Keeping Kids Off The Streets

As of 2005, there were 744,000 homeless people in the United States, according to a study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (msnbc.com).   What causes people to become homeless? Dr. Carl Cohen, a professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, suggests that a number of risk factors accumulate over time to create homelessness. Some of those risk factors include:

• age, race, ethnicity
• low income
• disruptive events in youth, such as the death of a parent
• prior imprisonment
• chemical abuse
• psychiatric disorders
• victimization
• poor social support

Many of these risk factors occur during youth. ARISE life skills lessons are a valuable tool for any homelessness prevention program because they attack the problem on multiple fronts. ARISE believes that it’s never too early or too late to help keep these kids off the streets, which is why the ARISE curricula offers life skills material for children from pre-k through the teen years. The ARISE life skills library teaches young people how to manage their anger, build their self esteem, communicate effectively, understand the importance of getting an education,  avoid abusing  drugs and alcohol, stay out of a gang, get and keep a job and reach their highest potential.

But it’s not just the material itself that does the trick. ARISE programs provide structure to any homeless prevention program. They get youth to open up and express themselves through group discussions and activities. Most of the time, young people just want to be heard. A lack of self-worth,  a sense of belonging  and the feeling that someone cares about them often drive  youth to look for that attention and validation in dangerous ways. ARISE also trains people to use its curricula, turning instructors into mentors, always ready to listen, understand and value the opinions of the youth they interact with.

If you arm kids and teens with these basic life skills, you give them the foundation they need to stay off the streets. A person with an education, high self esteem, great communication skills, strong social connections and a body free of drug and alcohol addiction is unlikely to end up as a  statistic.

For more information on how ARISE can help  your homelessness prevention program, visit the ARISE website.