November has been recognized as National Homeless Youth Awareness Month since 2007 to acknowledge the children and youth that are experiencing homelessness, build awareness around the causes of youth homelessness, examine possible solutions to the issue, and to encourage discussions about how to prevent homelessness among children and teens. Each November, in addition to awareness campaigns, communities recognize businesses and organizations dedicated to supporting children and teens experiencing homelessness. Every year, hundreds of thousands of American families become homeless, including more than 2.5 million children.
While this population would benefit significantly from public services, they are among the least likely to receive those services. In addition to losing their home, these individuals often lose community, friends, and routines-including their sense of stability and safety. The effects of youth homelessness can be substantial and long-lasting, causing many homeless youths to become victims of other trauma. Homeless youth are susceptible to numerous threats, including having unmet basic needs like food and shelter, suffering from untreated behavioral health disorders, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual exploitation, and physical victimization. These experiences increase their likelihood to suffer from depression, substance use, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and increase their vulnerability to being trafficked. Further, teens who are homeless are twice as likely to attempt suicide than their peers who are not homeless (https://teenhealthconnection.org).
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has compiled a list of helpful resources for parents and caregivers, children and teens, mental health providers, schools, child welfare workers, juvenile justice professionals, and policymakers on their website. Benchmarks utilizes the NCTSN’s Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit to train local county DSS staff in implementation of trauma-informed knowledge in their daily interactions with children, youth and families as well as within their organization’s work culture. This training addresses how trauma and toxic environments can impact the brain development of children and youth. It also addresses best practices on how social workers should respond to and support those who have experienced trauma.
Homelessness is a source of toxic stress, especially for children. In extreme instances of toxic stress, the areas of the brain associated with fear and impulsivity grow stronger while the areas responsible for behavioral control and reasoning begin to weaken. This is one explanation of why children and youth who are raised in stressful environments have an increased likelihood of developing emotional-behavioral disorders, anxiety, and aggression. There are numerous studies to show us how these situations and responses can have an impact on a child’s success in school as well. If young children are raised in environments characterized by scarcity, neglect or abuse, their brains are not given the necessary resources to thrive. Toxic stress during this sensitive developmental period of childhood can permanently alter how the brain responds to stress, holds memory and learns. Even after a child or youth becomes stably housed, issues may still emerge later that correlate to the effects of toxic stress while homeless.
I encourage you to take some time this month to educate yourself or others on this issue and brainstorm some ways you can become an advocate and support to the children and youth who need additional support. You can go to the NCTSN website (www.nctsn.org) to learn more about how homelessness and similar traumatic events affect brain development, or research your local homelessness resources, give them a call to see how you can assist local youth and their families to thrive despite past or current housing challenges.
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