Runaways and Unaccompanied Youth in the United States

956 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cause and effects of youth homelessness

People look at you like you’re the one to blame. They see your tattered sneakers and tangled, greasy hair, and they think they know you. But how could they? You amble down the sidewalk, keep your head down, your eyes averted. You don’t want any trouble. People are quick to assume that's what you're looking for. Your lips are chapped and your face is dirty. You cannot remember the last time you brushed your teeth, let alone took a shower. The thought makes you laugh almost as much as the thought of your old bedroom walls, the shadows cast by the ceiling fan as you stared up from your bed. You had to leave home. It was taken from you. The adults in your life shifted as you grew older, or perhaps you just grew aware. They took pills or tipped glasses or screamed at you for no particular reason. They kicked you out when you got pregnant, when you got mouthy, when you weren't all they wanted you to be. They got sadistic. They crossed unspeakable lines. You had to leave home. You are barely more than a child. At least, you were before. Now, you are homeless.
According to an article published by the National Coalition for the Homeless, there are over 1.6 million runaways and unaccompanied youth in the United States. This means they spend this critical age, the time for school dances and serial procrastination, ducking into alleys and sleeping on park benches. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures a startling one in seven children between the ages ten and eighteen will run away (Homeless and Runaway Youth). In a nation so mindful of their youth, America has fallen behind in prioritizing a safe place for these youth to sleep at night. If this problem persists, future generations will find themselves being led by vola...

... middle of paper ...

...b. 17 Mar. 2014.
"Hurricane Katrina Frequently Asked Questions from Hurricane Katrina Relief." HurricaneKatrinaRelief.com. Hurricane Katrina Relief, 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Robertson, Marjorie J. "Youth, Homeless." Encyclopedia of Homelessness. Ed. David Levinson. Vol. 2. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference, 2004. 615-622. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Stablein, T. Patrick. "Homelessness, Youth." Encyclopedia of Social Problems. Ed. Vincent N. Parrillo. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2008. 452-453. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "Current Statistics on the Prevalence and Characteristics of People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States." Homelessness Resource Center. Department of Health and Human Services, July 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Marni Finkelstein in With No Direction Home

    1594 Words  | 4 Pages

    Finkelstein, M. (2005). With no direction home: homeless youth on the road and in the streets. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.

    Read More

  • Mckinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act Case Study

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a program that guarantees education for the homeless youth population, many homeless do not receive the proper services they need because they are not aware of available resources (Heinze & Jozefowicz-Simbeni, 2009). Many homeless youths do not have a safe place to stay during the night or do not have any family or friends to rely on for support. In addition, approximately 7% of youth members in the United States are left without a home because of high dependence on an addictive substance or because they have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder (Heinze & Jozefowicz-Simbeni, 2009). Services that could provide shelter for the youth are often underused. Research in homeless youth

    Read More

  • Policy Analysis of The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act

    2367 Words  | 5 Pages

    On a Micro level of social work I feel that the strengths of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act outweigh the weaknesses greatly. Although the services might not always benefit the client the main goal is to provide successful services to the youth. Depending on the situation it is stated in the RHYA that many youth are in need of urgent temporary shelter and services. First and for most safe and appropriate shelter is provided for the homeless youth. Individual, family and group counseling services are available under this act. () As well as providing the youth with many opportunities, such as drug prevention, street and home based services, GED and high school training, acquiring job skills and obtaining employment. Along the line of basic services offered, most age ranges are covered. Immediate shelter, a Transitional Living Program and a Maternity group home are offered to these youth coming off the streets. The Maternity Group home provides supervised transitiona...

    Read More

  • Homelessness In College Students By Eleanor J. Bader

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    One student, Aesha, was homeless due to being physically abused by her child’s father, she spent 30 days in a temporary shelter and then was moved to an emergency assistance unit. She told The Progressive, “It was horrible’... ‘We slept on benches, and it was very crowded. I was so scared I sat on my bag and held onto the stroller day and night, from Friday to Monday.’” (635) Aesha and her son were eventually moved to a family shelter in Queens which presented problems of its own. The ordeal of being homeless had taken a toll on her and her studies. The Progressor has a quote by her saying, "I spend almost eight hours a day on the trains," she says. "I have to leave the shelter at 5:00 a.m. for the Bronx where my girlfriend watches my son for me. I get to her house around 7:00. Then I have to travel to school in Brook...

    Read More

  • Homeless Youth in Canada

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even with the daily struggle faced by youth in obtaining shelter and homelessness becoming a reality for a growing number of Canadians, Canada, with its high quality of life is one country that has always had a global long-standing reputation. This paper will be working towards giving the reader a better understanding with regards to homeless youth. It will be focusing on the reasons why they leave home, their lives on the street and steps they are trying to take to be able to leave the streets. An important finding from this research suggests, “the street youth population is diverse, complex, and heterogeneous”. According to Karabanow, made up of a number of subcultures including hardcore street-entrenched young people, squatters, group home kids, child welfare kids, soft-core twinkles, runaways, throwaways, refugees and immigrants is the generic term ‘street youth’.

    Read More

  • homeless children in michigan

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stein, M. L., & Roseman, M. (1990). Homeless Children: A New Vulnerability. Child and Youth Services, 89-109.

