Our Youth
In seeking to be a safe place that is accessible and available to all youth, we listen to and acknowledge the realities from which our clients come. A majority of our clients come from impoverished circumstances. In addition to the problems poverty presents:
- 98% of our clients report serious family conflict.
- At least 66% of our clients flee unsafe circumstances due to neglect, physical or sexual abuse.
- 55% of our clients report parental substance abuse or mental illness.
- Many of our clients are considered "throw-aways" because parents no longer have the capacity or ability to care for them.
- Many of our clients have aged out of the foster care system without the essential support they need to start life "out on their own".
A growing number of kids, some as young as ten years old, are at risk of running away and of becoming chronically homeless. According to the National Network for Youth, there are approximately 1.7 million runaway and homeless youth on the streets of our nation at any given time, 15,000 of them are in Michigan. In Washtenaw County, there has been a 200% increase in runaway and homeless youth during the last decade.
The story of runaway and homeless youth is largely the story of abused and neglected kids failed by the child welfare system.
Of the youth that come to Ozone House, only a small fraction leave home as a normative response to the conflicts brought on by adolescence. The majority come for more serious, and often disturbing reasons.
For instance, as many as 65% are running from physical or sexual abuse. Others leave as a way of bringing attention to a parents alcoholism or drug abuse problem. Still others want to leave behind the adult responsibilities forced upon them by an absent or mentally ill parent.
Many youth, however, have not chosen to leave, but are throwaways - kids who are kicked out by their parents with no place to go. Others have “aged out” of the foster care system without the skills and support needed to live independently.
With no safe place to go, the plight of these youth cannot be overstated. Facing overwhelming challenges at a critical point in their development, both their immediate safety and future well-being are jeopardized.
Without the maturity or support needed to find and maintain employment, youth may turn to theft, prostitution, or other crimes for their livelihood. They are denied access to appropriate health care, and are at much greater risk for serious mental health problems, dropping out of school, drug and alcohol dependency, early parenthood, contracting HIV, and incarceration.
Runaway and homeless youth are in critical need of services that address the social, emotional, educational, and economic conditions that impair their safety, development, and future well-being. Ozone House the only agency in Washtenaw County offering specially tailored services and housing to help youth make a safe and healthy transition to adulthood.
