North America & Canada

Members

Action International Ministries

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)

Save the Children UK

SOS Children's Villages

Publications

A Snapshot of Homeless Youth in Seattle: Their Characteristics, Behaviours and Beliefs about HIV Protective Strategies
The purpose of this study was to determine how initial HIV prevention efforts for homeless youth were received and to determine areas where homeless youth's beliefs and behaviours continue to put them at risk for HIV infection.

Evaluating methamphetamine use and risks of injection initiation among street youth
Many Canadian cities are experiencing ongoing infectious disease and overdose epidemics among injection drug users (IDU). These health concerns have recently been exacerbated by the increasing availability and use of methamphetamine. The challenges of reducing health-related harms among IDU have led to an increased recognition that strategies to prevent initiation into injection drug use must receive renewed focus. In an effort to better explore the factors that may protect against or facilitate entry into injection drug use, the At Risk Youth Study (ARYS) has recently been initiated in Vancouver, Canada. The local setting is unique due to the significant infrastructure that has been put in place to reduce HIV transmission among active IDU. The ARYS study will seek to examine the impact of these programs, if any, on non-injection drug users. In addition, Vancouver has been the site of widespread use of methamphetamine in general and has seen a substantial increase in the use of crystal methamphetamine among street youth. Hence, the ARYS cohort is well positioned to examine the harms associated with methamphetamine use, including its potential role in facilitating initiation into injection drug use. This paper provides some background on the epidemiology of illicit drug use among street youth in North America and outlines the methodology of ARYS, a prospective cohort study of street youth in Vancouver, Canada.

HIV Risk Profile and Prostitution Among Female Street Youths
The objective of this study was to compare HIV risk factors among female street youths involved in prostitution and those with no history of prostitution. Youths aged 14 to 25 years were recruited into the Montreal Street Youth Cohort. Semiannually, youths completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Statistical analyses comparing characteristics and HIV risk factors for girls involved in prostitution and those never involved were carried out using parametric and nonparametric methods.

Life without Basic Service ''Street Children Say''
This study builds on the learning of Street Diary (Save the Children UK, 2001), giving theopportunity for a group of children to represent their own analysis of their situation. Itexamines the human and emotional dimension of life on the street. This is not astatistical or quantitative research but is representative of the feelings of children livingon the street about their lives and organisations working with them.

Networking for Policy Change: An Advocacy Training Manual

Organizational Diagnosis for Advocacy
When groups are considering advocacy, it is helpful for them to assess what advocacy actually can offer their organization, what some of the benefits and risks might be and what organizational barriers might influence their success.

Predictors of Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing Among Sexually Active Homeless Youth
A research paper from the United States examining the association between sexual risk behaviours and sexually transmitted infection (STI) in a sample of homeless youth. It deals with factors such as age, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

Risk Factors for Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among Street Youths
The relative contributions to risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection resulting from unsafe sexual behaviours and exposures to blood (e.g., tattooing, body piercing and injection drug use) among youths at risk are not well known. We interviewed street youths about risk factors for HCV infection and documented their HCV antibody status.

The Education of Destitute Homeless Children in Nineteenth-Century Ontario
From the earliest years in Upper Canada, destitute homeless children, including orphans, were often placed in private homes under pauper apprenticeship indentures that required that the children receive an education. Beginning in the 1830s, such children were sometimes housed in temporary institutions awaiting private placements, and by midcentury these institutions also began to provide schooling. However, children's homes providing long-term care developed in part because this education proved inadequate, and schooling, normally in-house, was an immediate priority on the opening of such homes. This focus on education appears to have been shared by the children in the homes and their parents, thus supporting a view of the development of state-funded, compulsory education as driven to asignificant extent by popular demand. Once education became compulsory in 1871, these orphan home schools were gradually integrated as fully funded and professionally staffed components of the public school system.

The Nutritional Status and Dietary Adequacy of Single Homeless Women and their Children in Shelters
A study focusing on a specific population within homeless shelters in Missouri: single women with dependent children, and the adequacy of their dietary and nutritional intake.

Resources