The Beat: Runaway and Homeless Youth
Know any young people looking for a job? If you work with youth, the answer is probably yes. Young Americans today face record unemployment.
To help young people get jobs, earn wages and build skills that will make them more competitive in the job market, the Department of Labor is working with businesses and non-profits across the country to launch the Summer Jobs+ Bank, a White House initiative. The bank allows businesses to register new jobs in a searchable directory that young people can use to find work in their communities.
You or your youth can get started by searching the job bank right now! Just use the form below:
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Chris Molinelli calls it “a happy accident.” In September, his Middletown, NY, youth shelter, A Friend’s House, received a 3 a.m. call from a young man who needed emergency housing. “He met all our criteria, but we couldn’t get him transportation,” Molinelli says.
Frustrated by that missed opportunity, Molinelli knew there had to be a way to help youth in similar situations. One of his partner organizations helped run a local after-hours hotline for homeless adults and families. Clients only had to dial 211 to access services. Molinelli set out to bring A Friend’s House under the 211 umbrella as a primary resource for homeless youth, and he achieved that goal on April 1.
By following Molinelli's lead and including your program in a local 211 network, you can connect your organization to other social services and make it easier for youth to contact you.
The 411 on 211...
Managing money can be one of the toughest skills for young people to learn as they transition to adulthood. We spoke to Karen Chan, creator of All My Money, a hands-on curriculum emphasizing money management skills for people with limited financial resources. In this two-part series, we share Chan’s tips on teaching young people about spending, saving and making good money choices.
Learning to live on what they earn and not overspend is the most important money-management concept for youth, Chan says. It’s also the most challenging for them to learn. For one thing, she says, the cost of very basic living today is beyond the income that many young people can expect to earn, at least in the short-term.
And when young people just start out earning money, it’s easy for them to have unrealistic expectations of their income and what they can afford. Youth workers can help young people set a budget and figure out how to stick to it.
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This winter, runaway and homeless youth programs funded by the Family and Youth Services Bureau were given the chance to win the materials to paint a mural in their facilities. Here are the essay and artwork submitted by the first place winner, the Colorado Rural Collaborative Youth Leadership Team.
What is the Colorado Mural Project?
Each year the month of November is "National Homeless Youth Awareness Month." Agencies across the nation hold events and host rallies to raise awareness in their communities about...
"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....
This winter, runaway and homeless youth programs funded by the Family and Youth Services Bureau were given the chance to win the materials to paint a mural in their facilities. In a series of Beat posts, we recognize the runners-up and the winner. Here are the essay and artwork submitted by the second-place winner, Sea Haven Transitional Living Program Junior Advisory Team, in Horry County, SC.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is what the Junior Advisory team tried do when we discovered the mural contest. Create a piece of artwork that needed no explaining but speaks for itself. I think that our goal was achieved.
We are the Junior Advisory Team...
Hundreds of organizations around the country work hard every day to give shelter, food, counseling and support to young people who have run away or become homeless.
The Family and Youth Services Bureau funds many of those programs. It also provides a network of support services: a national hotline for runaway youth, a training and technical assistance center, and us—the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth.
Recently, FYSB’s network of support for runaway and homeless youth organizations worked together to help a young man cross borders and get back home. Read on to find out how.
Andy’s Story
“Andy” was a runaway youth, on his own in New York and yearning to reconnect with his family. Trouble was, they were in Mexico City, where Andy had grown up. He was undocumented and nervous that asking for help would lead to trouble with immigration officials.
Andy’s immigration status...
“Pregnancy and Mental Health of Young Homeless Women” (abstract). American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. 81, No. 2, April 2011.
What it’s about: This study explores the experiences and mental health of homeless young women who are pregnant or have children. The researchers looked at 222 homeless 16- to 19-year-old girls who were sexually active at the beginning of the three-year study. Data came from from the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Homeless Adolescents.
Why read it: We know that homeless young women in the United States are much more likely to become pregnant than their peers. But few studies have looked at mental health or other stresses that negatively affect young homeless mothers. A good understanding of what homeless young moms go through may help youth workers tailor their services.
Biggest...
This winter, runaway and homeless youth programs funded by the Family and Youth Services Bureau were given the chance to win the materials to paint a mural in their facilities. In a series of Beat posts, we recognize the runners-up and the winner. Here are the essay and artwork submitted by the third-place winner, Sasha Bruce Youthwork, in Washington, DC.
Sasha Bruce Youthwork is submitting a design created by youth in the art therapy group at the Sasha Bruce House: DC’s only short-term shelter for young people. Sasha Bruce House provides a safe place to stay and intensive counseling services. Sasha Bruce House helps most youth reunite with their families and works to return all young people to stable...
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.
Lynze Bolton works for First Chance/Y-CHOW in San Bernardino, CA. In his video, he remembers handing a business card to a young man who needed help. Before long, the young man had completely turned his life around.
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 and foster young people talking about the most...
