Outcomes for street children and youth under multidisciplinary care in a drop-in centre in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

BACKGROUND: There is little evidence to describe the feasibility and outcomes of services for the care of street children and youth in low-income countries.

AIMS: To describe the outcomes of a multidisciplinary case management approach delivered in a drop-in centre for street children and youth.

METHODS: A longitudinal study of street children and youth followed in an urban drop-in centre. Four hundred (400) street children and youth received a multidisciplinary case management therapeutic package based on the community reinforcement approach. The main outcomes were changes in psychological distress, substance abuse and social situation scores.

RESULTS: The median follow-up time for the cohort was 18 months. There were reductions in the levels of psychological distress (p = 0.0001) and substance abuse (p ≤ 0.0001) in the cohort as well as an improvement in the social situation of street children and youth (p = 0.0001). There was a main effect of gender (p 0.001) and a significant interaction of gender over time (p 0.001) on improvements in levels of psychological distress. Survival analysis showed that the probability of remaining on substances at 12 months was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.69-0.81) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.42-0.59) at 24 months. At 12 months, fewer female patients remained using substances compared to male (p 0.01).

CONCLUSION: To be most effective, programmes and strategies for children and youth in street situations in developing countries should target both their health and social needs.