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Street-connected youth represent one of the most marginalized and least visible populations within child and adolescent social welfare frameworks, facing heightened exposure to substance use, sexual risk-taking, violence, and chronic social exclusion. Drawing on empirical evidence from Georgia alongside a comparative synthesis of international research, this chapter examines how risk behaviors among street-connected adolescents emerge within complex social ecologies rather than from individual choice alone. Findings demonstrate that patterns observed in Georgia—particularly inhalant use among younger adolescents, early sexual initiation, and peer-driven risk norms—closely mirror those documented across Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Grounded in social network theory and the unified theory of behavior, the chapter conceptualizes vulnerability among street-connected youth as a multilevel phenomenon shaped by intersecting psychological processes, peer network dynamics, family instability, constrained service access, and structural deprivation. Moving beyond study-by-study description, the analysis critically synthesizes evidence across four interrelated domains of intervention: individual-level approaches targeting emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and behavioral expectancies; peer- and network-level strategies addressing norms, hierarchies, and social capital; family and caregiver interventions aimed at rebuilding relational safety where feasible; and community, service, and structural responses focused on rights-based outreach, stigma reduction, and access to care. Engaging with current debates around reintegration-focused approaches versus rights-based and harm-reduction street work, the chapter reframes “success” not solely as exit from the street but as the achievement of safer outcomes and youth-defined goals. It further highlights ethical tensions between public safety agendas and child protection obligations, including the risk that services may inadvertently reproduce control or coercion. By situating Georgian findings within a wider international evidence base, the chapter advances a context-sensitive yet transferable multilevel intervention framework to inform social work practice, policy development, and future research on street-connected youth.

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Working with Vulnerable and At-Risk Children: Interventions for Street-Connected Youth

  • 动态工具书词条

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Shorena Sadzaglishvili

摘要

Street-connected youth represent one of the most marginalized and least visible populations within child and adolescent social welfare frameworks, facing heightened exposure to substance use, sexual risk-taking, violence, and chronic social exclusion. Drawing on empirical evidence from Georgia alongside a comparative synthesis of international research, this chapter examines how risk behaviors among street-connected adolescents emerge within complex social ecologies rather than from individual choice alone. Findings demonstrate that patterns observed in Georgia—particularly inhalant use among younger adolescents, early sexual initiation, and peer-driven risk norms—closely mirror those documented across Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Grounded in social network theory and the unified theory of behavior, the chapter conceptualizes vulnerability among street-connected youth as a multilevel phenomenon shaped by intersecting psychological processes, peer network dynamics, family instability, constrained service access, and structural deprivation. Moving beyond study-by-study description, the analysis critically synthesizes evidence across four interrelated domains of intervention: individual-level approaches targeting emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and behavioral expectancies; peer- and network-level strategies addressing norms, hierarchies, and social capital; family and caregiver interventions aimed at rebuilding relational safety where feasible; and community, service, and structural responses focused on rights-based outreach, stigma reduction, and access to care. Engaging with current debates around reintegration-focused approaches versus rights-based and harm-reduction street work, the chapter reframes “success” not solely as exit from the street but as the achievement of safer outcomes and youth-defined goals. It further highlights ethical tensions between public safety agendas and child protection obligations, including the risk that services may inadvertently reproduce control or coercion. By situating Georgian findings within a wider international evidence base, the chapter advances a context-sensitive yet transferable multilevel intervention framework to inform social work practice, policy development, and future research on street-connected youth.