Safety Net for Youth

Would it shock you to learn that your program is listed on a website that features young people stripping?  Even if ostensibly there was a good cause behind the campaign?  Virgin Mobile, in an effort to raise awareness about homeless youth and to provide homeless youth with donated clothing, has initiated a new website, strip2clothe.com that invites young people to submit videos of themselves stripping.  American Eagle, Virgin Mobile’s clothing arm, will donate new apparel to homeless youth based on the number of hits the site gets. 

            Virgin Mobile and American Apparel tried in the past with a “txt2clothe” campaign but it did not get enough of a buzz to continue.   So they went the “sex sells” route.  For every video, a piece of clothing is donated and for every five hits, another piece of clothing is donated. 

            When you go to the site, you can click on a state and get a listing of all the programs that are part of the campaign.  There we were:  Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services – an organization that has worked for over 30 years to protect young people from exploitation and harm.   No one from Virgin Mobile ever called and asked our permission to be listed.  Chances are, your agency is listed.  We contacted Virgin Mobile and asked that they immediately remove our organization from the site. 

            What’s the harm - to start with, we know that homeless, runaway and street-involved youth are far more vulnerable to sexual exploitation than youth from stable families.  Street outreach workers have reported that up to 90% of youth involved in commercial sex work have histories of past sexual abuse.  Commercial sex work includes trading sex for money, food, a place to sleep, and/or drugs.  Young people take off their clothes in bars and at private parties for basic necessities.  In exchange they get beat-up, raped, humiliated, and robbed.  There is plenty of harm.

            I do not want to discourage Virgin Mobile in their sincere effort to help young people who are homeless and in need of all our attention.  I just want them to be a responsible partner.  Their current campaign is exploitive and hurtful but we can join together and design a campaign that is both edgy and appropriate. 

            How about:

                        JokesForJeans.com

                        RapForWraps.com

                        DanceForDoRags.com

We have started a petition campaign to remove organizations from the site.  If you are interested go to:

            http://www.petitiononline.com/082008/petition.html      

            Let’s give Virgin Mobile a graceful way out.  Your ideas will be far more creative than the ones listed above.  Join me in getting the message out to Virgin Mobile that they can and must do better.

Madison, Ind. is set to start its Safe Place program. [Madison Courier]

A profile of Youth Services of Tulsa, the Safe Place agency in Tulsa. [Tulsa World]

Maryann Rikansrud becomes the first director of “A Safe Place” at its new location in East Gadsden, Ala. [Gadsden Times]

A new report describes an increase in gang violence in Seattle despite record low crime rates. The report recommends more gang prevention programs as well as program funding to target at-risk youth. [Seattle PI]

A new report on prostitution estimates more than 200 juveniles involved in prostitution in the city of Seattle. The report cites a lack of safe housing, understaffed outreach programs, and undertrained substance abuse and mental health counselors as part of a lack of services for these children. [Examiner]

A new study by the Urban Institute and New America Foundation reports that although there has been an increase in federal dollars for programs to support children’s education nutrition, housing, and health, the share of domestic spending on children has decreased. In 1960, children’s share of domestic spending was 20.2 percent, compared to 16.2 percent in 2007. [Recordnet]

New resident complex opens in Oakland, Calif. for low-income families and aged-out foster youth, who lose eligibility for state benefits after turning 18. First Place for Youth, a local organization, also provides counseling and job training to help in the transition into adulthood. [Inside Bay Area]

The Radio and Television New Directors’ Association (RTNDA) named “The Bob Edwards Show” the winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award for News Documentary for its radio documentary “The Invisible: Children Without Homes,” which interviewed homeless women, men, teens, and children to report their stories. [PR Newswire]

The state of New York is considering a new bill that will help victims of child prostitution avoid criminal proceedings. Under the current law, minors involved in child prostitution can be charged with a crime. The new law would also provide victims of child prostitution services to escape exploitation in the sex trade. [Newsday]

Teenagers, who were formerly homeless themselves, held a demonstration in Milwaukee, WI to rally support and inspire action to be taken against a growing teen homelessness problem in the city. [TMJ]

Rea Carey, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund, issued a statement in support of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, which the House of Representatives recently passed, citing support for the 40% of GLBT homeless youth. [Task Force]

