Social networks as the context for understanding employment services utilization among homeless youth

Barman‐Adhikari, Anamika; Rice, Eric

doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2014.03.005

Cited by 49 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Focus groups with Canadian youth indicated that having a social support network of family and peers was helpful in initiating care at drop-in centers and elsewhere [48]. There is also some evidence that receiving emotional support from other homeless peers may help to facilitate engagement in some services like employment support at drop-in centers [49]. However, receiving resources like food and clothing from street peers (i.e., not necessarily friends) was associated with less use of employment services, which may relate to an overreliance on the street economy or limited attachment to conventional sources of support.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, researchers found that about half of a sample of 136 youth seeking services at one drop-in center in Los Angeles reported using employment services at the site [49]. Drop-in centers may not only represent a one-stop shop where many services can be delivered, but youth who receive these services may be more likely to seek further services elsewhere.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Facilitators and Barriers of Drop-In Center Use Among Homeless Youth

Pedersen

Tucker

Kovalchik

2016

Journal of Adolescent Health

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Drop-in centers for homeless youth address basic needs for food, hygiene, and clothing, but can also provide critical services that address youth’s “higher-level” needs (e.g., substance use treatment, mental health care, HIV-related programs). Unlike other services that have restrictive rules, drop-in centers typically try to break down barriers and take a “come as you are” approach to engaging youth in services. Given their popularity, drop-in centers represent a promising location to deliver higher level services to youth that may not seek services elsewhere. A better understanding of the individual-level factors (e.g., characteristics of homeless youth) and agency-level factors (e.g., characteristics of staff and environment) that facilitate and impede youth engagement in drop-in centers will help inform research and outreach efforts designed to engage these at-risk youth in services. Thus, the goal of this review was to develop a preliminary conceptual model of drop-in center use by homeless youth. Towards this goal, we reviewed 20 available peer-reviewed papers and reports on the facilitators and barriers of drop-in center usage and consulted broader models of service utilization from both youth and adult studies to inform model development.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitators and Barriers of Drop-In Center Use Among Homeless Youth

Pedersen

Tucker

Kovalchik

2016

Journal of Adolescent Health

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“…The network concepts used here are well-established in social science, and have been used to explain how network characteristics influence, and are influenced by, experiences in the transition to young adulthood (e.g., Bidart & Lavenu, 2005;Degenne & Lebeaux, 2005). Additionally, related network concepts and methods have advanced explanatory research with a population of adolescents with non-typical support networks, homeless youth (see Barman-Adhikari &Rice, 2014, andde la Haye, et al, 2012, for two recent examples). This study is presented an initial step in a larger agenda to use social network concepts to explain how long-term foster care placement may alter the development of a normative support network with the capacity to guide youth into young adulthood, and to contribute to network-informed policy and practice innovations that increase support provision to youth during the transition from foster care and other public service systems.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the support networks of transition-age foster youth: Preliminary validation of a social network assessment for research and practice

Blakeslee¹

2015

Children and Youth Services Review

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Multi-dimensional social support is an important factor in any positive transition into young adulthood, and youth who are exiting foster care ideally receive comprehensive social support from a range of informal and formal sources. Yet the social networks of transition-age foster youth are likely influenced over time by child welfare involvement, which can weaken or disrupt natural support relationships, while introducing service-oriented relationships that are not intended to last into adulthood. To better understand the social support context of youth aging out of care, we can apply social network theory and methods to systematically identify their networks of supportive relationships and explore support provision as a network-based indicator. This paper presents a methodological approach to measure foster youth support networks, and describes these networks in terms of their capacity to provide support as a function of size, composition, and density, and in terms of actual support provision through identified relationships. Such a measurement approach should be systematic and reliable over time, and capture social support constructs relevant to practice with this population; preliminary inter-item

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“…This finding is consistent with previous research indicating that most street youth desire legal employment and view quasi- and illegal income sources as short-term money-making strategies (Gaetz & O'Grady, 2002). Policies aimed at increasing the inclusion of youth into society, including those that facilitate connections with social capital and economic activities (Barman-Adhikari & Rice, 2014), appear to have potential for reducing risky income generation activities among some vulnerable youth and warrant further exploration. In addition, income assistance programs may be an important intervention to reduce the economic vulnerability of youth and support them to exit the street economy and street life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High prevalence of risky income generation among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting

Cheng

Small

Nguyen

et al. 2016

International Journal of Drug Policy

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Background Previous research has found a range of barriers to mainstream employment among street-involved youth; however, less is known about the characteristics of street-involved youth who engage in risky income generation and the potential role of substance use in perpetuating engagement in these activities. Methods Data were collected between 2005 and 2012 from the At-Risk Youth Study (ARYS), which is a prospective cohort study of street-involved youth aged 14-26 in Vancouver, Canada. Generalized estimating equations were used to identify factors associated with risky quasi-legal and illegal income generation. Participants also reported their willingness to give up these sources of income if they were not using drugs. Results Among 1,008 participants, 826 (82%) reported engaging in risky income generation activities during the study period. Factors associated with risky income generation included: homelessness, binge drug use, injection drug use, crack use, crystal methamphetamine, overdose, interactions with police, and experiencing violence; regular employment was negatively associated with this outcome (all p<0.05). Among those who reported risky income generation, 440 (53%) were willing to give up these income sources if they were not using drugs. Conclusion Risky income generation was alarmingly prevalent in our sample, and associated with higher intensity drug use and other markers of vulnerability. The majority of participants (53%) reported willingness to give up their risky income sources if they were not using drugs; however, a substantial proportion of youth (47%) indicated that they would continue to engage in risk income generation regardless of their substance use suggesting that both substance use and economic insecurity likely perpetuate risky income generation among our sample. Findings highlight opportunities to reduce risky income generation by addressing problematic substance use through better access and engagement with evidence-based addiction treatment, and exploring, monitoring and evaluating innovative interventions to improve the overall economic security of street-involved youth.

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Social networks as the context for understanding employment services utilization among homeless youth

Cited by 49 publications

References 68 publications

Facilitators and Barriers of Drop-In Center Use Among Homeless Youth

Facilitators and Barriers of Drop-In Center Use Among Homeless Youth

Measuring the support networks of transition-age foster youth: Preliminary validation of a social network assessment for research and practice

High prevalence of risky income generation among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting

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