It is estimated that over a million young people run away or become homeless each year. These youth face increasingly complex issues, including substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, and AIDS. The serious issues faced by these youths are coupled with funding constraints among almost all agencies providing services to this population.In 1974 the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) authorized funding to assist community based programs to serve youth who were not otherwise being served by traditional human service agencies. The funding was used for the operation of basic center programs which would provide support for runaway and homeless youth (RHY). The programs offered emergency shelter, crisis intervention services, and family reunification services. In 1988 the Transitional Living Program was introduced in order to provide services to older youth requiring assistance in becoming self-sufficient. While helping to support at-risk youth, the FYSB laws also mandate that certain data be regularly collected and reported. For example, FYSB supported agencies must report on the profile of the youth and families they serve, and provide an overview of the services which they deliver under their grant programs. In order to assist these grantees in their reporting responsibilities, FYSB funded the development of a Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHY MIS). The RHY MIS was designed to provide comprehensive information on youth served, services provided, and programs which provide the services.The RHY MIS was designed, developed, and implemented by Information Technology International (ITI). Gradual implementation of the MIS began in 1992 with approximately 400 RHY grantee sites across the country. By 1995, virtually all existing grant programs had at least one staff member who had been trained and grantees were expected to use the MIS and submit data to FYSB on a quarterly basis. The fiscal year 1997 RHY MIS dataset contains data submitted during the federal fiscal year 1997. Data are included from participating agencies in 53 U.S. States and Territories. The dataset includes three files. A demographics file contains 84846 observations and 153 variables. Two additional files contain 68100 observations and a combined 235 variables pertaining to youth problems and services provided.

Investigators: Buechler, Joe