![]() In my 36 years of working with youth, nothing is as true as the expression that “youth vote with their feet.” If youth have decided that they were not safe where they were, then it is incumbent on us to listen to them so they feel safe around us. This is predicated on believing that youth actually know what is good for them. We need to build safe relationships in which we deeply listen to the youth and don’t get ahead of them. What they need from providersĪs providers of services we need to be patient. This, takeaway number two, is about the importance of sticking with the youth, of not expecting them to smoothly transition into some type of full adult-like functioning because we offered them a service. More important than the factors driving homelessness in youth is how to deliver quality programming that meets their real and expressed needs.īefore diving into the specifics of any approach it is vital to note that how we are with the youth may be more important than what we do. The literature, which is extensive regarding these two groups, underscores the critical nature of homeless youth service providers to be able to value the lived reality of the youth. Special mention needs to be made of two subpopulations youth escaping the foster care system and LGBTQ youth. While I don’t favor using these terms, they do underscore the point that many homeless youth have become homeless because they feel it is better for them than where they were. The literature often uses terms such as “runaway” or “throwaway” as descriptors. They describe the forces that create this lack of safety as related to abuse, neglect, domestic violence, adult substance abuse, poverty, adult relational instability and related factors. That said, youth become homeless in large numbers because home was not seen as a safe place for them. Thus, one takeaway here is to meet homeless youth with a mindset that values their expertise. Before unpacking the leading drivers, it is vital to caution providers to reject descriptions of homeless youth as “victims” of harmful forces.Īs professors Erin Toolis and Phillip Hammack importantly remind us in their 2015 paper, most homeless youth do not see themselves as victims, quite the opposite they connect to their survival skills in the face of the external factors. The person who took the photo with the highest engagement from launch day to this Friday (likes, shares, and retweets) will be given a very exclusive piece of Youth Collaboratory swag.There are a host of factors that have been found to drive homelessness in youth, as Adrienne Fernandes-Alcantara noted in her congressional report.You can see an example from one of our members here. ![]() Post your photo or graphic on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #InTheCollab and tag the Youth Collaboratory accounts ( /youthcollaboratory and/or /ycollaboratory), telling us where you get #InTheCollab.If you take a photo, hold a piece of Youth Collaboratory swag up somewhere in your photo in a way that is clearly visible.Decide on a cool place to take a photo ( or, if you can't take a photo, post a graphic that includes your organization's name).Now through this Friday, you can win by following the instructions below: ![]() To celebrate the launch of our brand new name, we're giving you the opportunity to win Youth Collaboratory swag! With 200 members across the country, we’d love to see where you get #InTheCollab. ![]() MANY changed our name to Youth Collaboratory on 11/14! We're still the same MANY you know and love, just with a fresh coat of paint.Ī collaboratory is a center without walls - a place where a group of people work together to generate solutions to complex problems.
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