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The Reality: Jesse's Story:
He suffered a three-month coma when he was only 15. Shortly after, his mother threw him out of the house. When asked how she could do that to him when he was so vulnerable, Jesse looked to the floor instead of looking for someone to blame.
“It was mutual,” he said, examining his tennis shoes. “She wanted me out, and I… left.”
Now 19, Jesse has been everywhere from his mother’s place in Louisiana, to his brother’s apartment in Llano, to the wooded outskirts of Travis County, to the cold, paved streets, and abandoned crack houses of Austin. When he was just out of high school, he and his friends stole a tent and lived in the woods for four months. “Sometimes, doing bad things is the only way to survive,” he said.
“If you’re on the streets, you don’t have time to think,” he said. “All you think about is what you’re going to do next - how you’re going to sleep, whether or not you’re going to get woken up in the morning by the cops.”
Because of his health problems Jesse has had difficulty keeping a job. In addition to diabetes, he also has asthma. In spite of the way chemical fumes and sawdust made him sick, he worked several construction jobs because he would rather take care of himself. As he said, he doesn’t depend on anyone.
“I used to always think, ‘What do I have in my life? I have nothing, so why not just die?’” he said. Jesse tried to kill himself a year ago, but he lived because his friend caught him and got him help.
Jesse now lives in a youth shelter in Austin, and now that he has a place to stay he can focus on improving his situation. He is off to a good start because in spite of what he went through in high school, he made sure to graduate. Now his goal is to attend culinary school.
“This place has helped me to think, to lay down in a bed and think about all the problems I have and how I can solve them--to relax and think about the future.”
The Numbers – Statistics on Youth Homelessness
An important subpopulation of homeless persons is homeless youth, ages 13-24. While this subpopulation is relatively small, it deserves mention because of the vulnerability of its members.
The 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients found that homeless youth comprise 12% of the homeless population. The majority of these youth are girls, many with children of their own. Only 49% have a high school diploma. Most report their first experience of homelessness in their teens, with over half having been homeless for two to nine years. Forty percent have a history of physical and/or sexual abuse. These youth are likely to have lived in an out-of-home placement (e.g. foster care), run away from home, or been forced to leave home. Slightly over one-quarter of homeless youth report problems with substance abuse, while 46% report having mental health problems. One-third spent time in juvenile detention prior to age 18.
Younger homeless youth, age 20 and under, have particularly troubled lives. Nearly one-third started drinking or using drugs prior to age fifteen. Seventy-two percent were suspended from school; 32% were expelled. Younger homeless youth are also more likely to have run away or been forced out of their home prior to age 18. Three out of five had spent time in the foster care system.
The histories of homeless youth indicate several failures in their system of care. Statistics on rates of abuse, early experiences of homelessness, and being forced out of the home indicate a lack of support from family. The fact that over half did not complete high school indicates that this system was unsuccessful in reaching these children. High rates of out-of-home placements, including time in foster care and the juvenile justice system, point to the failure of these systems in improving or rehabilitating their lives. Homeless youth are well on their way to cycling in and out of public systems of care and homelessness, like many single, adult homeless persons.
Research has shown that homeless youth benefit from programs that meet immediate needs first and then help them address other aspects of their lives. Programs that minimize institutional demands and offer a range of services have shown success in helping homeless youth regain stability. Educational outreach programs, assistance in locating job training and employment, transitional living programs, and health care especially designed for and directed at homeless youth have demonstrated effectiveness in promoting lasting stability for homeless youth. In the long term youth would benefit from many of the same measures that are needed to fight poverty and homelessness in general – the provision of affordable housing and employment that pays a living wage. In addition to these basic supports, it is essential that the community make every effort to prevent children from ending up on the streets.
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