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Heather Lipe Bradley,
Youth Outreach Coordinator
heather@thenightministry.org
The Night Ministry
3262 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60657
773-296-6500
The average age of a homeless person in the United States is 9, and over 1.3 million runaway and homeless youth live
on the streets of America. An estimated 162,000 youth are victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the U.S., and
over 70% of street youth acknowledge trading sex for survival needs. Each year some 5,000 runaway and homeless
youth die from assault, illness, and suicide. The shelter care and service delivery system designed to address the crisis
intervention and long-term needs of street youth is abysmally inadequate. Effective low-threshold engagement and crisis
intervention through unconventional modes and venues are critical.
Numerous obstacles undermine youth's confidence in, or otherwise prevent their initiating, crisis intervention services,
so that even the present paucity of services is often under-accessed. Homeless and runaway youth present with such
myriad and overwhelming needs, and programs are so poorly-supported with financial and other resources, that it's often
difficult to conduct interventions that make a difference. This workshop will examine challenges to identifying
homelessness and sex-working activity among youth, engaging youth who have been rejected or damaged by adults
and/or conventional service providers, earning trust and confidence from youth, and intervening effectively to remedy
crisis and/or reduce harm. Specific strategies to overcome these impediments and to creatively address basic and
longer-term needs of street youth will be discussed.
During the workshop, participants will receive handout materials, view a video presentation, engage in small and large
group interactive discussion, and share resources and experiences.
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