Homeless youth need more than treatment for substance abuse, study says

For these youth, more intensive one-on-one treatment was successful in reducing their homeless days after six months. These sessions focused on identifying and treating the individual’s drug use and mental health problems, such as depression or suicidal behaviors.

“We have to figure out how to engage those kids who are linked to the street subculture and reengage them back into society through education, employment, and other more socially valued activities,” Slesnick said.

Part of the problem lies in the strong connections to other homeless youth who are participating in similar behaviors, she said. These connections play an important role in determining how kids deal with the stress and their likelihood of becoming chronically homeless adults.

Research also suggests that strong family support and identification with an individual’s traditional culture is a strong predictor of change. Latino youth in the study were more likely to get off the street after six months than any other group. Slesnick found that this group had higher levels of attachment to family members and stronger support networks, resulting in lower substance abuse and reduced homeless days.

Males were also more likely to reduce their homeless days after six months. Previous studies have suggested that homeless males are more susceptible to environmental stress and thus, more likely to leave the street to escape that stress.

“I talk so much about the problems kids have, but it’s a social problem and the kids are a victim of that problem. So what’s really important is to prevent homelessness at a policy level and a higher government level. But meanwhile, we have a lot of kids who are suffering and we need to do something about that now,” Slesnick said.

Slesnick is currently conducting a study in Columbus, Ohio focusing on the differences between intensive intervention, case management and brief intervention methods on homeless youth.

Other authors in the study were Suzanne Bartle-Haring, professor and director of the Couple and Family Therapy Program at the Department of Human Development at Ohio State, Min Ju Kang, program coordinator for runaway and homeless youth projects at Ohio State, Pushpanjali Dashora, a doctoral student in human development and family science at Ohio State, and Erin Aukward, a master’s student in human development and family science at Ohio State.

Contact: Natasha Slesnick, (614) 247-8469;
Written by Jenna McGuire, (614) 432-2875;