Exploring Inter-Organizational Collaborations in Homeless and Runaway Youth Shelters in Korea: A Social Network Analysis

Homeless and Runaway Youth Shelters offer secure environments to homeless and runaway youth(homeless youth). The shelters play an important role not only in offering physical protection and psychological support but also in mitigating the risks these youths are faced, including exposure to crime and exploitations(Kim, Y & Suh, B, 2018). In the context of Korea, the escalating numbers of homeless youths are accompanied by a rise in severe mental and health-related challenges(Yuk, H, 2014). The collaborative efforts among various sectors, including governmental, non-profit organizations, community-based organizations are needed to address a variety of needs of homeless youth. However, limited studies have been conducted on the dynamics of inter-organizational collaborations. To address this gap, this study employs social network analysis to explore inter-organizational collaborations among various sectors. The research questions are as follows: What are the main organizations that frequently collaborate with homeless youth shelters? Are there any variations in network structures based on the three different types of shelter (emergency outreach, short-term, long-term shelter) ?

A cross-sectional research design was used for this study. All 137 homeless youths shelters in Korea were invited to participate the survey. A total of 106 organizations (77% response rates) responded the survey. Questions were asked to check public, nonprofit, or community-based organizations that collaborated with in the past 12months. A total 25 organizations lists were provided in the surveys. The representative of the shelters identified the all organizations collaborated in the past 12months. To see the centrality and the patterns of the network by the types of the shelters, the Social Network Analysis were performed using Gephi 10.1. Results showed that adolescent counseling centers (1.0), police (.96) and local government(.93), schools (.87), and non-residential youth assistance welfare centers (.87) exhibit the highest centrality degrees, indicating significant collaboration with homeless youth shelters. Moreover, similar types of the organizations, such as adolescent shelters, hospitals, demonstrate notable centrality with degree of .84 and .74. Conversely, other non-residential youth assistance center such as volunteer centers, community welfare centers, public youths employment assistance centers were identified as the lower centrality degrees with below. 02.

This study found that shelters are actively interacting with adolescent counseling centers, police, local government, schools, and non-residential youth assistance welfare centers. Also, this study shows the diverse collaborative patterns among shelter types. Importantly, short-term shelters are strongly interactive with public sectors. This study can contribute to understanding the collaborative landscape and informs the formulation of effective strategies to address the multifaceted needs of homeless youth comprehensively.