Homelessness and Runaway Youth

Homelessness among adolescents is a growing concern across the United States, where adolescents make up about a quarter of all the homeless. Conservative estimates suggest that between 500,000 and 1 million adolescents run away from home each year, and that in any given year between 1 and 1.5 million spend some period of time in emergency shelters or on the streets (Robertson, 1992). While many of these youths return home after brief episodes, others transition in and out of homelessness, migrating from one unstable situation to the next. Others become chronically homeless, taking refuge in shelters, squatting in makeshift or abandoned housing, or sleeping on the streets.

While our knowledge of this population and their developmental trajectories is still in the early stages, it is quite clear that romantic stereotypes of homeless youth as modern Huck Finns, in search of independence and adventure, are inaccurate. Instead, recent research suggests that these youth typically come from conflict-laden, violent, and/or dysfunctional families, and most have also experienced neglect, physical abuse, and/or sexual abuse before leaving, [Page 547]being removed, or being expelled, from home (Cauce et al., 2000; Whitbeck & Hoyt, 1999). Homeless youth generally find that they are ill equipped to make it on their own without adult guidance or supervision. Survival strategies typically involve risky or illegal activities from the relatively benign panhandling, “spanging” (i.e., spare changing), and Dumpster diving to dealing drugs and trading sex for money or a place to stay. Participation in these strategies, often as part of a marginalized and delinquent peer group, in turn increases their risk for further physical or sexual victimization. Thus, all too often, risks in the home are traded for similar risks on the streets.

In light of their histories, both before and after running away or becoming homeless, it is not surprising that many are found to suffer from or exhibit a host of emotional and behavioral problems, including anxiety, depression, posttraumatic reactions, suicidal ideation and behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, poor school adjustment, delinquent acting out, and aggressive behaviors (Cauce et al., 2000; Whitbeck & Hoyt, 1999).

Over the past couple of decades, increasing attention has been given to providing appropriate services to this at-risk population of youths, and most major cities provide at least services for them ranging from teen-feed programs or shelters run by church or religious groups to transitional living facilities, drop-in centers, or case management services offered by social service agencies. However, these agencies are typically underfunded, and they seldom have sufficient beds or staff to deal with the number of youths in need. Moreover, these services fail to address the underlying systemic problems that underlie adolescent homelessness. At a more fundamental level, these include poverty, lack of affordable housing, poor employment opportunities for unskilled workers, and restricted access to health care and mental health services. The problem of adolescent homelessness also underscores the ways in which foster care is an often untenable solution for older children and adolescents and is far too often a brief stop on the way to homelessness.

...