Life Skill Service Needs: Perspectives of Homeless Youth

The present study describes the service needs related to life skill development from the perspective of sheltered homeless youth. Qualitative semistructured life narrative interviews addressing the use of services at an emergency shelter were administered to 30 youth. All youth were residig in an emergency shelter located in a large metropolitan area at the time of interview. Youth identified factors that influence their ability to access and utilize services, categorized as service availability, factors serving as access and/or barriers to services and lack of available services. Youth identify service delivery approaches and staff characteristics as impacting service delivery. Services such as counseling and childcare were identified as facilitating development and acquisition of life skills.     

Unaccompanied Homeless Youth: Intersections of Homelessness,School Experiences and Educational Policy

School districts are faced with the challenge of how best to serve the needs of a growing homeless student population. As the numbers of homeless children and youth continue to rise, it is imperative for educators and others to understand the experiences of unaccompanied homeless youth. A qualitative research project was undertaken to obtain the perspectives of six high school students experiencing homelessness. These perspectives illuminate the various and multiple factors intersecting with student's educational lives. Their narratives uncovered the following themes: (a) Homelessness as a misnomer, (b) Homelessness is not a choice, (c) Caring adults, and (d) Student agency. Their counternarratives challenge adults working with unaccompanied homeless youth to rethink and reimagine the manner in which homelessness is understood and framed; this is especially critical in educational spaces. Schools often are the primary contexts in which youth spend their time and can be instrumental to providing youth experiencing homelessness with the support and resources they identify as being critical to their educational engagement and success.