Adolescent Changes

Our text illustrates that there are various populations within the homeless community. These people are homeless for different reasons, whether its voluntary or involuntarily. Runaways and Victims of

Being an adolescent teen has it’s up and down especially in this day in age. The topic of runaway adolescents is nothing new and it’s an ongoing issue that seems to be common during the stage of adolescence. Going through my stage as an adolescent teen, I’ve also considered running away from home just like every other teen. The documentary and article gives a pretty good overview in my opinion about why adolescents run away from home. One of the reasons these two sources explain why adolescents run away from home is due to problems such as a family breakup, domestic violence, and poverty (Thomson & Pillai, 2006). These problems arise because parents are neglecting teens, abusive, substance use problems, and kicking them out due to not following the rules. Other problems that can arise due to adolescent teens run away from home are because they’ve been physically or sexually abuse by another family member. The article also mentions that if a teen has run away for the first time; they’re more likely to stay with another family member or a close friend. As I saw in the documentary “streetwise”, runaway adolescents ended up living on the streets and by doing illegal acts such as selling drugs and prostitution. Just to add on another reason why adolescents run away from home is because they may feel that no one understands them. What adolescents will end up most likely doing is engaging in deviant acts and hanging around with the wrong crowd in order to feel understood and

In youth homelessness these children, adolescents and even young adults are being exposed to many dangerous drugs, alcohol, and people.

After analyzing the entire Runaway and Homeless Youth Act as a whole, much can be said for and against the economic and political aspects. As to any given argument or subject pros and cons as well as strengths and weaknesses will be weighed out enormously. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act does abide by guidelines and requirements. All parts of the Act provide all involved with a clear and present purpose. I also believe that these shelters or centers provide the troubled youth with a support system that they could be lacking. Most youth probably don’t realize how widespread homelessness is and it happened to be there only option in certain situations. The homeless youth will not have that feeling of being alone under life

1.6 million youths ages 12 to 17 run away from home and sleep on the street each year. That’s 7% of the nations children living on the streets, without food, shelter, or an education. We often don't see them, but many teens throughout the whole country are living on the streets, which affects the community as a whole and the social harmony of our country; This is why we as a nation need to step up and help prevent this from happening to even more youth by reconnecting families and providing shelters for those who don’t have a home to go back to. Many kids are homeless because they ran away from home themselves, but some kids who live on the streets never had a home to begin with.

National surveys suggested that 6%–7% of adolescents run away from home in the United States (Sanchez, Waller, & Greene, 2006; Tyler & Bersani, 2008). Most runaways rarely stay away from home for long periods and stay within 50 miles of home (Hammer, Finkelhor, & Sedlak, 2002). Although runaway juveniles are not a serious problem (Kim, 2006) and eventually return to parents or guardian (Milburn et al., 2007), they are victimized and exposed in deteriorate circumstances while away. There were many problems for runaway juveniles, in spite of returning after a short period of time, such as increasing their likelihood of engaging in high-risk behavior, being exploited or victimized by others, and resorting to illicit activities (Chen, Thrane, Whitbeck, Johnson, & Hoyt, 2007; Kipke, Simon, Montgomey, Unger, & Iversen, 1997; Wagner, Carlin, Cauce, & Tenner, 2001). However, few researchers explained the reason of why adolescents run away from home (Andres-Lemay, Jamieson, & MacMillan, 2005; National Runaway Switchboard, 2008; Safyer, Thompson, Maccio, Zittel-Palamara, & Forehand, 2004; Van der Ploeg & Scholte, 1997; Welsh, 1995). They claimed that the most common reason is negative family environment. Safyer et al. (2004) found that 41% of the adolescents attributed their runaway behavior to a poor relationship dynamic with their parents. Poor parenting practices and physical abuse increase the likelihood that a child will run away (Matchinda, 1999; P. Kurtz, G. Kurtz, & Jarvis,

According to Brooks (2013), As the adolescent continues to grow in the late adolescent transition they will begin new life tasks: love, education, and work, meanwhile all these events occur the teen will spend less time in home activities and use the parents for guidance and advice. Parents of teens face dilemmas and have countless choices to make and react to without second thoughts. On how to raise and adapt to circumstances finding ways to support the teen and teach the skill they will use as they grow. This is how I would try to raise mine if I was this teens parent. My daughter Mariah is a 16-year-old sophomore that just entered a new romantic relationship having, her first boyfriend and doing less of family events. I would think she is

This website includes many distinct explanations as to why people are homeless. Along with these reasons, the site discusses the effects these causes have on family and children. In addition, this article provides the reader with statistics for some causes. For example, shown with domestic abuse is a map of the United States that explains the number and rates of sheltered survivors of domestic violence in the year of 2013. To conclude, this website addresses the health status of homeless parents and their children.

