Exploration of hope levels among homeless late adolescents

Homeless late adolescents, also referred to as transitional age youth (TAY) age 16-24, have been underreported in homeless census counts and as a result remain invisible to the general public. The unique needs of this population arise out of the new research in neuro development that uncovered that the brain is not completely developed until age 24. Additionally, the literature revealed that the pathways into homelessness in this population are predominantly out of their control. Personal backgrounds of abuse and neglect in the homeless TAY population leave them more susceptible to further abuse on the streets. Armed with limited life skills and a plethora of emotional problems, homeless TAY appeared to lack hope. The purpose of this study was to establish a baseline measurement of hope in this homeless TAY population which can be used to develop interventions to improve hope in future work with this population. Sources of Data The Miller Hope Scale (MHS) was used to assess hope levels in the study population. The MHS was administered to homeless TAY who utilized the Family and Youth Services of San Joaquin County California drop in center for emergency need services. Precautions were taken to ensure street drugs or severe mental illness did not alter participants. The study participants were not retested so the resulting data was classified as a pilot study. Conclusions Reached The major finding of the analysis was that this homeless late adolescent population reported high hope scores on the MHS. An unexpected result of this study was that the homeless late adolescent population scores were significantly higher than the healthy university student norm population comparison group from Miller's study. This result contradicts an anticipated finding that assumed homeless late adolescents of this study would have low hope scores.