Pubdate: Tue, 31 May 2005
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2005 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Robert Sanchez, Denver Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SURVEY GIVES SNAPSHOT OF STREET KIDS

Alex Montgomery once spent his mornings on Denver streets figuring how he 
would steal money for his next cocaine fix.

At 19, he has been jailed for credit-card fraud, lived homeless for a year 
and shuttled in and out of drug-treatment and mental-health facilities.

"My life was going downhill," says Montgomery, who grew up in suburban 
Denver, began using drugs at 14 and later dropped out of high school. "I 
didn't eat for days, my family rejected me and I was sleeping outside."

Now, a federal grant and a new survey coordinated by the Urban Peak Denver 
youth services group could help target homeless teens such as Montgomery, 
and get them more focused attention faster, before they become homeless adults.

An early review of data from a survey of 234 homeless youths - which 
officially will be released this week - shows more than one-third of the 
respondents in Denver attempted suicide at least once. Almost a quarter 
were asked to trade sex for shelter or food.

A vast majority experimented with at least one illegal drug, in some cases 
cocaine, often before their 18th birthdays.

In many cases, the city's homeless youths had escaped dangerous homes that 
included abusive or alcoholic parents.

Often, though, they found themselves in another perilous situation. One in 
10 sold sex or visited an emergency room at least once in November and 
December.

Denver's responses mirrored national averages, according to the study 
spread last year among eight cities nationwide. Overall, more than 700 
homeless children and adults ages 14 to 27 were given questionnaires in 
cities from Austin, Texas, to St. Louis to Minneapolis.

The survey represents only a small fraction of the estimated 1.3 million 
homeless youths in the United States.

In Colorado, for instance, the survey included more than 280 homeless 
youths in Boulder, Colorado Springs and Denver. A separate survey released 
this month by the Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative put the total 
number of homeless youths in Denver alone at more than 600 last year, up 
almost 40 percent from 2002.

"For someone who doesn't study these issues, our numbers could be very 
shocking," says Jamie Van Leeuwen, director of development and public 
affairs for Urban Peak Denver, which started the survey with $2,500.

Homeless advocates say the new data could help secure federal and state 
funding at a time when budgets are being slashed and could bring more 
attention to homeless youths.

It also could help people such as Montgomery - who was passed back and 
forth in the social-service system before finding subsidized housing and 
drug rehabilitation - get off the streets earlier.

Michael O'Neill, who coordinates nationwide speaking events for the 
Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless, says it's almost 
impossible to get an accurate count of homeless children on the streets.

"But we do know that all of these kids are in danger," O'Neill says. "They 
need help."

Today, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and 
various agencies are expected to announce the release of federal money to 
help fund drug treatment and mental-health care for Denver's homeless youths.

Early estimates put the federal grant at $250,000, though officials from 
DeGette's Colorado office and the Denver Department of Human Services would 
not elaborate.

"The survey and the money guarantee that we're not going to build programs 
in the dark," Van Leeuwen said. "Obviously, other people are seeing that 
there's a problem that needs to be addressed."

Montgomery - who has a boyish face and wears a baseball hat cocked to one 
side - realized that the problem began with him.

He recently found subsidized housing, earned his GED, is attending regular 
group meetings and has been sober for five months.

Next, he wants to get a job and plans this fall to attend the Emily 
Griffith Opportunity School or Metropolitan State College of Denver to 
study business.

Most important, he says, he dropped dangerous old friends from his life and 
is trying to rebuild trust with his parents.

"Last week, my mom let me stay at her house for three days," the teenager 
says with a smile. "That was real nice."
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