Table 3 Characteristics of Included Studies

  Baron (2008)

Actively homeless or runaway youth

Anger over unemployment attributed to unjust external forces predicts violent crime and drug dealing among homeless youth. Such anger is conditional upon subjective interpretation of a youth’s economic deprivation.

  Baron (2016)

Actively homeless or runaway youth

Low self-control among homeless youth is associated with stronger deviant attitudes, greater association with delinquent peers, likelihood of legal involvement, and more contact with law enforcement. However, self-control is not associated with duration of homelessness.

Boyd et al. (2016).

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Identity- or behavior-specific populations

Accumulation of adverse events over the life course may better predict negative health and social outcomes than any one incident. Canadian state interventions (e.g., child apprehension, foster care, enactment and enforcement of harsh drug and anti-homelessness laws, etc.) reinforce and reproduce the structural violence of racialized and socioeconomic inequalities, which particularly harm First Nations homeless youth.

 Chapple et al. (2004)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Factors associated with self-reported offending (e.g., sexual abuse, having deviant peers, etc.) are similar to factors associated with arrest among homeless and runaway youth. Associations are greater for boys than girls despite girls reporting higher levels of household trauma prior to runaway. Duration of homelessness is not associated with arrest.

 Chen et al. (2006)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Involvement with the criminal legal system is associated with certain lifetime mental disorders. Externalizing disorders (e.g., substance abuse and conduct disorder) are related to arrest. Street youth with comorbid externalizing and internalizing disorders (e.g., depression, posttraumatic stress disorder) are more likely to be arrested than nondisordered youths. No significant association exists between youth with only internalizing disorders and nondisordered youths.

 Courtney et al. (2019)

Youth exiting systems

Pre-transition support for youth exiting the child welfare or juvenile justice systems is positively associated with housing stability, employment, income, health, and safety, but has no impact on measures of education, social support, delinquent behavior, or justice system involvement.

 Crawford et al. (2018)

Youth exiting systems; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Males exiting the foster care system with mental health service needs are most at-risk for serious criminal involvement as an adult and may benefit from early prevention and intervention services before the transition to adulthood. Increased placement instability in the form of number of placements and runaways were related to higher odds of an adjudicated felony.

 Edalati & Nicholls (2019)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Exposure to childhood maltreatment (e.g., abuse, neglect) is one of the most significant predictors of justice involvement and victimization among homeless populations. Physical and sexual abuse are particularly associated with increased risk of justice involvement and victimization regardless of demographic, mental health, or delinquent behavior (e.g., substance use).

 Ivanich & Warner (2019)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Identity- or behavior-specific populations

Non-White youth facing housing instability are more likely than White youth to report being harassed by the police. However, White homeless youth living directly on the street (or in abandoned buildings) are just as likely to experience police harassment as non-White homeless youth, indicating homelessness may be a “master status” superseding the effect of race on police contact.

 Jackson et al. (2017)

Housed but risk for housing instability

Adverse housing conditions (i.e., disarray, deterioration, and health/safety hazards) are associated with significant increases in early-onset delinquency and significant increases in the odds of severe early-onset delinquency. Severe early-onset delinquency among children exposed to housing risks in the presence of health/safety hazards is nearly four times larger than such delinquency among unexposed children.

 Jeanis et al. (2019)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Runaways are a heterogeneous group with highly unique experiences and risk factors occurring before and after the runaway experience. Classifying runaway type based solely upon motivation, individual characteristics, victimization, or offending is too narrow a perspective. ‘Impulsivity’ represents a novel typology in the classification of runaway youth. Incorporating sub-types into analyses may better identify typologies most likely to offend.

 Kolivoski et al. (2017)

System-involved youth

Out-of-home placement in child welfare system is associated with legal system involvement. Youth with chronic justice system involvement have more experiences in group homes and residential facilities. Those with less frequent justice system contact tend to have foster home experiences.

 McCandless (2018)

Formerly homeless individuals; Identity- or behavior-specific populations

LGBTQ+ homeless youth represent a vulnerable population reporting both fear of and harassment by law enforcement, including fear of being sent back to an abusive household. These youth also report barriers to accessing services, including shelters.

 Omura et al. (2014)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Identity- or behavior-specific populations

Youth who are homeless, substance users, or engaged in risky behaviors (e.g. public injection and drug dealing) are significantly more likely to be recently incarcerated.

 Ryan et al. (2007)

Youth exiting systems; Identity- or behavior-specific populations

Adolescents leaving foster care face elevated risk of offending if not enrolled in school. Placement instability, placement upon exit, and prior arrest are associated with increased risk of delinquency.

 Snyder et al. (2016)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Polyvictimization, multiple system involvement, and LGBTQ+ identity represent strains especially relevant to homeless youth, which may help explain their high risk of justice system involvement.

