title: A Test of Outreach and Drop-in Linkage Versus Shelter Linkage for Connecting Homeless Youth to Services.
abstract: Outreach and service linkage are key for engaging marginalized populations, such as homeless youth, in services. Research to date has focused primarily on engaging individuals already receiving some services through emergency shelters, clinics, or other programs. Less is known about those who are not connected to services and, thus, likely the most vulnerable and in need of assistance. The current study sought to engage non-service-connected homeless youth (N = 79) into a strengths-based outreach and advocacy intervention. Youth were randomly assigned to receive 6 months of advocacy that focused on linking youth to a drop-in center (n = 40) or to a crisis shelter (n = 39). All youth were assessed at baseline and 3, 6, and 9 months post-baseline. Findings indicated that youth prefer drop-in center services to the shelter. Also, the drop-in center linkage condition was associated with more service linkage overall (B = 0.34, SE = 0.04, p < 0.01) and better alcohol-l [B = -0.39, SE = 0.09, t(75) = -4.48, p < 0.001] and HIV-related outcomes [B = 0.62, SE = 0.10, t(78) = 6.34, p < 0.001] compared to the shelter linkage condition. Findings highlight the importance of outreach and service linkage for reconnecting service-marginalized youth, and drop-in centers as a primary service option for homeless youth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. slesnick.5@osu.edu.
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6629-0333
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Slesnick
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
authors.forename: Xiamei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brakenhoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Jasmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murnan
authors.affiliation: College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Scottye
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cash
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Annie-Laurie
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: McRee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D018453:Homeless Youth; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking; D009820:Ohio; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Crisis shelters; Drop-in centers; Homeless youth; Outreach