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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:09 pm
Time: 9:09 pm
Results for child maltreatment (canada)
1 results foundAuthor: Goldstein, Abby L. Title: Youth on the Street and Youth Involved with Child Welfare: Maltreatment, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Summary: Adolescents who are homeless face a variety of adverse outcomes and are at risk for concurrent mental health symptoms and substance use. Many come to the streets with a history of maltreatment, and have left home to escape dysfunctional environments, only to find themselves exposed to additional violence on the streets. Youth involved with child welfare face similar challenges and many are at risk of homelessness due to a lack of resources when transitioning out of the child welfare system. Existing research indicates that concurrent mental health symptoms and substance use, particularly among adolescents, is poorly understood and very challenging to address. The current study was designed to examine factors associated with concurrent mental health symptoms and substance use across three groups of youth: youth currently involved with child welfare; youth who were homeless with a history of involvement with child welfare; and youth who were homeless with no history of involvement with child welfare. This study is a secondary analysis of data from two datasets: the Youth Pathways Project (YPP) (data collected from 2002 to 2006) and the third year of the Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP) Longitudinal Study (data collected between 2008 and 2009). The YPP and MAP studies include older youth (16–21 years of age) who are homeless (YPP: N = 150) and youth who are currently involved with child welfare (MAP: N = 34 and YPP: N = 35). The total sample consists of 219 youth participants: 150 who are homeless and 69 currently involved with child welfare. Comparisons between these groups were expected to contribute to an understanding of the extent to which homelessness and child welfare involvement are associated with concurrent substance use and mental health issues; it is also intended to provide useful information to professionals working with these vulnerable populations. Within the sample of youth 16 to 21 years of age who are homeless, 42.7% had a (self-reported) history of child welfare involvement. These youth were significantly more likely to have experienced childhood maltreatment than youth who were homeless with no past history of child welfare involvement. With respect to housing and partner violence, the analyses showed that very few youth currently involved with child welfare had lived without shelter for even one night in the past seven days. Living without shelter was significantly related to concurrent mental health symptoms and substance use, even when controlling for youth homelessness and child welfare involvement; youth who were homeless were much more likely to have concurrent mental health and substance use issues. All three groups of youth studied were equally likely to have been victims of partner violence and to have perpetrated partner violence in the past year. Partner violence perpetration was also associated with concurrent mental health symptoms and substance use. Regarding mental health symptoms, externalizing symptoms were much more likely to be reported by youth who were homeless; externalizing symptoms were consistently associated with substance use and problem substance use. This study illustrates that youth who lack stable housing, had a history of maltreatment, substance use or mental health symptoms and are no longer involved in child welfare constitute a vulnerable population for homelessness. As a result, increasing services with targeted interventions that address maltreatment, mental health and substance use are needed. Furthermore, it is clear that current child welfare involvement appears to exert a protective effect whereas youth living on the street with a previous history of child welfare involvement appear to be at risk. Examining the transition of exit for youth currently involved in the child welfare system who have reached the age-criteria for care should be explored as some youth may not be prepared for adulthood and independent living. Although further research is needed to clarify the chronological relationship between child welfare involvement, homelessness, mental health and substance use, the findings of this study have important policy and practice implications. In particular, creating affordable housing with built-in supports for youth with complex needs may disrupt the cycle of homelessness and help our understanding of the resilience of these youth, demonstrated in the face of extreme risk. Details: Toronto, ON: University of Toronto, 2011. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 10, 2012 at http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/aspc-phac/H129-5-2011-eng.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Canada URL: http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/aspc-phac/H129-5-2011-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 124612 Keywords: Child Maltreatment (Canada)Child Welfare (Canada)Mental HealthSubstance Abuse |