Adolescence

This report from the Urban Institute documents the development of the Marcus Garvey Youth Clubhouse, referred to as the Clubhouse, in a high crime,  low-income neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, called Brownsville. It presents a case study of the benefits of actively engaging young participants in designing and implementing a program, and how this engagement can foster economic opportunities and improve perceptions of neighborhood safety. The authors draw on interviews and focus groups with the Clubhouse program participants, program staff, and funders. (author abstract modified)

This toolkit from the Child Welfare Information Gateway’s Capacity Building Center for States provides guidance and examples that illustrate the Youth Welfare approach for working with youth in foster care. The Youth Welfare approach recommends shifting from a child-focused system that is reactive, case plan-driven, and protection-focused to a more youth-focused system that is proactive, youth-driven, developmentally-framed, and normalcy-oriented. The toolkit covers the parameters of a youth-focused welfare system, the assessment needs of youth, and the good-better-best continuum service concept.

This journal article presents findings from a meta-analysis on the relationship between natural mentoring and youth outcomes. The researchers contend that natural mentoring relationships foster positive youth development and buffer against negative outcomes. They conducted separate analyses on the presence of natural mentoring and the quality of the natural mentoring relationship. They found that social-emotional and academic-vocational functioning of a youth benefitted the most from a natural mentor. The researchers conclude that the presence of a natural mentor is related to positive youth outcomes and the quality of the natural mentoring relationship can increase those positive outcomes.

This journal article describes a study conducted by a research-practice partnership between a university and a mid-sized county court in Washington State. The purpose of the study was to develop a model for reducing homelessness from within the juvenile justice system. Using a community-based participatory approach, the study analyzed data from local juvenile filings in 2017 (n=555), statewide juvenile court data from 2016 (n=6,791) and 2017 (n=6,866), and qualitative data from workgroup meetings. These data indicate that 20% to 50% of the youth who filed in juvenile court had at least one prior episode of running away or being kicked out of the home. The qualitative data revealed concerns related to using probation to address youth homelessness, the need for better methods of identification, and a lack of intensive family-based services to prevent housing instability. The article presents the juvenile court-based model and lessons learned from the research-practice partnership.

This journal article describes a study of the life stories of unaccompanied homeless youth (UHY) who continued to attend high school despite no longer being in the custody of a parent or guardian. The study used a qualitative approach to allow participants to share their life stories in their own words. The researchers recruited nine students (five males, four females) ranging in age from 17 to 20 from a community-based organization serving homeless youth to participate in individual interviews. A thematic analysis revealed nine themes that reflected chaotic, impoverished, and abusive family environments in combination with individual and extrafamilial factors that helped to promote resilience among the participants. The authors discuss implications for supporting UHY in schools. (author abstract modified)