    Read More

  • Causes of Homelessness in San Antonio

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are an estimated 2,981 homeless people in San Antonio each day. Out of these, 1,243 were unsheltered and a staggering 31% of those are people with families. In addition, the average age of a homeless child in San Antonio is 6 years old. An overall picture shows that homelessness has dropped nearly four percent from 2012 to 2013. Further, an average of 610,042 people are homeless across the United States on any given night. “Of that number, 36 percent – 222,197 people – were in families, representing a drop of 7 percent for that group” (Chappell, 2013, p. #). More than a third of these people were not found in shelters, abandoned buildings, cars, or under bridges. Although, there has been a small decline in homelessness, it’s still necessary to drastically change these statistics by solving the causes of homelessness. Sleeping in vacant buildings and under bridges is unacceptable. These statistics are very alarming and a solution needs to be found.

    Read More

  • A SOLUTION TO HOMELESSNESS IN CANADA

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tunstall, L. (2009). Homelessness: an overview. EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?hid=119&sid=d5f751fa-0d0d-4ed1-8deb-483e701af50c%40sessionmgr111&vid=3&bdata=Jmxhbmc9ZW4tY2Emc2l0ZT1wb3YtY2Fu#db=p3h&AN=28674966

    Read More

  • Our Tired Our Poor, Our Children Analysis

    1451 Words  | 3 Pages

    The impoverished and the homeless live in another world compared to those of us that are fortunate enough to have stable living conditions. Families are struggling to survive with the little government assistance they receive. The quality and space in a shelter or even government provided living is atrocious and, to be frank, borderline unlivable. Quindlen describes a family of six cramped into a single bedroom, an inexcusable and terrible way to live and yet better than nothing at all (332). Children of families that have to live in situations like this grow up not knowing stability or security.

    Read More

  • Youth Homelessness In Canada

    1841 Words  | 4 Pages

    I have heard stories from my friends that are horrible, especially considering they were all under 18 during these events within their lives. Therefore, I believe the homeless youth in our community need more attention due to their age and lack of confidence. For example, my boyfriend Alex was homeless when we started dating. All of his siblings were taken away separately from child services due to abuse, addiction and neglect within his family. He lived in a shelter where teens were using drugs, stealing and some were even into prostitution. I do understand that not all shelters are this way, but in his experience, he has lived in three different ones and all of them had some of these factors within them. I used to believe there were many options for the homeless, especially teenagers, but from my own second-hand experiences there are really not that many alternatives. “Sometimes it is safer to sleep on the street than some homeless shelters we came across”, suggests Alex Black, a former homeless youth. These shelters can be horrifying to the point that many teens, including Alex, run away. Society looks down on the homeless, creating a barrier surrounding our social structure, placing them at the bottom. Many people in our community believe it is not their place to help, some just are selfish or look the other way and keep on walking.“Whoever closes

    Read More

  • Homelessness In Canada

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    The youth homelessness population is increasing because of the many challenges that these children or teens face in everyday life; It also continues getting larger every year because of the many youth who are getting into dangerous situations that force them to be homeless or thru their own choosing. One third of the homeless population is between the ages of 16-24, which is incredibly young and it is the prime years for an adolescent or young adu...

    Read More

  • The Homeless in America

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teenage runaways have different reasons for leaving home but all have the same reason for becoming homeless. They simply just do not have enough money. Others are drug and alcohol abusers and disabled people. With this list of people there must be some way that we can help these people.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Homeless People

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    Children should not have to go through any of that. It is quite unbelievable but “HIV rates for homeless people are three to nine times higher than report rates for competitive samples in the US. A study across four cities found a prevalence of two point three percent for homeless youth under twenty five” (“eleven facts about homeless”). “Two million and two hundred thousand children die each year due to the fact they do not become immunized. Fifteen million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS” according to Snah. The HIV rates for homeless children are not good. The rate needs to go down. Out of all the runaway youths, over forty percent have been abandoned by their parents. Also, over forty percent have been beaten by their parents (“eleven facts about homeless”). It is proven children with homeless mothers are more likely to stay with them than if their father had been homeless (“Homeless”). Almost half of runaways happen when they have been abandoned or

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Homeless Youth

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the McKinney Act, A person is considered homeless who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2006). There are facts and myths the troubles our displaced citizens, as a result of these beliefs the homeless youth population as has been stereotyped and/or ostracized based on their circumstances. We will explore these myths to alleviate the misbelief or misunderstanding of this exclusive population of communal and societal members. There is a misconception that the homeless youth are solely blamable for their own circumstance. The fact is many homeless individuals have survived as victims of violence, child abuse, natural disasters, deficiency in employment opportunities

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Homeless Youth

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homelessness….. Many assume those who are homeless took part in some type of drug or alcohol abuse which lead them to become homeless. It is an ongoing situation that has not been fully resolved in order to lower the risk of individuals of the youth population becoming homeless. The age group for homeless individuals who qualify as youth is nineteen years of age and under. In the United States, dysfunctional families are occurring more frequent, which is a vital reason adolescents are running away from their homes. This alone puts many of our youth at risk of becoming homeless. When adolescents leave their homes, it decreases their chances of having a smooth transition into adulthood. Some adolescents may leave their home because

    Read More

More about Runaways and Unaccompanied Youth in the United States

Open Document