A review of services and interventions for runaway and homeless youth: Moving forward

Abstract

Research focused on the impact of community-based services and treatment interventions designed to intervene in the lives of runaway and homeless youth has increased in the last two decades in the U.S. and internationally. In light of the tremendous need for identifying effective strategies to end homelessness and its associated problems among youth, this paper summarizes and critiques the findings of the extant literature including U.S., international, and qualitative studies. Thirty-two papers met criteria for inclusion in the review. Among the conclusions are that comprehensive interventions which target the varied and interconnected needs of these youth and families may be worthy of more study than studies that isolate the intervention focus on one problem. Also, more research incorporating design strategies that increase the reliability and validity of study findings is needed. Other preliminary conclusions and future directions are offered. Keywordsrunaway and homeless youth; interventions; service evaluation; review The first controlled evaluation of an intervention for runaway/homeless youth was conducted in 1991 and focused on HIV prevention among shelter residing adolescents (Rotheram-Borus, Koopman, Haignere, & Davies, 1991). In the 18 years since that trial, other investigators have sought to identify methods to improve the lives of runaway and homeless youth and their families. Thus, treatment development and evaluation efforts for this population are relatively recent. Early studies focused on understanding the population, their struggles, needs, experiences and etiology of homelessness. These important studies provided the requisite groundwork to develop and target intervention efforts. The primary goal of this paper is to review and summarize the findings of community-based service and intervention efforts directed towards runaway and homeless youth. A summary of the impact of such efforts is provided as well as recommendations for future research. First, current conceptualizations of runaway and homeless youth are offered.Address correspondence to Natasha Slesnick, Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University, 1787 Neil Ave, 135 Campbell Hall, Columbus, OH 43081, phone (614) FAX (614) .edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptChild Youth Serv Rev. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 July 1. Published in final edited form as:Child Youth Serv Rev. Current ConceptualizationsIt is difficult to know how many runaway and homeless youth exist -with various ...

Youth Homelessness: The Impact of Supportive Relationships on Recovery

“…However, the majority of research examines the relationship between a single provider and specific outcomes, primarily mental health issues, reductions in substance use, and psychosocial improvements Slesnick et al, 2009). No present studies have examined the correlation between number of service providers and perceptions of recovery, let alone from the perspectives of the homeless youth themselves.…”

“…Service providers in the study included: health providers (doctor, nurse, or psychiatrist), housing workers, social workers, justice workers, probation officers, etc. All service providers were considered for the analysis as the recovery process for homeless youth must be multifaceted and involve interventions that extend across multiple domains of life (Slesnick et al, 2009;Palepu et al, 2012). Questions on the measure included: "In the past month, have you seen a health or social services provider at his or her office", "Who else have visited at their office this past month?…”

Protecting, Balancing, and Confronting: Health-Seeking Among Homeless Youth in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

“…Healthseeking beyond HIV/AIDS services has not been as thoroughly investigated; in fact, scholars who study international homeless adolescent populations call for increasing research to explore the factors that influence homeless youth's health-seeking behavior (Hudson et al, 2010;Raffaelli, 1999;Slesnick, Dashora, Letcher, Erdem, & Serovich, 2009). This lack of information about the health-seeking behavior of homeless youth extends to Vietnam, where there is a growing population of young people living on the streets (Ensign, 1998;Ensign & Gittelsohn, 1998;Hong & Ohno, 2005).…”

Transitions through homelessness: the impact of psychosocial factors on well-being and outcomes in a homeless sample

“…For example, a person may feel personally discriminated against as a result of bureaucratic forms of authority and power relations structured by the service provision (Hoffman & Coffey, 2008). That is, if aspects of a service are deemed overly controlling or unfair -for example staff being overly strict in applying service rules and regulation -this may result in perceptions of discrimination (Heinze, Jozefowicz, & Toro, 2010;Slesnick et al, 2009). It is possible that the reverse of what we theorise is occurring, that is that low service identification leads to increased perceptions of discrimination.…”

“…There is evidence that these programs (that are more sensitive to the full range of factors that affect homeless individuals) are indeed achieving their aims (Black & Gronda, 2011;Zaretzky & Flatau, 2013). For example, longitudinal studies have found that when individuals make use of these support services, they have an increased likelihood of achieving outcomes such as obtaining stable housing, employment, and improvements in self-esteem (Lam & Rosencheck, 1999;Pollio, Thompson, Tobias, Reid, & Spitznagel, 2006;Slesnick, Dashora, Letcher, Erdem, & Serovich, 2009). …”