Homelessness among American adolescents is not a new phenomenon. The United States has a long history of youth who are runaways and/or homeless. The majority of adolescents who are homeless believe that they have no acceptable housing placement options. The foster care system often fails to help youth deal with problems. The impact of homelessness on youth’s social functioning and health status should be raised at the community level, particularly by community nurses and other health professions who interact with adolescents who are homeless. By using Kingdon’s multiple streams model, nurses can advocate for homeless youth by accurately defining and reframing adolescent homelessness for policy makers and including provision of shelter as a policy priority.
Athey, J. (1991). HIV infection and homeless adolescents. Child Welfare, 70, 515-528.
2.
Bradley, J. (1997). Runaway youth—Stress, social support and adjustment. New York: Garland.
3.
Carlson, B. E. (1991). Outcomes of physical abuse and observation of marital violence among adolescents in placement. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 6(4), 526-534.
4.
Cwayna, K. (1993). Knowing where the fountains are: Stories and stark realities of homeless youth. Minneapolis, MN: Deaconess Press.
5.
Gerberich, S. S. (2000). Care of homeless men in the community. Holistic Nursing, 14(2), 21-28.
6.
Hagan, J., and McCarthy, B. (1997). Mean streets: Youth crime and homelessness. New York: Cambridge University Press.
7.
Hombs, M. E. (2001). American homelessness: A reference handbook (3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
8.
Janus, M. D., McCormack, A., Burgess, A., and Hartman, C. (1987). Adolescent runaways: Causes and consequences. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
9.
Jencks, C. (1994). The homeless. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10.
Kingdon, J. (1984). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies (2nd ed.). Boston: Little, Brown.
11.
Kufeldt, K., and Nimmo, M. (1987). Youth on the street: Abuse and neglect in the eighties. Child Abuse-Neglect, 11, 531-543.
12.
Kurtz, P., Kurtz, G., and Jarvis, S. (1991). Problems of maltreated runaway youth. Adolescence, 26, 544-555.
13.
Libertoff, K. (1980). The runaway child in America: A social history. Journal of Family Issues, 1, 151-164.
14.
Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 119, §23G (1998)
15.
McCormack, A., Janus, M. D., and Burgess, A. W. (1986). Runaway youth and sexual victimization: Gender differences in an adolescent runaway population. Child Abuse-Neglect, 10(3), 387-395.
16.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness. (1995). Web of failure: The connection between foster care and homelessness. Retrieved January 4, 2006, from www.endhomelessness.org/pub/fostercare/web.htm.
17.
Nyamathi, A. (1998). Vulnerable populations: A continuous nursing focus. Nursing Research, 47(2), 65-66.
18.
O’Sullivan, J. (2003). My family is the pits: An ethnographic study of homeless adolescents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.
19.
Pennbridge, J. N., Yates, M. A., David, T. G., and MacKenzie, R. G. (1990). Runaway youth in Los Angeles County, California. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 11, 159-165.
20.
Powers, J. L., Eckenrode, J., and Jaklitsch, B. (1990). Maltreatment among runaway and homeless youth. Child Abuse-Neglect, 14(1), 87-98.
21.
Radford, J. L., King, A., and Warren, W. K. (1991). Street youth and AIDS. Kingston, Canada: Queens University Press.
22.
Rimsza, M. E., Berg, R. A., and Locke, C. (1988). Sexual abuse: Somatic and emotional reactions. Child Abuse-Neglect, 12(2), 201-208.
23.
Ruddick, S. M. (1996). Young and homeless in Hollywood: Mapping social identities. New York: Routledge.
24.
Russell, L. (1998). Child maltreatment and psychological distress among urban homeless youth. New York: Garland.
25.
Ryan, K. D., Kilmer, R. P., Cauce, A. M., Watanabe, H., and Hoyt, D. R. (2000). Psychological consequences of child maltreatment in homeless adolescents: Untangling the unique effects of maltreatment and family environment. Child Abuse-Neglect, 24(3), 333-352.
26.
Stone, D. (1988). Policy paradox: The art of political decision making. New York: Norton.
27.
Warren, J. K., Gary, F., and Moorhead, J. (1994). Self-reported experiences of physical and sexual abuse among runaway youths. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 30, 23-28.
28.
Webber, M. (1991). Street kids: The tragedy of Canadian runaways. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
29.
Wells, M., and Sandhu, H. (1986). The juvenile runaway: A historical perspective. Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology, 14, 143-147.
30.
Whitbeck, L. B., and Hoyt, D. R. (1999). Nowhere to grow. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
31.
Whitbeck, L. B., and Simons, R. L. (1990). Life on the streets: The victimization of runaway and homeless youth. Youth-Society, 22(1), 108-125.
32.
Zahariadis, M. (1999). Ambiguity, time and multiple streams. In P. A. Sabatier (Ed.), Theories of the policy process (pp. 73-93). Davis: University of California, Press-Westview.
