NCFY tells the story of Forrest Vest, a formerly homeless teen who got off the streets and started a youth-serving foundation in his hometown on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.
After winning $500 in a local youth scholarship competition, he asked his longtime family friend Debbie Michael to help him put the windfall to good use. The two partners now have a steady stream of donations and media attention, bringing their For Rest Foundation closer to its goal of establishing a shelter for runaway and homeless youth.
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"Housing experiences of former foster youth: How do they fare in comparison to other youth?" (abstract), Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 33, No. 11, November 2011.
What it’s about: A number of studies have documented the fact that former foster youth often don't have a stable place to live. This article asks whether that housing insecurity is related to young people's history in foster care or to other risk factors, such as poverty, drug use and teen parenthood.
Why read it: When youth don't have stable housing, they can get sick, become depressed or develop emotional problems that make it difficult for them to function well as adults. Having safe, secure housing makes it easier for youth nearing adulthood to finish school or hold down a job. By understanding the reasons behind housing insecurity, youth-serving...
