Runaways In America Research Paper

Youth Homeless is a significant social issue that impacts a multitude of youth from all over the United States. There is a multitude of factors that can contribute to youth homelessness. Fortunately, the Covenant House in Michigan is committed to servicing homeless youth in Detroit. One of the core values of the agency, is immediacy therefore, the agency offers necessities such as shelter, safety, food and clothing rapidly to those in need. The Covenant House will not turn anyone away if they fall into the age range of 18-24 years old.

The book “With No Direction Home: Homeless Youth on the Road and in the Streets” written by Marni Finkelstein refers to the homeless youth. This book describes the lifestyle of the teenagers with no home and explains with detail about what consist in their everyday lives in the streets of New York City. The purpose of this book is to explain to people who these kids are and to see life in their point of view. It explains the difference between street kids and the kids that live on the street. We need to understand that the kids that live on the streets have their own culture and their own way of surviving. Learning their point of view would be a great eye opening experience for everyone and to also understand their struggle. This book explains a study that was done to 50 street kids and life on the streets.

Homeless youth face an abundance of challenges, especially if they are on their own, such as finding food, shelter, income, and potential medical expenses. Some youth experience additional hardship by facing the effects of abuse they endured at their previous place of residence. According to the National Conference of State Legislators (2013) 46 percent of runaway and homeless youth reported physical abuse, 38 percent reported emotional abuse, and 17 percent reported being forced into unwanted sexual activity by a family or household member. Therefore, the chances of emotional vulnerability are high.

There are millions of homeless youth in America. On any given night, you can find these children ducking into abandoned buildings, crammed up against alley dumpsters, curled inside the big yellow slide of a local playground. I imagine they are thankful for sleep, wary of a new day, but thankful nonetheless. Homelessness at such a young age if left alone, leads to increased rates of conflict. The more homeless youths now, the more our country as a whole will have to deal with divorce, mental illness, and the need for government assistance.

People need to help the homeless families, the drug addicts, the alcoholics, and the mentally ill. They need to know that someone cares for them. Homeless teens are also a major problem; most homeless teens leave home because of abuse. Homeless teens are more likely to engage in sexual actives in exchange for things such as food, clothes, money, and etc. Some homeless teens become addict to drugs and other illegal substances. Decayed or missing teeth can hinder a teens self esteem. Poor oral health affects the health of the individual, but also hinders a teens attempt to improve his or her life circumstances. Homeless teens are at a greater risk of contracting AIDS, HIV, and other STDs. Homeless teen girls are more likely to become pregnant and far more likely to experience multiple pregnancies than housed young teen girls. Babies who are to homeless teens may develop much slower than housed babies. Children without a home are in or poor health more than other children. Homeless children experience mental health problems, anxiety, depression, and withdrawal. Homeless children don’t know what is going and they don’t understand why they are living on the streets or in homeless shelters. Many homeless kids would like to go to school but cant because they don’t have clean clothing and their hygiene is not so good. Many homeless kids face problems because they are homeless and often feel that no one cares. People should help the

Many youth who have or are still living on the streets have faced sexual or physical abuse from an adult at some point in their lives and the data states that 61% of all youth face this (McKay, E, (2009). Seeing the Possibilities. The Need for a Mental health Focus Amongst Street-Involved Youth: Recognizing and Supporting Resilience. Toronto: Wellesley Institute.). Approximately 1,500 – 2,000 homeless youth make up the total amount of homeless people sleeping on the streets every night in Toronto; this number is considerably large and it continues to grow because the issue of youth homelessness or homelessness in general is not thought of as a priority by various levels of government and therefore

Homelessness is a pressing issue that affects everyone all over the world, of all ages, all race and all sexes. There is an inexcusable amount of young people who are homeless. 17% of all homeless people are under the age of twelve. That could be the age of a younger sibling. Imagine if they were homeless, living on the streets. This is the reality that some have to face

The effects of teen homelessness are many ranging from untreated physical and mental health to drug and alcohol dependence. Many youth also fall victim to the prison system and even death due to criminal behavior as a means of survival. During my research a study was conducted on youth entering and exiting the foster care system. Research has shown that the very systems put into place to ensure child safety and reduce outcomes such as poverty have place more youth at risk “Homelessness and its associated psychosocial effects continue to plague American urban centers. Especially troubling are suggestions that foster care functions as a pipeline to the streets for older adolescents leaving the system. Surveys of service providers and homeless populations suggest that young people exiting foster care have difficulty securing stable housing” (Fowler, Toro, & Miles, 2009, p.1).

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

Sometimes personal struggles cause people to be homeless while those who try moving away from unstable lifestyles have few options, this may further be complicated if they are discriminated like those who identify with the LGBT groups. Identifying the homeless youths, including the runaways is potentially challenging, but when it is possible to reach them it helps to improve access to affordable housing services. While people may view the economic causes

Youth homelessness can be define as young individuals, ranging from age 12 to around 25, who are without any support from their families, and are either living on the streets or at a shelter. There are often “referred to as “unaccompanied” youth.” (National Coalition for Homelessness (NCH), 2007). Unaccompanied youths can be categorized as runaway-homeless youths, throwaways, and independent youths. Runaway- homeless youths are youths that leave home without any parental permission. Youths that leave their homes because parents encourage them to leave are categorize as throwaways. The final classified as independent youths who leave home because of family conflicts or other issues. (Aratani, 2009).

Unfortunately, this is the cold, sad reality of many children and teens who have been thrown into the system like a piece of meat for the wolves to devour. I have decided to write about the issues of foster care and the abuse children and teens face while moving through this broken system. Over the past years, I have developed a passion to intercede on behalf of our youth. I want to help them navigate through a life filled with turmoil and discord. I chose this topic because I want to make a difference in the lives of these mistreated, misunderstood, and misguided children and teens. One might ask, “How can we fix such a system with these particular problems?” Although I may not have the “right” answer to that question, I do believe there is a way to repair the massive leak that has caused a system meant to serve and protect our youth to

Some younger people do not feel safe in their own homes, they don’t know where to turn or what to do and the need to find a way to deal with what’s going on in their lives.

This article explores the results from a research conducted in a study of teenager’s behavior, in order to find how widespread hunger has afflicted American adolescents. In the survey 193 youths in focus groups in five states were studied. The students that were studied ranged from urban centers to rural suburbs in order to broaden the outcome results. The main focus of this study was to see what different teenagers micromanaged themselves to do in order to provide not only themselves with nourishment but their families as well. The piece “Some hungry teens turn to crime, sex for food” defines that one in five children under the age of 18 including 6.8 million youths ages 10 to 17 live in a household with limited or uncertain access to food,

Imagine a young child growing up, learning, and trying to further his or her life to obtain success in the future. For an “everyday” child this can be challenging, however “everyday” obstacles can be overcome. For thousands of children in the United States, this dream is almost impossible to achieve. These children are a part of the homeless population that is spread throughout the United States. Many times these individuals try to hide this major secret from the rest of the world, but homelessness is very prevalent among these youths today. Various problems occur in these peoples’ lives that others could not even begin to understand. Homelessness affects children in every stage of life physically, mentally, and emotionally.