PowerPoint from Professor Paul Toro on his typology of homeless youth.

1. A Typology of Homeless Youth
Paul A. Toro, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology,
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Webinar, March 22, 2012
This powerpoint presentation will be available on the website of the
National Alliance to End Homelessness

2. Existing Research on Homeless
Youth
• The population of homeless youth is
heterogeneous
• Early typologies were crude (e.g.,
runaways vs. throwaways vs. systems
kids vs. street kids)
• A full paper presenting these findings appeared in a recent issue
of NAEH’s Research Matters.

3. The Housing, Adolescence, and Life Outcomes
(HALO) Project:
A longitudinal study of 250 homeless and 148
matched housed adolescents
This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

4. Baseline Probability Sample of
250 Homeless Youth
• Adolescents (ages 13-17) were sampled
from throughout the 8-county Detroit
metro area in 1997-2000
• Mostly, they came from youth shelters,
but also from out-patient and
residential programs, and other sites

5. A Typology among HALO’s Homeless
Youth (N=250)
• Latent class analysis at baseline:
– 1. transient but connected (n=55),
– 2. high-risk (n=46), and
– 3. low-risk (n=149)
• Longitudinal outcome differences:
– Low-risk showed the most stable housing
over the 7-year follow-up period
– All groups largely housed by 6-7 years

6. Latent Class Analysis
Transient,
Low-
High High-
Dysfunctional but
functioning risk
risk 18% connected
60%
60% 18% 22%
Conduct Disorder
Depression
Alcohol Use
Drug Use
Number of living sites
Homeless in the past
30 days
Number of schools
Dropped out of school
Number of sexual
partners
Abuse history
Days employed
Family cohesion
Self-efficacy

8. Typologies: Summary
• Need for empirical validation based on
representative samples
• Typologies can be based on longitudinal
outcomes rather than pre-existing
characteristics
• Do certain subgroups do better in
certain interventions?

9. Some Practice/Policy Implications
• Homeless youth are heterogeneous
• Some youth will need intensive, long-
term services (esp. street youth)
• Some may appear to be doing “OK,” but
still are unstable with housing
• About half, with minimal attention, will
do well, even in the short-term
• Need for family-based prevention &
treatment programs

10. Publications from HALO and it’s pilot:
• McCaskill, P. A., Toro, P. A., & Wolfe, S. M. (1998). Homeless and matched
housed adolescents: A comparative study of psychopathology. Journal of
Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 306-319.
• Wolfe, S. M., Toro, P. A., & McCaskill, P. A. (1999). A comparison of homeless
and matched housed adolescents on family environment variables. Journal of
Research on Adolescence, 9, 53-66.
• Heinze, H., Toro, P.A., & Urberg, K. A. (2004). Antisocial behavior and
affiliation with deviant peers. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent
Psychology, 33, 336-346.
• Urberg, K., Goldstein, M., & Toro, P.A. (2005). Supportive relationships as a
moderator of the effects of parent and peer drinking on adolescent drinking.
Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15, 1-19.
• Fowler, P.J., Ahmed, S. R., Tompsett, C. J., Jozefowicz-Simbeni, D. M., & Toro,
P.A. (2008). Community violence and externalizing problems: Moderating
effects of race and religiosity in emerging adulthood. Journal of Community
Psychology, 36, 835-850.

11. • Tompsett, C.J., Fowler, P.J., & Toro, P.A. (2009). Age differences among
homeless individuals: Adolescence through adulthood. Journal of Prevention and
Intervention in the Community, 37, 86-99.
• Haber, M., & Toro, P.A. (2009). Parent-adolescent violence and later behavioral
health problems among homeless and housed youth. American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry, 79, 305-318.
• Tompsett, C.J., & Toro, P.A. (2010). Predicting overt and covert antisocial
behaviors: parents, peers, and homelessness. Journal of Community Psychology,
38, 469-485.
• Ahmed, S., Fowler, P.J., & Toro, P. A. (2011). Family, public and private
religiousness and psychological well-being over time in at-risk adolescents.
Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14(4), 393-408.
• Toro, P.A., Lesperance, T.M., & Braciszewski, J.M. (2011, September). The
heterogeneity of homeless youth in America: Examining typologies. Research
Matters (pp.1-12), Homelessness Research Institute, National Alliance to End
Homelessness, Washington, DC.
• Hobden, K.L., Forney, J.C., Durham, K.W., & Toro, P.A. (2012, in press).
Limiting attrition in longitudinal research on homeless adolescents: What works
best? Journal of Community Psychology.