The Beat: Runaway and Homeless Youth
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...
“The Influence of Running Away on the Risk of Female Sexual Assault in the Subsequent Year,” Violence and Victims, Vol. 26, No. 6, 2011.
What it’s about: Researchers wanted to know if running away increases a teen girl’s risk of being sexually assaulted in the year after she returns home. To find out, they looked at survey data on more than 5,000 girls ages 11 to 18. The data came from the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a national survey of U.S. teens.
Why read it: Many studies have found that runaway and homeless youth are very likely to be sexually assaulted or exploited while away from home. Other studies have shown that sexual abuse at home puts youth at risk of sexual violence when they become homeless. This is the first study to look at runaway girls’ risk of being sexually assaulted...
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...
