Journal of Adolescent Health
Volume 13, Issue 8 , Pages 717-726, December 1992

Health and health needs of homeless and runaway youth:

A position paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine

Article Outline

Abstract 

The experience of runaway and homeless youth in the United States is not entirely unique and should be viewed in an international context. The youth in this country do have some unique characteristics and needs. Homeless youth in affluent societies such as ours are often on the streets for different reasons than those of their counterparts in developing countries. Nonetheless, life on the streets brings with it hazards for all homeless young people. Homeless youth are at risk for a number of serious physical and mental health problems, some resulting in pain and discomfort, others in disability and death.

Less dramatic, but just as critical, is the role that homelessness plays in disrupting an adolescent's healthy development. Many of the youth who become homeless come from dysfunctional families where physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and substance abuse are common.

Homelessness and the experiences associated with homelessness further negatively impact youths' physical, emotional, psychologic, and social development. As a result, most do not develop a healthy sense of self, nor do they establish healthy, supportive peer relationships. The majority of homeless youth drop out of school during their early teens. Thus, they miss the opportunity to develop the kinds of problem-solving and intellectual skills required for securing and maintaining employment as adults.

Homeless youth involved in alcohol and other drug abuse are even more likely to have significant deficits and may be more irresponsible and emotionally immature. Thus, a vicious cycle is established. Rather than acquiring the types of enriching experiences and skills that would enable them to develop into healthy adults, homeless youth become over time more alienated from society. As a result, many will become chemically dependent and chronically homeless adults.

No full text is available. To read the body of this article, please view the PDF online.

 

