Youth Homelessness and Vulnerability: How Does Couch Surfing Fit?

Youth homelessness is a problem characterized by high levels of vulnerability. The extent to which couch surfing - moving from one temporary housing arrangement to another - is part of youth homelessness is not well understood. Chapin Hall's Voices of Youth Count, a national research initiative, involves a multicomponent approach to studying youth homelessness. This study reports emerging findings regarding couch surfing and homelessness primarily from a national survey of 13,113 adults with youth ages 13-25 in their households or who are themselves ages 18-25. Findings suggest that couch surfing is relatively common, particularly among the older age group. Among households with 13- to 17-year-olds and 18- to 25-year-olds, 4.0% and 20.5%, respectively, reported that any of them had couch surfed in the last 12 months. There are notable social, economic, and educational differences, on average, between youth reporting homelessness and those reporting only couch surfing. However, most youth who report experiencing homelessness also report couch surfing, and these youth who experience both circumstances present high levels of socioeconomic vulnerability. Couch surfing encompasses a range of experiences, some of which likely include need for services. Interviews currently in the field, and expanded analysis of data, will contribute more nuanced policy insights.

School-based service delivery for homeless students: relevant laws and overcoming access barriers

Schools in the United States are facing a record number of homeless students. These students are highly at-risk for experiencing negative life outcomes, and they face considerable academic and social-emotional functional impairments. To help address the complex needs of homeless students, this article reviews the intersection of laws and practices that impact homeless students, as well as contemporary school-based service delivery efforts to support the academic and social-emotional needs of these students. In addition, this article also reviews several barriers to school-based service delivery for homeless students and ways to overcome these barriers. These barriers include confusion regarding consent and record-sharing procedures, ineffectively utilizing homeless liaisons, and misapplying tenants of Multitiered Systems of Support (MTSS), which is a school-based service-delivery framework that has been adopted by and implemented in many U.S. schools. Ultimately, this article aims to provide members of school communities with practical information that they can use to support the homeless youth they encounter and serve.

Explaining homeless youths' criminal justice interactions: childhood trauma or surviving life on the streets?

Homeless youth are at increased risk for involvement in the criminal justice system. This study investigated childhood trauma as a risk factor for arrest or jail among a sample of youth seeking services at drop in, shelter, and transitional housing settings, while controlling for more established risk factors including: substance use, peer deviance, and engagement in survival behaviors. Standardized and researcher developed measures collected quantitative data through face-to-face interviews with youth (N = 202). Two sequential logic regression models identified significant predictors of arrest and jail, with a particular interest in the effects of childhood maltreatment. Youth with a history of physical abuse were nearly twice as likely to be arrested and to be jailed compared to non-abused youth, controlling for the significant influence of drug use and survival behaviors. These findings suggest the need for trauma screening and trauma-informed services for homeless youth at risk of illegal behavior.

Changelings: transformative perceptions of San José's street children, 1965-1981

Between 1965 and 1981, Costa Ricans changed their perceptions of which characteristics they thought defined appropriate urban childhoods. By 1981, the model of a modern, urban Costa Rican child was that of a child who attended school, did not work on the streets, and played in specifically designated places. Children who did not fit this mold began, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, to be viewed as dangerous to society and as evidencing social pathology. Whereas children who worked on the streets during the 1960s were considered part of the urban landscape, and their childhoods, though difficult, were not perceived as deviant, these same children, two decades later, were viewed as marginal and problematic. To trace this change, this article focuses on the changing perceptions about children on the streets that writers for and public contributors to La Nación, one of the preeminent Costa Rican newspapers, show during the sixteen-year period under analysis.

Long-term and chronic homelessness in homeless women and women with children

The Chronic Homelessness initiative has directed millions of federal dollars to services for single "unaccompanied homeless" individuals, specifically excluding women living with their children. Using a data set with a nationally representative sample of homeless adults, we calculated the prevalence rates and profiles of long-term homelessness in homeless women (n = 849). With the exception of the criterion of being a single "unaccompanied individual," many women, including women with children, met the criteria for chronic homelessness including having a disability of mental health or substance abuse problems. Our findings suggest that the federal definition of chronic homelessness needs to be revised.