 Thrane et al. (2008)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Substance use and having delinquent peers are associated with police harassment but not arrest, whereas first runaway occurrence is associated with arrest. Physically abused youth encounter more police harassment, while minor delinquent behavior increases risk of arrest.

 Vidal et al. (2017)

Youth exiting systems; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder; Identity- or behavior-specific populations

Social risk factors (i.e., age, gender, race/ethnicity), recurrence of maltreatment, experiencing at least one incident of neglect, and family poverty significantly predict risk of juvenile justice system involvement. However, subtypes of maltreatment, including physical, sexual, and other types of abuse do not significantly predict the risk of juvenile justice system transition.

 Yoder et al. (2014)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; Survivors of abuse, trauma, or mental disorder

Exposure to childhood physical abuse predicts arrest and jail admission even after accounting for a homeless youth’s level of substance use, interactions with deviant peer groups, and engagement in survival behaviors on the streets. Initial involvement in the justice system is associated with youths’ attempts to make money and find resources to survive on the streets. High-risk survival behaviors, while predictive of arrest, are less important in predicting involvement in more severe levels of the criminal legal system.

 Britton & Pilnik (2018)

Youth exiting systems

Pre-release interventions reduce the likelihood of homelessness upon system exit. Courts have the ability to prevent, alleviate, and/or end homelessness for youth who appear before them via strategies presented in National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges resolutions.

 Quirouette et al. (2016)

Actively homeless or runaway youth

Exposure to the legal system (e.g., via arrest, court/jail records, mandated oversight) creates short- and long-term systemic barriers to unhoused youth obtaining stable housing, education, and/or employment. Such exposure also shapes a youth’s individual self-perception, motivation, and hope for the future. These combined effects negatively impact the ability of youth to transition away from homelessness, lengthen the process for securing stability, and threatening the youth’s overall well-being and ability to access opportunities for upward mobility and autonomy.

 Shah et al. (2017)

Youth exiting systems

Youth who experience disrupted adoptions, have multiple foster care placements (especially in congregate care settings), or are involved with the juvenile justice system are more likely to become homeless. Court- involved youth who have four or more convictions or adjudications in the last 24-month period are more likely to experience homelessness.

 Wendy & Rossman (2011)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; System-involved youth

Punitive housing policies in response to juvenile delinquency strain parent-child relationships and increase the likelihood of homelessness for children and families. Decisions about the status of the child in juvenile court should be made with full knowledge of how those decisions impact the possibility of eviction and future housing instability for the youth and their family.

 Kort-Butler & Tyler (2011)

Actively homeless/runaway youth

Nearly two-thirds of youth in the incarceration cluster had been kicked out by a parent/caretaker, compared to less than half the youth in the other three clusters. A portion of street youth were more likely to have their behavior criminalized instead of being able to access available legitimate street resources. Youth may be shut out of legitimate resources as a result of incarceration histories.

 Narendorf et al. (2020)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; System-involved youth

Homeless youth exposed to the juvenile justice system, either alone or in combination with the foster care system, had high rates of childhood trauma exposure and also presented increased risk for substance use and arrest in young adulthood. Those with dual status involvement were at highest risk for engaging in survival sex and experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, in addition to substance use and arrest.

 Pilnik et al. (2017)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; System-involved youth

Youth involvement with the justice system can increase the likelihood of future homelessness for many reasons, including the fact that educational disruptions and juvenile delinquency records can make it harder to obtain employment. Youth experiencing homelessness may also be swept into the juvenile justice system through laws that prohibit simply being in public spaces, such as juvenile curfews, or anti-sitting or sleeping ordinances.

 Schoenfeld et al. (2019)

Actively homeless or runaway youth; System-involved youth

Homeless youth in Austin, Tx, are historically excluded from. More than 75% of homeless youth in Austin, TX, have a history of involvement with foster care or the juvenile justice system. However, these youth have historically been excluded from providing input into system-planning efforts directed toward engaging homeless youth. Treating youth as equal partners gives them a seat at the table in a system that has largely failed them, and empowers youth to influence community-wide decision-making that affects homeless youth populations.

 Tam et al. (2016)

Youth exiting systems

Transition age youth (TAY) exiting the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Los Angeles, CA, experience high rates of homelessness. Locations of beds in shelters and/or housing facilities are not related to the zip codes where youth are transitioning out of foster care or the juvenile justice systems. Further, regardless of whether they are TAY-specific, all beds exist in low-income zip codes that do not support TAY’s transition to adulthood.

 Walker et al. (2018)

Actively homeless or runaway youth

Families are frustrated with the perceived inadequacy of available justice responses to home conflict and youth intractability, as services are available for youth and families with lower needs but not complex issues. Court processes may create additional barriers, such as issuing postal mail warrants to youth without a fixed address. Courts are ill-equipped to identify housing unstable youth via existing intake assessments, and should actively incorporate pre-transition planning for youth exiting the justice system into community services and re-entering public systems (e.g., the school system).