Back to Article Outline

References 

  1. United Nations . Department of International Economic and Social Affairs, The Situation of Youth in the 1980s and Prospects and Challenges for the Year 2000. New York: United Nations; 1986;
  2. Rocky M. Testimony Before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. New York: CHILDHOPE; 1989;
  3. Hoge W. For every one we reach there are 1,000 we don't touch. New York Times. 1983 Sep 11;8E
  4. Connolly M. Adrift in the city: A comparative study of street children in Bogota, Colombia, and Guatemala City. (1990) In: Homeless Children: The Watchers and the Waiters. Haworth Press; 1990;p. 129–149
  5. Jagannathan . Informal markets in developing countries. Oxford: Oxford University press; 1987;
  6. Barker G, Knaul F. Exploited entrepreneurs: Street and working children in developing countries. New York: CHILDHOPE; 1991;
  7. Lusk M. Street children programs in Latin America. J Sociol Soc Welfare. 1989;16:55–77
  8. Bond L, et al.  Street kids and AIDS. Pan American Health Organization; 1990;
  9. Connolly M. In: Presented at the American Public Health Association meetings. Chicago. Street kids and AIDS education: The Survivors Project street worker manual. 1989;
  10. Deisher R, Eisner V, Sulzbacher S. The young male prostitute. (1969) Pediatrics. 1969;43:936–941
  11. Stricof RL, Kennedy JT, Natell TC, et al.  HIV seroprevalence in a facility for runaway and homeless adolescents. Am J Public Health. 1988;81:50–53 (suppl)
  12. Yates G, MacKenzie R, Pennbridge J, Cohen E. A risk profile comparison of runaway and non-runaway youth. Am J Public Health. 1988;78:820–821
  13. Los Angeles County Task Force on Runaway and Homeless Youth . Report and recommendations. 1988; Los Angeles
  14. Finkelhor D, Hotaling G, Sedlak A. In: Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Throwaway Children in America: First Report: Numbers and Characteristics: National Incidence Studies. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice; 1990;
  15. Department of the Youth Authority. Runaway and homeless youth. Sacramento, CA: Office of Criminal Justice Planning.
  16. National Network of Runaway and Youth Services, Inc. . To Whom Do They Belong? Runaway, Homeless, and Other Youth in High-Risk Situations in the 1990s. Washington, DC: National Network of Runaway and Youth Services, Inc; 1991;
  17. Administration for Children, Youth, Families (ACYF) . In: Annual Report to the Congress on the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program. Fiscal Year 1988. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 1988;
  18. Farber E. The adolescent who runs. In:  Brown BS,  Mills AR editor. Youth at High Risk for Substance Abuse. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse; 1987;
  19. Baggett G, Donough B. Oregon Runaway and Homeless Youth Project. Ashland, OR: Northwest Network of Runaway and Youth Services; 1988;
  20. Palenski J, Launer H. The “process” of running away: A redefinition. Adolescence. 1987;22:347–362
  21. Kufeldt K, Nimmo M. Youth on the street: Abuse and neglect in the eighties. Child Abuse Negl. 1987;11:531–543
  22. Powers J, Eckenrode J, Jaklitsch B. Maltreatment among runaway and homeless youth. Child Abuse Negl. 1990;14:87–98
  23. Rotheram-Borus M, Koopman C. Sexual risk behaviors, AIDS knowledge, and beliefs about AIDS among runaways. Am J Public Health. 1991;81:208–210
  24. Deisher R, Robinson G, Boyer D. The adolescent female and male prostitute. Pediatr Ann. 1982;11:819–825
  25. Boyer D. Identity development in adolescent male homosexual prostitutes. In:  Boyer D editors. In and Out of Street Life: A Reader on Interventions with Street Youth. Portland, OR: Tri-County Youth Services Consortium; 1988;
  26. Marotta T, Fisher B, Pincus M. Adolescent male prostitution, pornography, and other forms of sexual exploitation. In: Report submitted to the Youth Development Bureau, Department of Health and Human Services. Urban and Rural Systems Associates; 1982;
  27. Edelbrock C. Running away from home: Incidence and correlates among children and youth referred for mental health services. J Fam Iss. 1980;1:210–228
  28. Ryan J, Doyle A. Operation Outreach: A Study of Runaway Children in New York City. New York: City of New York Police Department; 1986;
  29. Robertson MJ. Homeless Youth: Patterns of Alcohol Use. In: A Report to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Berkeley, CA: Alcohol Research Group; 1989;
  30. Chicago Coalition for the Homeless . Position Paper: Youth Homelessness in Chicago. Chicago: Youth Committee of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless; 1985;
  31. Rothman J, David T. Status Offenders in Los Angeles County: Focus on Runaway and Homeless Youth. Bush Program in Child and Family Policy. Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles; 1985;
  32. Hemmens KC, Luecke MR. In: Sheltering Homeless Youth: A Guide to Illinois Laws and Programs. Chicago: Chicago Law Enforcement Study Group; 1988;
  33. Kipke MD. HIV and Substance Abuse Among Homeless Youth. In: Presented at the annual American Public Health Association Conference. Atlanta, GA. 1991;
  34. Sullivan PA, Damrosch SP. Homeless women and children. In:  Bingham RD,  Green RE,  White SB editor. The Homeless in Contemporary Society. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; 1987;
  35. Shalwitz JC, Goulart M, Dunningan D, et al.  Prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV in a homeless youth clinic in San Francisco. In: Presented at the Sixth International Conference on AIDS. San Francisco. 1990;
  36. Futterman D, Hein K, Kipke MD, et al.  HIV + Adolescents: HIV Testing Experiences and Changes in Risk-Related Sexual and Drug Use Behavior. In: Presented at the Sixth International Conference on AIDS. San Francisco. 1990;
  37. Kipke MD. MV and Substance Abuse Among Homeless Youth. Issues in Delivering Services to Homeless Persons. In: Presented at the annual National AIDS Demonstration Research Meeting, National Institute on Drug Abuse. Bethesda, MD. 1990;
  38. van Houten T, Golembiewski G. Life Stress as a predictor of Alcohol Abuse and/or Runaway Behavior. Washington, DC: American Youth Work Center; 1978;
  39. Shaffer D, Caton CLM. In: Runaway and Homeless Youth in New York City: A Report to the Ittleson Foundation. New York: Division of Child Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; 1984;
  40. Kipke MD, Montgomery S, Pennbridge J, et al.  Prevalence and risk factors for homeless and non-homeless youth. 1991; (unpublished manuscript)
  41. Margetson N, Lipman C. Children at Risk: The Impact of Poverty, the Family and the Streets on Homeless and Runaway Youth in New York City. In: Paper presented at the National Symposium on Youth Victimization. Atlanta, GA. 1990;
  42. Chelinsky E. The problem of runaway and homeless youth. In: Oversight Hearing on Runaway and Homeless Youth Program. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Resources, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, May 5, 1982. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office; 1982;
  43. Farber Ed, Kinast C, McCoard WD, Faulkner D. Child Abuse Negl. 1984;8:295–299
  44. Miller D, Miller D, Hoffman F, Duggan R. Runaways—Illegal aliens in their own land. Brooklyn: Praeger; 1980;
  45. Robertson MJ. The prevalence of mental disorder among homeless persons. In:  RI Jahiel editors. Homelessness: A Prevention-Oriented Approach. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press; 1992; (in press)
  46. Rogers WM. Social and medical services for homeless adolesents in the Netherlands and Denmark. 1989; (unpublished manuscript)
  47. Yates GL. The Los Angeles system of care for runaway/homeless youth. J Adolesc Health. 1991;12:555–560
  48. Pires SA, Silber JT. On Their Own—Runaway and Homeless Youth and Programs that Serve Them. Children and Youth at Risk Project. Georgetown University; 1991;
    Selected bibliography
  1. Farrow JA, Deisher RW, Brown R. In: Proceedings of the West Coast Scientific Symposium on Health Care of Runaway and Homeless Youth. J. Adolesc Health. 12:1991;p. 497–580
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Human Development Services Administration for Children Youth Families . In: Runaway Youth Centers: 1989 Report to Congress. Washington DC: U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services; 1990;
  3. American Medical Council on Scientific Affairs. Health Care Needs of Homeless and Runaway Youths. JAMA. 1989;262:1358–1361
  4. Office of Technology Assessment . Major Problems that Affect U.S. Adolescent's Access to Health and Related Services. In: Adolescent Health. Volume 1:Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services; 1991;
  5. Maternal and Child Health Bureau . In: Report of the Ad-hoc Advisory Committee on Health Needs of Homeless Children and Youth. Washington DC: Department of Health and Human Services; 1985;
  6. U.S. Public Health Service . Homeless and Runaway Youth: Public Health Issues and the Need for Action. Region IX, San Francisco: U.S. Public Health Service; 1991;

PII: 1054-139X(92)90070-R

Journal of Adolescent Health
Volume 13, Issue 8 , Pages 717-726, December 1992

Article Tools