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Abstract
Background: Mental health is a growing concern for organizations offering temporary accommodation to young homeless people.
Aim: To establish the characteristics of homeless young people referred to a mental health service provided by the non-statutory sector, to determine the appropriateness of referral.
Method: The service was provided by five mental health practitioners to 18 Foyers in five regions. Data was collected on 150 consecutively referred young people aged 16 – 25 years on their psychosocial history, mental health problems and risk factors.
Results: Young people reported multiple needs such as use of illicit drugs, experience of physical or sexual abuse, and self-harm. They presented with lengthy and recurrent mental health problems from childhood, with intermittent and usually fragmented contact with services. Young people presented with a range of mental complaints, predominantly depressive, anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms, as well as different risk factors.
Conclusions: The young homeless people referred to the mental health service reported a range of complex mental health needs, the majority of which could not be met by statutory specialist services. Young people's lower to medium level mental health needs could be met by services operating on the interface with specialist services, if these are jointly planned and co-coordinated.