Runaway Youth
“Street Smart”: the first
HIV/AIDS and STD program for runaway and homeless youth
Michigan Network for Youth and Families
MNYF has a web page at
www.cacvoices.org/mnyf
Contact Information
In 1999, Michigan's Runaway Programs provided over 28,000 crisis intervention contacts. Of
these, over 6,000 youth and their families in crisis were provided with
counseling and case management. Still, this number doesn't include the
hundreds of runaway episodes never reported. Those where the youth returns
home within a short period of time or the parents don't want them to return
at all.
For most families, the teen years are challenging. Moving from childhood to
adulthood, an adolescent needs to learn how to survive on their own in the
world. Parents are required to walk a fine line between providing enough
distance to let their adolescents make and learn from their own mistakes,
and giving them enough guidance and support to keep them safe.
Conflict during adolescence is almost inevitable. Most families, however,
eventually adjust. The ones who seem to get stuck are those overwhelmed by
other crises -- death, illness, divorce, remarriage, job loss -- and those
not well-suited for parenthood due to untreated addictions and serious
mental health problems, as well as those unable to break generational
patterns of abuse.
It is indisputable that there are many dangers awaiting runaway and homeless
youth on the streets. Sexual exploitation and assault, drug addiction,
criminal involvement and HIV are just a few. However, the phrase "Runaway
Prevention" is a bit misleading. Running away is often one of the first
outward signs that there is a problem needing attention. It offers
opportunity for change.
Running away can also be a means of survival. It is the "flight" in a
flight or fight response. (You would no more want to halt this behavior
than you would want to stop a battered woman from going to a domestic
violence shelter.) What we really need are more solutions to the underlying
issues causing kids to runaway.
After twenty-five years of working with runaway and homeless youth programs
from Marquette to Detroit to Benton Harbor, we at the Michigan Network for
Youth and Families, know that kids and families in crises need more support
and greater access to compassionate, respectful services. One important
place to start is our public systems.
The safety net available for youth in jeopardy of physical or sexual abuse
in their own homes needs strengthening. Even though 12-17 year olds make up
more than one-third of reports to Child Protective Services, adolescents,
too often receive insufficient intervention. A system already unable to
respond adequately to the high volume of complaints will view children as
less vulnerable and blameless than a teenager. Assaults against youth who
may respond defensively are too frequently seen as legitimate means to
control behavior when, in reality, there is a long term pattern of abuse.
Even when the needs of youth in crisis are taken seriously the necessary
resources may not be available. There is a serious shortage of capable
foster parents who are willing to work with a wounded and angry teenager.
Meanwhile, child welfare programs aimed at keeping families together cannot
serve all families in crisis. Once again, the priority for scarce resources
will favor families with younger children while adolescents receive short
term interventions, if any help at all. We believe that families with
children and youth of all ages, deserve equal access to resources that can
help them rebuild, reconnect and renew the bonds that will give them the
groundwork they need to sustain viable relationships.
Take the true story of a 14 year old boy seen at a Runaway Program. His
teacher reported seeing unusual bruises on his face and back. Although an
investigation revealed that both parents were serious substance abusers, the
only intervention provided was a referral to a home-based family counseling
program. The worker met with the young man, but the parents were never
seen. After six weeks the case was closed. Needless to say, the young man
will be seen again in some system, somewhere.
What experts know, but public policy fails to integrate, is that a "problem
kid" is a kid with a problem. Over and over again we neglect young people's
cries for help, paying attention only when they start to fight back or
"cause trouble". We spend millions of dollars turning our schools into
fortresses, but can barely muster one social worker for every 1,000 kids.
We don't bat an eye when the budgets for detention centers and prisons grow
tenfold, while funding for human services and prevention programs slows to a
trickle.
In 1974 our nation righteously decided that runaways should not be locked
up. Instead, a network of programs was developed to aid kids and families
in crisis. These programs proved highly effective in keeping kids safe,
holding families together, and setting young people on a better course in
life. They have successfully saved the public millions of dollars by
keeping kids out of much costlier systems.
 Update 5/04 -
Michigan's 83 counties are served by 30 agencies operating 50 programs around
Michigan, with two new programs in Port Huron and Mt. Pleasant. They provide two
different programs. For ages 10-17, runaway programs focus on reuniting with
family. For 16-21 year old homeless youth they focus on providing independent
living. There are 12 homeless youth programs in the state. These
programs provide a safe place for youth to live in for up to one year while
they gain emotional stability, develop life skills, obtain employment and
look for permanent housing.
