Experiences of Violence Among a Probability Sample of Homeless Youth in Los Angeles

Background: Los Angeles County has the largest number of homeless children and youth in the United States. Risk of experiencing violence is high among homeless youth with rates of violence experiences are high. There were approximately 4,667 accompanied homeless students in Los Angeles county school districts in the year of 2013 who potentially fall under the HUD definition of homelessness. While studies have examined outcomes among homeless youth in schools, few studies have examined the differing experiences of being an accompanied verses unaccompanied homeless youth, and no studies to date have examined instances of victimization among homeless youth within a school setting. This study examines instances of youth homelessness within a school setting, assessing rates of victimization, accompaniment, and the impact of homelessness on experiences of victimization, utilizing a probability sample of high school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) who have experiences homelessness.

Methods: A supplemental questionnaire was distributed in conjunction with the 2011 administration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) high schools. 1,709 students were selected through probability sampling of schools and students completed both general and supplemental questionnaires. Logistic regressions were run to examine the impact of homelessness on violence experiences and chi square analyses were run to determine differences between homeless youth who were and were not accompanied.

Results: Our results indicate that approximately 15% of the entire school sample has experienced homelessness and that high rates of victimization existed among this homeless population. Results of the multivariate models indicated that any homeless experience was significantly associated with being physically hurt by a partner (OR=2.01, 95%CI=1.18,3.44)  and being bullied at school (OR=1.70, 95% CI=1.14, 2.53). Furthermore, homeless youth that were unaccompanied by a parent had higher frequencies of experiencing any homelessness and with sleeping in a public place.

Discussion: This study indicates homeless youth had higher amounts of violent experiences across all types of victimization compared to housed youth, and when examined by accompaniment status, unaccompanied homeless youth experienced higher levels of certain types of violence. This suggests that the focus of interventions that target reduction in rates of victimization among homeless youth should focus on their increased risk for victimization, particularly among unaccompanied youth sleeping on the street, as they are a particular homeless subpopulation that may be at particularly high risk of victimization. And while not significant, interesting implications emerged where rates of violence experiences differed by accompaniment status among homeless youth.