Homeless and runaway youth in crisis

They leave home because they don’t want to follow the rules. That is the response I hear most often, to explain our homeless/runaway youth problem.

Yes, they leave home, but there is more to it. It is much more complex and definitely more multi-faceted than most people realize. This article will amplify the description of homeless/runaways in crisis, who are older than 13 but not more than 21. First and foremost, they lack a safe living environment. They are without the supervision of an adult caretaker. Next, the information regarding these youth in crisis was outlined by research in conjunction with the University of Anchorage and Covenant House.

Covenant House reports that nearly 10 percent of its population is from the Mat-Su. I believe those are the lucky ones who make it to the Crisis Center. Closer to home, one particular high school in the Mat-Su Valley reports 172 students homeless this school year. Staff members there have handed out sleeping bags and warm clothes to do what they can. The question is how many of those students are homeless due to a personal mental health crisis versus leaving because they are being oppositional toward their parents.

A most unfortunate issue with homeless/runaway youth, specifically those over 18, is that only 30 percent complete high school or a GED. That issue continues down a dead-end road with 75 percent of those youth being unemployed.

The research states that 50 percent of homeless/runaway youth are a result of aging out of foster care after age 18. As many as 40 youth each year turn 18 and exit the foster care system. Before Covenant House, homeless/runaway youth stayed in adult shelters. We in the Mat-Su have neither a teen nor an adult shelter. The night before entering Covenant House, 40 percent to 50 percent of youth were living with a relative or another adult, rather than their parents. The older they were, the greater percent — up to 22 percent — were on the street the night before entering the shelter. And again, regarding older youth, up to 20 percent were having legal problems.

The following descriptions of characteristics of homeless/runaways youth show why they are in such crisis:

• Alaska has 40 percent of homeless/runaway youth that have received residential mental health treatment. The report states these psychological problems include depression, attempted suicide and suicidal ideation. It continues to report 80 percent were identified with one or more issues of mental illness, substance abuse, developmental disabilities and traumatic brain damage. In addition, 20 percent of homeless/runaway girls are obese, with high blood pressure and diabetes. Also, older youth have become “disgusted with the mental health system” and have stopped seeking treatment due to programs designed for younger teens not meeting the needs of the young adults.

• Abuse plays a big part in homeless/runaway youth in crisis. The report says 50 percent of those girls have been abused. Alaska has six times the national average for sexual abuse. Also, the rate of rape is 2.5 percent higher than the national average. To exacerbate the problem, 30 percent of girls are pregnant or already a parent. Boys do not escape abuse either, and it is reported that 7 percent of them are abused.

The percentages cited are just numbers, but we are talking about real kids who are in crisis. They are not kids leaving home because they don’t want to follow the rules. They are kids who separate themselves from their families due to a personal or mental health crisis.

That is reinforced with the findings that 40 percent to 50 percent are not living with their parents the night before entering the Crisis Center. Some have already been on the street before entering the shelter, and that increases with age from 8 percent to 22 percent. They need a safe environment with caring adults to reconnect and re-engage again, which is vital for their mental health.

We have gaps in our services for these youth, particularly in the area of mental health and especially with older youth frustrated with the system and dropping out of treatment. We need transitional living for those youth coming out of foster care. With services available that match their needs, at least they’d have a chance to develop into mature, responsible and productive citizens.

They are our relatives and our friends’ children, sons and daughters, who are worth our time and effort to bring in from the despair of the streets to safe harbor.

We need to do all we can to light their way to that safe harbor for a better life. Keep the candle burning.

Michael Paul Carson is a member of the Mat-Su Coalition of Housing and Homelessness.