The relationship between street children and the justice system in Egypt

This article examines the relationship between street children and the justice system in Egypt. After introducing the context of street children in the Egyptian case, it explores whether the justice system exacerbates the problem of street children and whether its potential to play a positive part in alleviating the problem should be revisited. The article then explores the basis for the negative perspective on the role of the justice system and the steps required to improve its role in solving the problem of the increasing number of street children. It concludes with a three-pronged approach for the Egyptian justice system to adopt to effectively address the problem of street children. The article is based on an existing knowledge base that is scattered in small-sample empirical studies, large-scale surveys, United Nations reports, newspapers, and a few academic articles written in both English and Arabic.

Homelessness and health in adolescents

Despite an abundance of resources, many of the world's wealthiest nations have a large homeless population. People at all stages of development are affected by this problem, but adolescents who are homeless face a unique set of challenges. In this critical narrative study the authors examined the experiences of homeless adolescents with particular attention to the role of gender and public policy, health experiences and perceptions, and barriers to health care services. Six girls and 7 boys participated in semistructured dialogic interviews. Their stories revealed that living without a home had a substantial impact on their health and wellness. The findings from this study support the need for health care professionals to work in collaboration with homeless youth so that more effective care that is sensitive to their unique health needs can be provided.

Ethical issues surrounding studies with vulnerable populations: a case study of South African street children

Researchers who investigate social and economic determinants of health often interact with vulnerable and marginalized populations. Great care must be taken to conduct research studies involving vulnerable persons in a manner consistent with accepted ethical principles in order to protect participants from exploitation, to build capacity, and to promote wellbeing. Children form a particularly vulnerable group, especially those who do not enjoy the protection of parents or guardians.

METHODS

A research project which studied South African Sunnyside's street children was used as a case study to illustrate ethical issues surrounding research with vulnerable populations.

DISCUSSION

The participants in the case study lacked the age of majority and were without any legal guardian. The researchers experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining ethical approval to conduct the study. The street children, at first, were not allowed to give informed consent for the study because of their minor age. Ethical principles of autonomy, disclosure, competence and understanding, consent and voluntariness, beneficence and non-maleficence, and justice are described and applied to this case study involving street children in a South African neighbourhood. It is suggested that by working within an ethical framework, the safety of research participants will be assured and the quality of the research will be enhanced.

Asthma among homeless children in New York City: an update

Homeless children in New York City had an extremely high asthma prevalence-40%-in a cross-sectional study at 3 shelters (n=740) during 1998 to 1999. We used the same protocol to summarize subsequent data through December 2002. Asthma prevalence was 33% (n=1636); only 15% of the children previously diagnosed were taking an asthma controller medication. Emergency department use was 59%. These data were used to support a class action lawsuit that was resolved in favor of homeless children with asthma in New York City.

Youth homelessness: a call for partnerships between research and policy

Homeless youth present significant challenges both to youth workers and policy-makers seeking to develop better prevention and intervention strategies. This article discusses the compelling need for researchers and policy-makers to make efforts to work collaboratively to develop improved social policy informed by research findings.

Outcomes for a transitional living program serving LGBTQ youth in New York City

Providing stable housing for runaway and homeless youth is a major function of a transitional living program. This article introduces the focus of one program working with LGBTQ youth in New York City and discusses some issues to consider when working with this population. The article also presents data associated with young people's lives after discharge. In any discussion of outcomes, both reason for discharge and length of stay play important roles in whether or not an exit is safe. Regardless of these two elements, the places youth move to when leaving programs are crucial to their safety and well-being. The exit can be safe even when a young person is discharged early from a program. This article presents types of exits, as well as status of employment and school enrollment at exit. Some youth and staff-identified lessons gained in the program also are discussed in detail. Types of aftercare services sought by discharged youth are specified. This article also describes any differences in outcomes for youth with and without foster care experience.