Two new facilities, a drop-in center and a shelter, have opened in Chico, Calif. to offer a place for homeless teens who could not be housed in other shelters designed for adults. [ChicoER]

Homeless advocates want to change Utah state law to allow young people to stay overnight in shelters. According to current law, a youth staying overnight in a shelter is considered harboring a minor. [Deseret News]

Basic Center for Runaway Youth, located in Bellefaire, Ohio, helps teens in Cuyahoga County by offering them support and a safe place to go to, sometimes mediating tense parent-child relationships. In Cleveland alone, youths make up 80% of all missing persons reports. [Cleveland Metro]

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation to reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, which provides federal funding to programs that help disconnected youth. The measure moves to the U.S. Senate later this summer. The current law is set to expire on September 30. [Courier-Journal]

The Boston Foundation releases a report on the foster system, reporting that a survey found high rates of pregnancy, homelessness, assault, and drugs in teenagers recently leaving state custody. The report calls for the establishment of a transition system to help smooth the transition of teens into adulthood. [The Boston Globe]

Covenant House International opens new shelter for homeless teens in St. Louis, a city with an estimated 1,200 homeless youths who often go unnoticed. [Examiner]

FOX News’ blog reflects upon the importance of fathers, as implicated by statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describing the impact of fatherless homes on youth runaways, suicides, and crime. [FOX News]

The city of Lowell, MA joins a coalition of more than 200 communities publicly committing to end homelessness in all forms within the next decade. [The Boston Globe]

A recent study finds that Arizona has a higher percentage of nonviolent youths in custody, teen pregnancies, and teen deaths than almost any other state. [East Valley Tribune]

A new report on Michigan youth links school and workforce dropouts to high likelihood of incarceration, urging increased access to education and training. [The Detroit News]

Lake County, Calif. declares June as Homeless Youth Awareness Month, announcing the plans for the county’s first Safe House for homeless youth in the county. [Record-Bee]

The Massachusetts Department of Social Services is set to open more than a dozen beds as part of a $1 million program targeting victims of sexual exploitation. This comes as a response to a rise in cases of runaway teens ending up as prostitutes. [Boston Herald]

National Safe Place and Southwest Airlines join to create Hall of Fame for at-risk youth advocates. [Examiner]

The Carrier Clinic in New Jersey uses horses as part of the therapy for resident teens with troubled backgrounds. [The Times]

The Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch, a facility for troubled youths, is receiving citizen opposition to its proposed relocation to Fargo, ND, citing a fear of runaways and lowered property values. [Grand Forks Herald]

New research to be published in August examines the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous and the long-term benefits for adolescents who attend. [Science Daily]

A profile of Ross McGinnis and his maturation from a troubled youth to an Army private; he is to be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor today for sacrificing his life to save four others. [eTruth] [ARMY]

The Urban Institute’s Child Welfare Research Program publishes two new reports on aging out youth and child care vouchers. [Monarch Housing blog]

Actor and former homeless youth, Djimon Hounsou, testified last month in Congress, urging reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. [People]

SafeHouse of the Desert in Riverside, Calif. is working to create Safe Place locations throughout the Coachella Valley. [The Desert Sun]

Synergy Services, the Safe Place agency in Kansas City, is building a new $8.4 million shelter for homeless youth. [The Kansas City Star]

Group Homes for Children, the largest children’s home in Montgomery, Ala. is awarded a $1 million grant to establish a home for homeless youth where they can receive counseling and life skills education. [Montgomery Advertiser]

Blake Lanoza, a former foster youth in Hawaii, offers perspective on why foster children run away. [Hawaii Reporter]

School on Wheels, a California-based organization, offers support and tutoring to more 1,500 homeless youth from Kindergarten to 12th grade. [Ventura County Star]

Dating violence affects an alarming number of teens, and many don’t recognize when their relationship is abusive. This is why Youth In Need’s Safe Place program is partnering with a local domestic violence agency to discuss topics, such as healthy relationships, dating violence and abusive partners when delivering Safe Place presentations to teens.

One out of every three teenagers has experienced violence in a dating relationship. Most cases involve one partner trying to maintain power and control over the other through some kind of abuse. Many teens only recognize abuse in the physical form, but there are actually four kinds of dating violence: Physical, psychological, sexual and financial. Physical abuse is easily described, but the other types require more explanation. Psychological abuse can take many forms, including put-downs, using social status, threats, intimidation and isolation. Sexual abuse includes rape, which is everyone’s initial thought, but it’s also inappropriate jokes, comments, harassment and touching. Finally, financial abuse is using your own money for bribery or expecting your partner to be the sole financial provider. Each type of abuse can be used to control the other person and are huge warning signs for the person being abused.

