Getting homeless kids off the streets requires a broad array of services including addiction and mental-health care, work opportunities, education, and medical care -- with the latter three the most important factors -- according to researchers.

Science Daily reported May 12 that researcher Natasha Slesnick of Ohio State University and colleagues studied 180 homeless youth in New Mexico and found that those with the greatest degree of social stability -- such as attending school or having a job -- were the most likely to reduce their number of homeless days.

Addiction and mental illness are predictors of homelessness, said Slesnick, but not of the ability of homeless teens and young adults to get off the street. "It looks like the predictors of homelessness might be different than the predictors of exiting homelessness," she said. "So that means prevention targets should be different from intervention targets.

"It's hard to get homeless youth off of alcohol and drugs when they're still trying to get their basic needs met," added Slesnick. "And a lot of the kids use alcohol and drugs as a way to cope with being homeless."

Researchers found that youths who engaged in intravenous drug use and other high-risk behaviors were the most likely to remain homeless and were the most resistant to intervention, but that high-risk youths who received one-on-one counseling for addiction and mental illness did reduce their homeless days over a six month period.

Key to getting kids off the streets, researchers found, was addressing the culture that connects homeless youth to each other and reconnecting them with their traditional culture and family support.

The study was published in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.