Publication Date
Fall 2012
Research Design
Quantitative
Abstract and Research Question
Supporting Worcester’s ongoing effort to understand and address youth and young adult homelessness, the Community Roundtable on Youth Homelessness in conjunction with the Compass Project and Clark University conducted the fourth annual Point-in-Time Survey during October of 2012. Young people were surveyed at city shelters, youth programs, outside of schools, in parks, and on the streets of Worcester. Out of the 753 young people (ages 13to 25) surveyed, 120 (16%) dentified as homeless. We define homeless to include young people in shelters, staying with others temporarily (i.e. couch surfing) or on the streets. In addition to these 120 young people, another 220 youth who were housed reported that they had a friend who was homeless. As in prior years, when compared to their housed counterparts in the study, homeless youth: Have experienced more residential instability and family conflict; Have more precarious income situations; Are more likely to have children; Are more likely to have had involvement with the foster care and/or juvenile justice systems; and Have faced more barriers accessing services.
Keywords
unaccompanied homeless youth and young adults, point-in-time survey
If yes, did the research receive Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval?
Yes
When did the project/research take place?
Fall 2012
Document Type
Report
Recommended Citation
Ross, Laurie, "Youth and Young Adult Homelessness in Worcester, Massachusetts:" (2012). Local Knowledge: Worcester Area Community-Based Research. 4.
https://commons.clarku.edu/localknowledge/4
Comments
A more refined version of this report is in the works...