When presenting to teens, it is essential to use information and examples that make sense in their lives. When discussing trust and the right to privacy, we ask if the teens have ever searched through their partner’s phone without their knowledge or snooped through their partner’s MySpace or Facebook accounts. Discuss how this shows a lack of trust, which is a key component in any relationship. If an individual feels they cannot trust their partner, then they should end the relationship.

Thank you to Safe Connections’ Project H.A.R.T. program in St. Louis, Mo., for providing warning signs:

21 Warning Signs of an Abusive Person

Am I/Is my partner a person who:

1. Was or is abused by a parent?
2. Grew up in a home where an adult was abused by another adult?
3. Gets very serious with boyfriends/girlfriends very quickly? (For example: Saying “I love you” very early in the relationship; wanting to move in together or get engaged after only a few months; or pressuring partner for a serious commitment)
4. Comes on very strongly, is extremely charming and an overly smooth talker?
5. Is extremely jealous?
6. Isolates a partner from support systems? (For example: Wants a partner all to themselves, and tries to keep partner from friends, family or outside activities)
7. Attempts to control what a partner wears, what she/he does or who she/he sees?
8. Is abusive toward other people, especially mother or sisters if he is male?
9. Blames others for one’s own misbehavior or failures?
10. Abuses drugs or alcohol?
11. Has unrealistic expectations, like expecting a partner to meet all of one’s needs and be the perfect partner?
12. Is overly sensitive? (For example: Acts ‘hurt’ when not getting one’s way; takes offense when others disagree with an opinion; gets very upset at small inconveniences that are just a normal part of life)
13. Has ever been cruel to animals?
14. Has ever abused children?
15. Has ever hit a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past?
16. Has ever threatened violence, even if it wasn’t a ‘serious’ threat?
17. Calls a partner names, puts him/her down or curses at him/her?
18. Is extremely moody, and switches quickly from being very nice to exploding in anger?
19. If a male, believes women are inferior to men and should obey them?
20. Is intimidating? (For example: Using threatening body language, punching walls or breaking objects?
21. Holds partner against his/her will to keep him/her from walking away or leaving the room?

A diversified list if topics can make your presentation more marketable and encourage multiple presentations to the same group of young people. What are some other important topics to bring up in Safe Place presentations?

Programs serving homeless, runaway and street-involved youth have always worked with young people whose backgrounds are less than stellar.  In many cases we do not even become aware of past problems until the youth is established in our program.  This is certainly more true for crisis services and drop-in centers,  but even youth accepted into transitional living programs may have incidents in their past that are not known to the agency.

In the past we have relied on appropriate supervision and trained staff to guard against problems in our programs.  Even so there were times when serious problems occurred and hopefully we learned some lesson on how to do a better job.

Has something changed? 

For the past year or so there has been sporadic buzz about the need to do background checks on youth before they enter a program.  This chatter has not been limited to one geographic area, one program model or even a small group of programs.  These discussions have been at the table of groups around the country.

The concerns expressed by program are very real:

                        Serious mental health issues

                        Sexual predators

                        Criminal backgrounds

Are these new concerns or have we just gotten better at diagnostics?  What is the role of the media in heightening our concerns?  How much pressure is the insurance industry putting on programs?  Where is the line between perception and reality – are we guarding against problems that rarely occur?     

I see these questions are directly related to the diminishing resources available to run programs.  Costs are rising daily, program budgets remain flat or are being cut.  The cost of insurance is skyrocketing.  Experienced staff can not afford to work at our programs – they have to pay rent and eat too. 

Is the only solution to reduce risk by screening out young people in need of our services in an effort to control (insurance and specialized staff)?  That answer is a derogation of everything the runaway and homeless youth field is built upon. 

Let’s get serious about funding for our programs.  And let’s get serious about funding resources in our communities that we can partner with, such as appropriate mental health services for adolescents. 

Our collective mission has always been to be there for young people who have no where else to turn, let’s not become just one more system that shuts the door on them. 

