A new study from Ohio State of a program in Albuquerque shows that homeless teens benefit from a more comprehensive approach to outreach.
In the treatment as usual, youth who stopped by the drop-in center were offered food, a place to rest and the opportunity to meet with case managers who helped connect them with counseling and other services that they needed. This is the standard treatment for homeless youth around the country, Slesnick said.The CRA program offered a more comprehensive treatment involving 12 individual therapy sessions and four HIV education/skills practice sessions.
The therapy sessions were adapted for teens who lived on the streets, Slesnick said. The first goal was to stabilize their situation, and help them address the basic needs of food, shelter and safety.
The sessions then focused on goals that the youth themselves saw as most important in their lives. The counselor helped them address coping, skills development, and the steps needed to achieve their goals.
“The youth then had to apply these skills in the real world, maintain those skills, and see how they could improve their own situation,” Slesnick said.
One of the keys to the success of this program is that it was created specifically for homeless youth, she said. For example, many of the youth did not have scheduled appointments, but could stop at the drop-in center during open hours. If their counselor was available, they could see them immediately. If not, the youth could wait at the center until their counselor was free.The youth were tested three months and six months after beginning treatment.
The teens in both groups – treatment as usual and CRA – showed improvements after six months, the study showed. But those in the CRA program did significantly better.
The youth assigned to CRA showed a 37 percent reduction in drug and alcohol abuse, compared to just a 17 percent reduction for the others.
Depression scores dropped 40 percent for those in CRA and 23 percent for those who received treatment as usual.
Finally, the youth in CRA showed a 58 percent increase in social stability, compared to only 13 percent for those in the other group. Social stability was measured by the number of days they spent off the street, or in school, or working, or receiving medical care.
Slesnick said these results showed that communities can be successful in helping homeless youth.
“While the CRA program was successful, I think what we do in treatment is less important than the process,” she said.
“The content is not as important as having these teens come in and talk to a therapist and develop a new, positive experience with an adult. That is what they really need.”
And the cost of such a program is much less than it costs to keep youth in the criminal justice system, where many of them may end up if left untreated.