The Couch (Often) Is the Treatment: Giving Voice to Homeless and Street-Involved Youth and their Service Providers In Central East Region

Carol Stuart,Kiaras Gharabaghi

doi:10.32920/ryerson.14637351

Abstract

In the Spring of 2008, the Central East Office of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services committed to a review of transfer payment funded residential services within the Children’s Mental Health sector. The review process examined a wide range of issues and themes within service delivery mechanisms pursuant to this sector and worked collaboratively with service providers to ensure that multiple perspectives and approaches informed the process. To this end, the review engaged not only with children’s mental health service providers, but also with the Francophone Community and aboriginal communities within the geographic boundaries of Central East Region. The region provides funding for three youth homeless shelters1 within the Children’s Mental Health funding envelope and therefore one additional group that needed to be given a voice was that of homeless or street-involved youth and their service providers.

Highlights

Street-involved youth have been shown to be involved in the street-level illicit drug trade in a number of jurisdictions, though little is known about risk factors and sequelae of this behavior
One of the core objectives was to learn more about the connections between mental health and homelessness, and the experiences of service providers and youth of the transitions between mental health services and homelessness services
There is limited research available that would help to illuminate the path for developing effective service responses to homeless youth impacted by mental health concerns

Summary

Introduction

Street-involved youth have been shown to be involved in the street-level illicit drug trade in a number of jurisdictions, though little is known about risk factors and sequelae of this behavior. The present study was conducted to investigate factors associated with the street-level drug trade involvement among street-based youth. Methods: We used logistic regression to examine factors associated with drug dealing among participants in the At-Risk Youth Study in Vancouver, Canada. We examined motivations for drug trade involvement and types of drugs sold by participants. Results: Overall, 529 street-involved youth were followed during the study period, of whom 307 (58.0%) reported having been involved in the drug trade in the last six months. Conclusions: In our setting, street-involved youth implicated in the drug trade are characterized by drug-related and socio-demographic vulnerabilities. These individuals appear to be motivated by drug dependence and report elevated levels of police violence. Our findings have immediate implications for drug strategies targeting street-level drug dealing

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion