The STOPLight

Services for homeless youth

Established in 1986, Project Offstreets is part of the Minneapolis (Minnesota) Youth Diversion Program, a county program partially funded by the United Way, The McKnight Foundation and federal and state grants. They provide alternative services to youth ages 12-19 who are homeless, abused, neglected or sexually exploited. The staff includes 17 counselors, a full-time cook and a secretary.

Project Offstreets served over 1,100 kids last year. Typically, they see 70-80 kids a day at the drop-in center. Most of them hear about the program through word of mouth on the streets. There are no conditions of eligibility, and confidentiality and anonymity are granted and guaranteed. Kids are encouraged but not forced to accept counseling.

Once a kid has hooked up with a counselor, the average length of time they are involved in the program is six to nine months depending on individual needs. Most are 16-17 years old, half male and half female.

Robert J. Nelson, program supervisor, recently talked with STOP Light about homeless youth and what the Offstreets program provides to help them get off the streets and into a productive lifestyle.

"We work with 'throwaway' kids versus runaways. Most kids who run away go back home within a few days. But kids who don't have the option of returning home they will become involved in some form of prostitution within the first 30 days on the streets. That's why it's so important that we try to reach the kid as soon as possible and get them to a safe place," stated Nelson.

"We view prostitution as a lifestyle and those involved as victims. We view pimps and johns as perpetrators. We don't treat the issue as a crime, but try to deal with each individual's issues and help empower them to leave the lifestyle.

"Homelessness among youth is basically a family issue, not an economic one," Nelson said. "It is a sign that something has gone wrong in the family. About 70-75% of our kids are coming from an environment of sexual abuse, physical abuse or chemical dependency in the family." Of the youth served by Offstreets, about 40% come from Minneapolis, 30% from the suburbs, 10% from outstate Minnesota and 10% from other states.

"One of the hardest things for throwaway kids is they don't have a support system so if they fall down, there is no safety net to build up a support system," said Nelson.

"It feels good when you find a family that really is invested in their kid and wants to do whatever they can to have the child come back home. We have a lot more success when we have a family involved and we can work with them. The kid will be more successful than someone who doesn't have a support system."

Nelson, a five-year veteran with the program, holds a BSW and is a former chemical dependency treatment counselor. He described the services of Project Offstreets:

• A drop-in center which is open from 3-8 PM, seven days a week where kids get a free, hot meal, snacks, and have a safe place to hang out. Counselors are available to provide crisis counseling.
• Counseling and advocacy staff deal one-on-one with kids needing short-term crisis shelter, long-term housing options, education and employment programs, court and welfare advocacy, referrals for various health issues, and more.
• Weekly support group for teen girls who have been or are involved in prostitution.
• One counselor works on the streets specifically with boys and young men in prostitution without them having to come to the drop-in center.
• A school program with a teacher who assists youth at the drop-in center with earning high school credits, accomplishing their GED or re-enrolling in school.
• An employment program to help kids get a job.
• Teen mother's group and teen father's group which help young parents increase parenting skills, build healthy relationships with their kids. The teen father's group is one of the few of its kind with a goal of getting adolescent fathers involved in their child's life.
• Drug abuse education and counseling.
• Health, AIDS prevention and safe sex education.
• Offstreets cooperates with another agency in providing a transitional living program. They help a youth find an apartment and pay the first six months rent. The youth must pay one-third of whatever money he/she earns each month back to Project Offstreets. Then, at the end of the six months, this money is returned to the youth who, hopefully, has become self-sufficient during the six-month period and is ready to break from active involvement in the program.

Project Offstreets staff follows-up six months after each kid leaves their program. Nelson said that, long-term, their overall success rate of getting kids off the street and back into the community is 85% or better.

STOP Light asked Nelson what advice he would give to concerned adults who wanted to help.

His advice was, "Be aware of it. Teenage homelessness is an invisible population. Most communities say they don't have the problem; that it's only a big city problem. But when a kid runs, there are no positive choices out there for her or him, only negative choices.

"Communities can start by giving kids some positive choices in their own community that they can turn to," Nelson continued. "Kids need positive adult role models in their lives, and if they don't have one at home, they need to find one in the community. Once they are on the street, there are only negative role models.

"Understand the issues. Kids don't run to have fun. To choose a life on the streets over a family is a big decision. Most kids who have been on the street a while say they wish they would have tried a little harder at home. Once they leave, the problems get bigger and bigger.

"If your child has a friend who often hangs around at mealtimes and spends lots of nights with your child, it could indicate problems at home. Try to talk with the kid and, if there is a problem, hook him or her with a counselor at church or in the community before the kid gives up and leaves, or gets kicked out. They have a much better chance of success if they can get help in their own communities than if they end up on the street of a big city."

by Joan Hendrickson, STOP Light editor