It has been awhile since I posted, in large part because I have been assisting at our agency with a grant directed at engaging youth through non-residential means.  This got me started thinking about the changing face of social services and more specifically how youth shelters are providing programming that does more than simply providing shelter.

 As an agency we are engaging a fairly diverse cross-section of 12-23 year olds in our community through several distinct programs.

Shelter House:

• We currently serve 12 - 17(&364 days) in a 24 bed shelter.  youth and families are provided case management services leading to service referrals, service coordination, Family Team Meetings, etc….  Last year the 792 youth we served stayed on average 6 days.  This is our oldest program but it continues to change with the times.  Last year less than 15% of our residents were state contracted placements.  The vast majority of our youth that we serve are walk-in or Project Safe Place youth.

Y-NOW

• Is the mentoring component of our agency.  While this program has worked through numerous funding streams with different populations historically, they currently serve middles school aged youth with one(or more) parents currently incarcerated.  The program matches youth with mentors for a one year commitment.

Outreach

• Deals with raising community awareness of Safe Place.  It is similar to what other Safe Place coordinators do nation wide.
• Street Out reach works with young adults in the street.  Case management is provided as well as referrals to housing.  We currently have limited immediate housing for youth in need as well as agreements with area adult shelters to assist our youth.

Field Release

• When Youth in Louisville commit a non-detainable offense they are brought to our agency, a needs assessment is completed.  When the youth’s guardian comes to Shelter to pick them up mediation, appropriate referrals, and Shelter are offered.  Since this program began in in August of 2005 we have served 1046 youth through this program.

I mention these programs because I would like to share what we are doing locally.  More importantly I would love to hear about the other programs being offered by agencies around the country.  I know that we are all facing different demographics and regional issues, but I feel like there is much to be learned through the sharing of information…

Are you aware that more than 1.5 million teenagers run away in the United States every year? This is an alarming number, and it is our duty as youth service professionals, parents and concerned adults to not only assist those teens in crisis, but also to educate the public about the magnitude of the RHY population.

The best thing we can do for those teens is to ensure that they are educated on the services available to them, as well as the dangers of running away. There are many programs, Safe Place included, that are dedicated to outreach and education to our children and teens. In our Safe Place outreach, we also discuss topics such as abuse, healthy relationships and conflict resolution.

I’m also excited to see the growth of using technology in youth outreach. Through texting, the internet, and specifically social networking, (see Bill’s April 3 post) agencies are meeting children where they are to offer resources and support.

Parents need to be aware of and prepared to face this issue. They need to be trained to look for warning signs from their teens (separate from “normal teen turmoil”), and know what to do if their teen runs away. Runawayteens.org suggests warning signs such as sleep changes, personality changes, school problems and withdrawl from family and friends. The site emphasizes trusting your “gut” when you feel that something may be wrong with your teen. Adults also need to be made aware of local resources and encouraged to use them when necessary.

Please share your thoughts. What does your agency do to expand RHY knowledge in your community? What resources do you have to share with other agencies, teens or parents?

The Federal Runaway and Homeless Youth Act is up for Reauthorization again and while this 34 year old Act has served us well, the appropriation remains woefully inadequate to meet even a fraction of the need. Programs must put a patchwork of grants and contracts together to fund just the basic services. This patchwork often results in conflicting requirements around age, length of stay, and more.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was one statute and set of regulations that could be applied to all RHY services….

In June 2008 the American Bar Association and the National Network for Youth will be joining forces to develop model laws in myriad areas that affect homeless youth. One model to be developed is State RHY statutes.

I want to know what you have to say about what should be in a model law.

• Should there be separate legislation for runaway youth and homeless youth - in other words two laws instead of one?
• What is the ideal length of stay for crisis? For transitional?
• Should confidentiality have limits? If so, what should those exceptions be?
• What rights should parents have? The right to be informed, or the larger right to consent?
• What are the ages of the youth who need services? Is cutting off the age at 21 still good enough?
• Should states insolate programs from liability as long as the program is in compliance with appropriate regulations?
• What else should be in a model law?

We all will be looking at hard times in the very near future. (Harder still than the times we are in.) The Federal Government is broke and States are struggling with huge deficits. Now may be the best time to put together a strong set of statutes that will protect the young people, families and communities that are traditionally the hardest hit when the budget ax falls.