Contribution and Complications of Instability in the Lives of Street-Involved Youth

Unlike most emerging adults, for whom instability is new, for street-involved youth instability is a lifelong experience, beginning in early childhood. Chapter 3 portrays the experience of frequent changes in housing, frequent fluctuations in guardian arrangements, and adjustments related to parental mental health, addiction, and abuse and neglect. As a result of these unique circumstances, street-involved youth often embrace change and assume responsibility for themselves in the midst of instability. At the same time, persistent instability interferes with attachment to work and to education.