Abstract
Objective: To reduce mental health symptoms and high-risk behaviors and increase social support and service utilization among street-living youth, the authors conducted a pilot study to assess the feasibility of the social enterprise intervention (SEI) at a homeless youth agency. Method: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 16 street-living youth from the agency. SEI participants received 7 months of vocational and small business training and service referrals. A comparison sample of 12 agency youth was used. Results: Findings from independent sample t tests demonstrate that SEI participants displayed significant improvements at 9 months in life satisfaction, family contact, peer support, and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Preliminary findings suggest that the SEI was feasible within the agency setting and associated with higher mental health and social outcomes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 5-19 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Research on Social Work Practice |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Homeless youth
- Intervention
- Mental health
- Social enterprise
- Vocational cooperative
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Sociology and Political Science
- General Psychology