Considerations for Supporting Homeless Adoslescents

Abstract

Every year, there is over one million adolescents who face homelessness in the United States. Even with this rising number of homeless adolescents, various definitions of homeless adolescents currently exist. This paper will clearly define homelessness, in particular homeless adolescents, through the McKinney-Vento Act of 2001. In addition, the precipitating factors for school counselors to look for when working with adolescents who may be at-risk of facing homelessness will be delineated. Many different effects of homelessness will also be discussed, as well as engaged roles school counselors can assume to collaborate with other educators and community members by advocating and addressing homelessness at a local, state and federal level. Finally, a new collaborative effort that has been developed addresses and advocates for the needs of homeless adolescents and families is the Community Action Targeting Children who are Homeless (CATCH) program is presented. Overall, the CATCH program advocates for homeless adolescents social-emotional needs and developmental status through different levels of intervention