Taking it to the streets: Homeless youth in D.C.

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October 15, 1:16 PM

by Aisha Ali, D.C. Youth Issues Examiner

 

 

Homeless youth with sign seeking money and help.

Part one of a two-part series

All over the United States, many youths experience unbearable domestic lives due to physical and/or sexual abuse, irreparable relationships, addiction of a family member, and/or parental neglect.  As a result, youths often feel they must escape these conditions, lacking access to proper resources and thus, face circumstances that either mirror dreadful situations at home or present heightened levels of it. 

Oftentimes after “escaping,” these youths are exposed to a life of drugs (abuse or illegal trafficking), crime, rape, suicide, and homicide.  They experience cold, sleepless nights on streets or in halfway houses, shelters, abandoned buildings, transitional housing, and various homes of friends and even sometimes, strangers. Such stark conditions present starvation and a sense of hopelessness: this is the everyday life of a runaway, throwaway, or street youth. 

Homeless youths are classified as persons under the age of 18 who lack  guidance in the absence of a parent or guardian. Runaway youths are persons under 18 who leave their home or  legal residence for at least one night sans permission of a parent or legal guardian.  Throwaway youths have been ejected from homes of either their parents or legal guardians. Street youths are recognized as those persons who manage to survive for an extended time on streets. However, most of the street youth population is comprised of runaways and throwaways that never returned or were never able to return home, thereby becoming homeless. Homelessness amongst youths is both a grave and complex issue that should be addressed and tackled as other social injustices: runaways, throwaways, and homeless youths face various forms of oppression ranging from racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and ageism, often becoming a product of victimization, poverty, and limited access to vital resources.

The National Runaway Switchboard estimates there are approximately between 1.6 and 2.8 million runaway, throwaway, and homeless youths occupying streets. Most youths who leave home have been sexually abused or assaulted.  The disturbing number of youths who have experienced sexual abuse or assault prior to leaving home is one in two, while one in three was coerced to perform a sexual act against his or her will.  Sexual abuse or assault has been documented as the predominant factor for why youths run away and ironically becomes a consequence of doing so. This year alone, one in 260 youths will die from assault, illness or suicide.

When identifying feelings of these youths, the Journal of Nursing Scholarship documented four major emotions: loneliness, hopelessness, social aloofness, and a lack of resilience or adaptability-- all of which contribute to life-threatening behaviors. Researchers of this study observed 59 homeless youths ages 15-22 of which 38 were male, 20 were female, and one failed to identify with neither gender. 

Thirty-eight percent of these youths identified as being gay, lesbian, homosexual, or bisexual.   Out of this group, 51 percent was classified as throwaway due to their sexual orientation; 37 percent ran away due to their parents’ disapproval of their drug use; and 31 percent ran away due to parental abuse.  Out of those runaway youths who claimed parental abuse, 47 percent indicated they had been sexually abused, with females mostly comprising this group. Those who had reported experiencing sexual abuse at home, displayed more life-threatening behaviors and high levels of aloofness.  In other words, youths who felt a sense of resilience, adapting to street-life, experienced lower levels of aloofness and more feelings of hope.  These hopeful youths engaged in fewer life-threatening behaviors, particularly because they believed their lives to be meaningful.

Youths disconnected from communities, lacking access to schools, health care and other support systems, are forced to turn to “survival” and “comfort” methods.  This includes engaging in survival sex or sex trading to meet basic, functional needs, leading to an increased risk for HIV, STDs, unwanted pregnancies, and other health issues. In relation to HIV and STD contraction, family abuse drastically linked with these variables: lonely youths spent more time by themselves and engaged with friends who sold sex; youths who spent more time by themselves engaged in high-risk sex with multiple sex partners; substance abuse is ranked higher in youth runways, and alcohol is often involved in those situations that include high-risk sexual behaviors; and youths who traded sex had experienced or eventually will experience health-related problems, including STDs.  

Washington, DC-- a district recognized for having the highest rate for persons contracting HIV and AIDS— definitely poses a major concern for runaways, throwaways, and homeless youths in regards to contracting HIV and/or AIDS. In 1999, the Journal of Adolescent Health published a survey that consisted of 288 homeless youths living in the Washington, DC area.  This survey was used to determine the link between life-threatening characteristics of runaways, throwaways, and homeless youths and HIV-risk behavior. 

The survey revealed approximately 7.6 percent of youths between 12-17 have run away from home.  When asked by researchers the cause that had rendered them homeless, sexual abuse was the predominant reason.  Thirteen youth surveyed indicated sexual abuse was the primary reason why they had left home; however, one-third of the females and one-tenth of the males studied reported being victimized.

What is important to note is both the male and female youths who have been sexually abused were reported as considerably displaying more HIV-risk behaviors compared to those who had not been sexually abused.  The authors of this study note,  “alarmingly, almost half of the youth surveyed had traded sex for money, drugs, food or shelter, and only slightly fewer reported no or inconsistent condom use.”   This means most youths sexually abused do not report their cases and they therefore, go undocumented, which in turn indicates there is a substantial amount of youths infected with HIV or AIDS and are unaware. This leads way to blindly infecting other individuals later on in life.  

