Shelters for houseless youth: a follow-up evaluation

This study followed 345 Israeli youngsters who had been residents of two shelters for runaway and homeless youths, 6-12 weeks after their departure. Telephone interviews were conducted with the youngsters, their parents, and social workers in the community. A majority of the youngsters had either returned to their family homes, or had been placed out of home. Their residential stability was found to be low. Post-shelter place of residence was related to length of stay at the shelter, amount of contact with their family while at the shelter, and manner of departure. Our findings lead to a typology of shelter uses, and also raise questions about the extent to which shelters achieve their declared goals.