New Study Highlights Successful Teen Outreach
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.
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