Abstract
Innovative programs and research are needed to address homelessness among youth who have been involved in the child welfare system. Moreover, engagement strategies need to be authentic and relevant to the lived experience of youth who have been involved with multiple service systems. We describe our community-university partnership focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation a comprehensive service model that served young adults (ages 18–24) who were experiencing homelessness and had a child welfare history. The partnership was grounded in positive youth development and developmental evaluation frameworks, and incorporated a participatory research approach to involve peer interviewers as co-researchers in a formative evaluation of the service model. We examine the reasons for incorporating peer interviewers with a “hard to reach” youth population and how the peer interviewer approach was developed and supported through the collaborative partnership. A comparison of longitudinal study response rates before the peer interviewer approach was implemented and a year after implementation showed that 6-month rates increased from 11% to 55% and 12-month response rates increased from 14% to 51%. We discuss lessons learned from this approach to inform future research with youth and young adults and provide methodological insights that can help answer questions about the benefits of involving youth as co-researchers.
Highlights
Strategies to end youth homelessness are needed in the United States
More than double the proportion of youth who “aged out” of child welfare move two or more times within a 12-month period compared to other youth with no child welfare history, and the risk for homelessness is even greater for youth who did not reunify with family members after placement (Fowler et al, 2017)
Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) is among several federal initiatives aimed at ending youth homelessness by utilizing the strategy recommendations outlined in the Framework to End Youth Homelessness developed by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (2012)
Summary
Lighthouse headquarters are in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, which is located in Hamilton County and borders Indiana and Kentucky. Hamilton County poverty rates are largely impacted by the high poverty rates in the City of Cincinnati, which have ranged between 25% and 34% during the past 10 years (U.S Census Bureau, 2019). Local homelessness data indicate this high poverty rate continues to disproportionately affect young people. Data analyzed during the YARH Planning Grant (2013– 2015) indicated an overlap in youth homelessness and child welfare involvement among Hamilton County youth. The high rates of local homelessness combined with increased child welfare custody cases from the surging opioid epidemic (Crowley et al, 2019) and limited local housing options for emerging adults highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach to prevent future homelessness for youth with a child welfare history. Interviews conducted during the planning grant with youth who experienced child welfare and homelessness indicated youth were skeptical of service systems as a result of their experiences. Interview youth suggested that young people with similar experiences would benefit from services that help them establish connections with formal and natural supports who can provide hands-on learning and resource navigation, including peers who can relate to their experiences
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