A demographic and behavioral profile of homeless youth in New York City: Implications for AIDS outreach and prevention

Rapid changes in the world market economy have served to destabilize many l ocal institutions, widening the gap between the rich and the poor and under mining viability of key social and economic institutions such as family and household. Among those most deeply affected by this displacement are child ren and adolescents, many of whom are forced to leave family institutions b efore they have acquired the skills and maturity needed to become economica lly self-sufficient. Fending for themselves amid the vagaries of the underw orld of virtually every major city in the world, these youths are at except ional risk for a wide range of poor health outcomes and premature death. Wh ile perhaps a familiar sight in many non-Western countries, this phenomenon also has emerged in the industralized world, a fact that accounts for the rise in exposure to violence and disease among street-involved youth and yo ung adults in nations such as the United States. There are as yet few empir ical data available about the nature of these youth populations or the cons tellation of behaviors that place them at increased risk for disease outcom es. In this report we construct a demographic and behavioral profile of the homeless youth population in New York City, particularly as behavioral pat terns relate to risk associated with HN infection.