Intervention and Prevention

On September 27, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a final bipartisan legislation to strengthen protections of and support for America’s runaways and homeless youths.  John Yarmuth (D-KY) authored the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act (S.2982), which the House passed in June.  Under this decree, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act is both reauthorized and amended.  The renewal of this Act will improve the quality of services available to aid disconnected youth, expanding access to such programs.  In turn, this would lessen the chances of runaway and homeless youths repelled from shelters. Rep. Yarmuth stated: “This legislation will bring us significantly closer to ensuring that, in America, no child ever has to grow up without a home. For more than a million children each year, this legislation could mean the difference between continuing to live on the streets without hope and finding a path to successful adulthood.”

Under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, government agencies are required to fund organizations or programs dedicated to helping runaways and homeless youths. Transitional Living Programs or TLPs are guaranteed federal and local government funding to help provide care, resources, and guidance to runaways, throwaways, and homeless youths so they may eventually become self-reliant when re-entering the world.

TLPs are expected to provide safe and stable housing for 18 month-intervals per resident, and has a staff capable of teaching rudimentary life skills, including consumer education, budgeting, and housekeeping.  Participatory youths in TLPs must also attain an education while enrolled-- whether it includes attending high school, vocational training, or a GED program. 

If TLPs meet the basic, required standards, they are eligible to receive a maximum of  $200,000 dollars per year via the government for five years before they have to reapply.  Currently, there are 206 TLPs in the United States receiving government funding, with about 3,671 registered homeless youths. However, the local and federal government were not always required to fund such programs before 1974.  In 1974, Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which was the federal government’s first attempt to assist homeless youths. 

According to OhMyGov.com, Curtis O. Porter, Acting Associate Commissioner for the Family Youth and Services Bureau (FYSB), the branch of the Department of Health and Human Services that handles TLPs, references a time when runaways and homeless youths were almost treated as criminals, often being detained in jails.  “Prior to 1974, it was quite possible for a person who was a status offender, a runaway, or a truant to be labeled ‘unmanageable’ and to be detained in a secured environment, either at the juvenile justice level, a jail, or housed with adults," Porter said.  "[The Act] created a network of safe places for people running away from home for whatever reason, whether they were abandoned, abused, or neglected.  They were able to receive services on a short term basis while agencies worked out reunification with families, if that was possible, or found other alternatives."

With the maturation of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, advocates of support systems for homeless youths began to realize older youths require more than just short-term shelters.  Before the reauthorization of this Act in 1988, many programs were organized in such a fashion that provided only temporary assistance.  Yet, once the older homeless youths left these programs, they often returned to the same situations and thus, reverted back to the same behaviors before coming to the shelters.

However, after this Act was amended, advocates created longer transitional phases for homeless youths, establishing extended programs that would better equip youths to re-enter the world with hopes of not reverting back to their dangerous lifestyles.  As a result, TLPs were included as an amendment to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.  Prior to government backing, TLPs were documented as running quite successfully under sole discretion for years.  However, with supported government funding, TLPs soon were able to provide education, living quarters, and vocational training— something other homeless shelters could not provide.

The Sasha Bruce House is noted as a top-notch TLP, which is located in Washington, DC, existing in an area known for its high crime and poverty rates.  Yet, it is still able to overpower its negative surroundings, providing resilience and hope for its residents. Sasha Bruce creates a “homey” environment for its residents, promoting comfortability through community-- something to which these youths are unaccustomed.  Each resident is even provided a fully-furnished apartment, which they must share with a roommate.  Sasha Bruce is a community with many amenities-- all of which are to teach residents how to set up an apartment, cook, clean, use a computer, and engage in other practices that makes the residents self-sufficient.

Sasha Bruce does not offer residents meals and transportation; however, the staff does help youths to apply for food stamps and to obtain bus passes. Sasha Bruce also assists youths to find jobs, doctors, community service projects, as well as assist with other fundamental needs.  The staff ensures each resident is properly set up so they may become self-reliant when leaving the home.  OhMyGov.com quotes Porter as saying, "Young people often times look for structure and this gives it to them. TLPs employ people who are very caring professionals, and for a lot of young people they really are a lifeline."

The problem with runaway, throwaway, and homeless youths worsens every day.  This is a troubling epidemic, for which all persons must find a cure.  If you suspect a youth to be on the verge of running away or being thrown out of his or her parents' or legal guardians' home, please see the following abbreviated list of  TLPs in Washington, DC.  Remember, the youths of today serve as the future of tomorrow.

Public Policy and Systems Improvement Office
2001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 760
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-467-4441
Fax: 202-467-4499

Covenant House
Executive Director, Judith Dobbins
2001 Mississippi Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20020
202-610-9600
www.covenanthousedc.org

National Network for Youth
1140 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 1210
Washington, DC 20036
202-783-7949
http://nn4youth.org

National Coalition for the Homeless
2201 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-462-4822
Fax: 202-462-4823

For more information on TLPs and other government funded programs to assist runaways, throwaways, and homeless youths, please visit this link: www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/information_packets/homeless_and_runaway_youth-pkt.pdf.

Sources:

www.wcsap.org/pdf/RAD%207-1.pdf
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/edlabor_dem/RelSep27.html
http://ohmygov.com/blogs/a-day-in-the-life/archive/2008/07/29/top-story-transitional-living-programs-a-lifeline-for-runaway-youth.aspx
www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/information_packets/homeless_and_runaway_youth-pkt.pdf

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