Core services for
youth and families include: outreach, prevention and community education;
24-hour crisis intervention; assessment and referral; short term shelter;
counseling for youth and families; after care services; and youth
participation.
The phrase, "runaway prevention", to us, means an end to the conditions that
leave kids with no other choice than to run away. Expanding and adequately
supporting high quality programs that help youth and families resolve their
crisis, whether new or long-standing, is what will truly make a difference.
Contact Information:
Michigan Network for Youth and Families
Community-based agencies empowering youth and families in crisis
1210 West Saginaw, Lansing, Michigan 48915-1927
Phone - (517) 377.0440 FAX - (517) 377-0441
MNYF has a web page at
www.cacvoices.org/mnyf
Also note: The Ruth Ellis Center is a new
resource for gay and lesbian runaways in Detroit.
“Street Smart”: the first
HIV/AIDS and STD program for runaway and homeless youth
2.07.03 – The Michigan STD/HIV and Adolescent Committee meeting in Lansing
this week had a presentation by Steve Pollock, director of the Michigan Network
for Runaway Youth (MNRY) and four Michigan trainers for this new program.
Field-work for the program was done in the early 90’s on the east and west
coast, and it was approved by CDC (the national Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention) about two years ago, according to Pollock. The National Network for
Youth received a grant to provide the training of 24 people. Michigan had 12
people attending the training.
The program is not just HIV 101; it consists of 8 modules that explicitly
deal with sexuality and making healthy choices. And in the next week there will
a national update for trainers on a new module created specifically for gay
youth.
The program was designed to be presented over a ten-week period of time. This
could be a problem for a transient population of runaway youth, but some of the
agencies have long-term clients. And this is such a great program the kids want
to keep coming back according to Pollock and the trainers.
Part of the program’s strength is its ability to build trust among the
participants. Pollock noted how important the group process was, how humor was
so much a part of it and how the process builds so much self-esteem and
nurturing for each other. “You have such an investment in the well being of the
group – It’s a hugely positive dynamic,” he said.
Each module is designed as a stand-alone unit however, so if kids drop out
they still take-away good skills and information. Most groups start out inviting
about 12 and with drop out end with about 6 to 8 participants.
One of the specific things about the program that works is the use of tokens.
These are passed out to participants to be given as non-verbal acknowledgement
when someone in the group is expressing their feelings or experience, to show
empathy for them. Another tool that is used is the feelings thermometer – a
visual to recognize feelings and emotional comfort with a situation.
The trainers who attended the meeting were very excited about “Street Smart”
and shared some insight from their individual programs since they have
implemented the training.
Derek Jackson from Ozone House in Ann Arbor said, “This is a great tool to
use; it deals with harm reduction and changing your mind-set, not just HIV/AIDS
issues.” “It’s very in your face… with models of female and male anatomy – but
book is very specific about how you present this with proper terminology.”
Terry Hambleton from The Bridge and Homeless Youth at Arbor Circle in Grand
Rapids
said, “This is the first curriculum I have used on this subject. It is designed
in such a way that even the facilitator isn’t embarrassed.”
Imani Williams, from the Ruth Ellis Center – the only shelter in Michigan
specifically for gay teens – said, “It’s hard for us to advertise in the
schools; kids come by word of mouth, and we get referrals from Ozone House and
Alternative for Girls.”
Marnie Clay from Arbor Circle said the Street Smart curriculum meets one of
their contact goals with their youth. “I have never experienced youth wanting to
come for a minimum of two hours three times a week,” she said her kids are not
afraid to share in this program, and it’s a time commitment that they are
willing to make.
One of the modules that looked particularly interesting was the “Self-Talk
Module.”
It connects the thought process with values that lead to behaviors. Clay said
the goal is to eliminate self-defeating thoughts. Role-play explores how to
“stop, challenge that belief and then replace that with helpful thoughts,” she
said. Through role-play they leave having a sense of empowerment. The role-plays
in this section ask for role reversals that help to get out of gender.
In addition to the program trainers, one program participant also came for
the Lansing presentation. She said, “I gained more than what I would have
learned in sex ed in high school. I like it better because we are more involved.
The more involved, the more fun, the more people are tuning in.”
All of these Michigan agencies have a “Street Smart” trainer: Ozone House and
HARC in Ann Arbor; Alternatives for Girls, AIDS Partnership Michigan and Ruth
Ellis Center in the Detroit area; Every woman’s place in Muskegon, Common Ground
in Oakland Co.; and Third Level in Traverse City.
For more information, contact Steve Pollock at the Michigan Network for
Runaway Youth at 517.377.0440. More information and resources for
Runaway Youth.
| 