Minors' rights to consent to treatment: navigating the complexity of State laws

State laws recognize that a competent adult patient has the right to consent to or refuse medical treatment. While the law is clear with regard to the right of competent adults, state statutes are more complicated when the patient is a minor. While the law should, and does, attempt to balance the rights and obligations of parents and guardians against the access and privacy rights of minors, complicated state statutory schemes often fail to simultaneously address those contrasting goals in a consistent and uniform manner. The result is a confusing set of seemingly arbitrary and sometimes conflicting provisions that require the detailed attention of healthcare providers to ensure legal compliance. With the aim of helping healthcare practitioners meet their legal obligations, this Article examines state laws governing minor's consent rights byfocusing on the instances in which a minor's parent, guardian, or other authorized adult is permitted to consent to treatment on behalf of a minor and the instances in which a minor is authorized to act independent of adult intervention.

Teenage prostitution and the future of the female adolescent in Nigeria

Nigeria has a large number of adolescents living and making a living on the streets. This has been attributed to economic factors and exposure to all forms of risks. The result is the proliferation of prostitution among the adolescents with its attendant problems. This article considers the different forms of adolescent prostitutes: those in brothels, street walkers, call girls, and casual, part-time, or floating prostitutes, as well as the trafficking of adolescent girls across international borders. The causes of adolescent prostitution in Nigeria are largely economic, sociological, and socioeconomic factors. A two-dimensional approach was adopted in considering the attitude to prostitution. Coping mechanisms include endurance, self-medication, seeking medical attention, and adaptation. The effects of prostitution are psychological reactions, psychosocial damage, and the political implication, which damages the image of the nation. Approaches to combat adolescent prostitution in Nigeria include legislative steps, governmental efforts, policy making, awareness programs, and the efforts of nongovernmental organizations, community conscientization, and societal measures.

Without parental consent: conducting research with homeless adolescents

ISSUES AND PURPOSE

To identify the ethical and legal implications of conducting research with homeless adolescents and to discuss guidelines for conducting research without parental consent.

CONCLUSIONS

Ethical principles of capacity, risk, postponement, and truthful disclosure within the context of the rights of minors to consent to healthcare treatment form the basis of the argument for allowing adolescents to consent to participate in research without parental consent when there is minimal risk or when such consent could place them at increased risk for harm.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Adolescents who are the target population for clinical research or who are intended recipients of nursing care should be involved in setting priorities, purposes, and protocols. Parents and other adults from their communities should be included in developing strategies to protect their confidentiality and privacy while helping them achieve autonomy in making informed health-related decisions.

A South African perspective on children's rights: pertinent issues in remedial and protection interventions

This article focuses on specific issues that pose a threat to the application of children's rights in South Africa. Under remedial interventions survival, development and the standard of living and health will be discussed; while issues pertaining to children's right to education and parental care are also addressed. As far as protection interventions are concerned attention will be paid to abuse and neglect, child labour and children in difficult situations such as violence, disabilities, juvenile justice and street children.

Is the street child phenomenon synonymous with deviant behavior?

The police, court officials, social workers, and the public, in general, perceive street children negatively--their behavior is deemed deviant. This paper examines the concept of deviance as a label placed on the powerless by those in positions of power.

Homeless children

Homeless children are an "invisible" population within our community. A review is provided of the economic, social, medical and dental conditions of these children.

What happened to street kids? An analysis of the Mexican experience

This paper documents some possible reasons of failure of programs for street children in Mexico, and provides background information on demographic and socioeconomic trends that underlay self-employment as well as a historical perspective of the social context of street children. It also describes the strategies used to survive in the streets, trends in drug use/misuse, the felt needs of children and the social responses to this problem. It documents how underlying failure there are unrealistic goals, a fragmented perception of the problem and consequently, a fragmented response to it. It also refers to the great pressure on institutions for results, lack of continuity of the programs and disregard of the perception and felt needs of working children who should benefit from these programs.