The main reason for runaway and homeless youth in the U.S. is because of the lack of freedom within their homes. Runaway youth are usually teenagers and are perfectly capable of thinking rationally about short term and long term effects of their decision to leave home. Therefore, runaway youth leave their homes and lead a successful life out in the real world. Agencies like WaveC.R.E.S.T enable teens to think running away is fine.

These young people need extra help navigating a health care system that is often confusing even to homeless adults. Case management services must be comprehensive and address not only physical health needs, but also mental health and social service needs. For example, it may be beneficial for homeless youth to obtain early emancipation. (Emancipation may not be automatic just by living away from one’s family.) The benefits of early emancipation must be weighed against the loss of certain protections afforded a minor such as the parents’ responsibility to support their child.

The meaning of homeless youth differs, but for the purposes of this paper “homeless youth” refers to a youth of the ages between 12 to 24, those of who live on their own, without a guardian, and lacks a stable home. The 18 to 24 age group, are the fastest increasing homeless population that need housing and services because they are still in the process of becoming young adults and need support until they are able to sustenance themselves, gain life experience, and transition to adulthood. Runaway and homeless youth escape conflict, abuse, carelessness, or poverty that they may be experiencing in their homes. They tend to become disconnected from their education and the workforce. The issues youth homelessness suffers are difficult and change

Homeless youth are at a greater risk of physical, sexual or emotion abuse, trust issues, substance abuse, mental illness, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases (Van Leuween, 2006, para. 5). There are 1.6 million youth homeless in the United States each year, and the number is rising. Homeless teenagers are at a high risk for asthma, tuberculosis, influenza, pneumonia, hepatitis A, lice, scabies, etc. The average age of initial sexual intercourse among homeless teens is 12 to 13 years old. Many teenager use sex in exchange for basic necessities such as, food, clothing or shelter. Homeless teenagers are at a high risk for mental illness (Beharry, 2012, para.4). Homeless teens are exposed to and experience unhealthy situations at such a young age which causes them to develop mental health issues. Teenagers run away from home for many different reasons: family situations, acceptance, freedom, abuse, etc.

Sadly, there is no right to shelter in the United States. Even when families successfully obtain emergency shelter, other obstacles prevail. Placements are often made without regard to community ties or educational continuity. For example, the 1989 study by Rafferty and Rollins showed that 71 percent of homeless families with school-age children were sheltered in areas far removed from their original homes. Many had been frequently bounced between facilities. In many cases, each transfer to a different shelter requires a transfer to a new school, and each transfer means the loss of valuable school days. In addition, the noisy environment and constant flow of traffic typical of many shelters make it difficult for children to do their homework or get enough sleep.

Recent studies have shown that approximately 3.5 million Americans are homeless each year. Research tells us that of these Americans, 1 million are children (“Top Causes”). These numbers have increased in recent years, especially for the number of homeless children. Personally, I have noticed that especially downtown, many people are on the streets hungry and it breaks my heart. When I lived in California, I seemed to notice that there were many more people without shelter than in Missouri. When I walked downtown, especially at night, I was almost fearful of the homeless. A lot of the time, it is assumed that the homeless are all alcoholics or drug addicts, but in most cases that is not true. Everyone who is currently homeless has a different story of how they got there, and when I happen to spot an American in the streets, I can not help but happen to wonder what happened to them. Some of the leading factors to chronic homelessness are economic uncertainties, domestic violence, or life-altering events such as a natural disaster.

It is critical that the number of youth who run away from home is increasing at a dangerous rate, and millions of parents suffer every year because their children run away from home. These parents say it is like a never-ending nightmare, and they are left to struggle with the question of why their child would leave home. Too many teenagers run “from” something rather than “to” something, but runaway teenagers claim they leave home in search of safety and freedom. Running away from home is usually a quick decision, and that choice is made on impulse rather than logical reasoning. One problem every teenager faces on a daily basis is stressful situations, but this can come to such an extreme that the only choice is to leave. Runaway teenagers