Providing shelter for street youth: are we reaching those in need?

A major longitudinal study of runaway and homeless youth resulted in the establishment of a safe house in Calgary. In order to further knowledge building and research in this field, users of the facility are routinely asked to fill out an intake form, and consent is obtained for the use of the information for research purposes. Data collected during the first fourteen months of its operation have now been analyzed. Results are compared to the original survey data to determine which youth are using the facility and which are being missed. Interesting similarities and differences are described and discussed.