Street-involved young adults represent a challenge to researchers and service-providers alike. Although previous research has strongly suggested significant population differences across geographic regions, little is known about transience patterns and how they may impact on service needs. To address this limitation, a consortium of researchers are collecting samples using similar methods and instrumentation. To date, collection has been completed in five cities (St Louis, MO; Austin, TX; Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; and New Orleans, LA), with ongoing collection in two more (Long Island, NY and Detroit, MI). As part of this process, anecdotal information suggested the importance of technology (texting, e-mail, social networks) in the lives of these young adults. Subsequently, focus group and survey data were collected in New York and Los Angeles examining the extent and meaning of technology for this population. The current talk will present selected results from this research, including a comparison of transience across cities and initial results on the importance of technology. The potential service implications of these findings will be discussed.

David E. Pollio, Ph.D., is the Hill Crest Foundation Endowed Chair in Mental Health Services Research at the University of Alabama. Prior to this, he was an associate professor of Psychiatry and Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Pollio has worked with homeless populations as a researcher and provider for almost twenty-five years. His funded research on homelessness has included a longitudinal study of homeless service use, needs and costs; a geospatial analysis of service patterns; an examination of housing markets and homelessness; and a clinical trial of a multifamily group of runaway and homeless youth. His current work is a part of a multi-city study conducted by a consortium of researchers focusing on street-involved young adults. Dr. Pollio wishes to acknowledge the Covenant House Institute as a community partner in his current research.