Resilience

The experiences of adolescents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) are situated in pervasive heterosexism. The potential for oppression of LGBQ youth of color and/or those holding non-Christian beliefs, are exponentially increased. Historical, social, political, and cultural contexts also influence experiences of marginalization. The ecological perspective, combined with risk and resilience theory, form a conceptual basis to clarify the reciprocal relationships between LGBQ youth and their environments. Together, these theories assist in locating optimal intervention points for mental health professionals, ensuring the best possible outcomes for this population. Utilizing these theoretical frameworks, the author discusses the importance of recognizing and advocating for strategies to promote health and mental well-being among LGBQ youth.

This article provides an overview of some of the demographics of youth experiencing homelessness and examples of how Cooperative Extension is working with this population around the country. A discussion of the needs of this population is provided, along with strategies for how Extension can connect with current efforts to reach youth experiencing homelessness to build resilience. Data are summarized from a webinar for Extension professionals. Education in this area is worthwhile to youth development professionals who may be interested in designing new programs, expanding current programs, finding new program partnerships, and using programs to support youth experiencing homelessness. Local and national-level programs that are designed to reach youth experiencing homelessness are highlighted. The structure and resources of the Cooperative Extension system nationwide are ideal to provide supplementary support to youth experiencing homelessness in a variety of settings. This article is an invitation to expand this conversation and further explore the needs of youth experiencing homelessness and Extension’s capacity to respond.

In January 2019, the California Homeless Youth Project (CHYP), an initiative of the California Research Bureau, be¬gan a study to explore the supply of resources available to students experiencing housing insecurity and home¬lessness at California’s public colleges and universities. This study builds on a previous CHYP report by looking in-depth at the types of resources campuses offer that help students meet their basic needs. It also builds on a growing body of research on food and housing insecurity in higher education—and the actions that are being taken to address these challenges—on a system-wide, state, and national level. The findings in this report are based on information collected from campus websites, phone calls, and emails with higher education staff in order to determine which of California’s public colleges and universities offer resources that address basic needs insecurity. Specifically, we determined if campuses offer year-round student housing, emergency housing, emergency grants, short-term loans, food resources, and advisors and programs for foster youth and students experiencing homelessness. This study looked at 44 percent of the 114 California Community Colleges (CCCs) and all of the California State Universities (CSUs) and Universities of California (UCs).

The study tested a pathway model of resilience to explore the role of social connectedness as a mediator in the relationship between homelessness and resilience. Mediation analysis using R package and bootstrapping for variance estimation showed no statistically significant mediation of the relationship between adversity and resilience. Additional mediation analyses showed statistically significant mediation relationships among variables comprising the construct of psychological capital (hope, optimism, future time perspective) and resilience in this population of youth experiencing homelessness (all p < 0.001). These findings provide a more complete view of the role of social connectedness in the lives of youth experiencing homelessness and have implications for nursing practice, further research and policy that addresses their strengths as well as their complex health care needs.

Youth homelessness has been demonstrated to disproportionately affect sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth compared to heterosexual cisgender peers. In this context, we aimed to compare health risks between service-seeking SGM and heterosexual cisgender youth experiencing homelessness, including harmful risks stemming from substance use and severity of symptoms of mental health disorders. We recruited 100 racially diverse, unstably housed participants aged 18–24 who access services at an urban non-profit organization in San Francisco, CA. Data analysis included 56 SGM participants who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, unsure, transgender, and nongender, and 44 heterosexual cisgender participants. In contrast to previous studies reporting significantly higher frequency of substance use and more severe symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder among SGM youth compared to heterosexual cisgender peers, many of these health disparities were not observed in our diverse study population of service-seeking youth. Furthermore, with the exception of methamphetamine, SGM participants did not exhibit greater harmful risks resulting from substance use, such as health, social, financial, and legal complications. We discuss the reduced burden of health disparities between SGM and heterosexual cisgender youth in our service-seeking study population within the context of gender- and sexuality-affirming programming offered at the partnering community organization. We conclude that longitudinal data on these tailored community-level interventions are needed to further explore the reduced burden of health disparities observed among service-seeking SGM youth experiencing homelessness in San Francisco in order to continue supporting pathways out of homelessness for youth of all sexual and gender identities nationwide.