Mental and Behavioral Health Needs of Transition Age Youth Experiencing Homelessness During the COVID-19 pandemic

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: For the agencies interviewed, what were the best practices utilized for the behavioral and mental health issues in TAYEH before the COVID-19 pandemic? How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected TAYEH ability to access services and supports to address their behavioral and mental health needs? What programs/processes/procedures are being utilized now to assist TAYEH in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic? DESIGN: Qualitative Method were utilized to conduct a content analysis of the data collected via recorded virtual Interviews. SETTING: The study was conducted on a virtual platform focusing on multiple agencies across the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Three organizations agreed to be interviewed, with four representatives being interviewed in total. INTERVENTIONS: There was no intervention. This was a qualitative content analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Findings from the interviews indicated increased numbers of youth trying to access services during the pandemic. In addition, the agencies interviewed were seeing increased numbers of youth with mental and behavioral health issues, including substance abuse, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. RESULTS: The increase in need from TAYEH resulted in permanent services being added to their organization to help this population. The increase in need of services during the COVID-19 pandemic from TAYEH may have been due to limitations on the number of individuals allowed to occupy a space. It was agreed through the interviews that there could be ways to improve the services and resources for the behavioral needs of youth in their agencies. CONCLUSIONS: Although there were challenges to accessing services like virtual meetings and staff illness, agencies developed strategies to meet the needs of the youth. These included creating virtual drop in centers and providing more telehealth services . AUTHOR(S) DISCLOSURES: None.