Former Emerging Leader Fellows Seth Morones-Ramirez and Dominique Mikell, along with their colleagues, have published a new study assessing young people’s perception of a web-based app for locating social services.
Background
Young people experiencing homelessness accounted for about 7% of the total homeless population in the United States in 2018. These young people are among the most marginalized youth populations and face numerous hardships. Accessing and connecting with provider organizations is challenging for these young people for myriad reasons related to their marginalization and vulnerability. As a result, homeless and unstably housed youth exhibit low rates of health and social service utilization, despite high rates of need.
Objectives
(1) To document the development of a mobile web-based app called Youth Matters: Philly (YMP) for young people experiencing homelessness or unstable housing that is designed to help them search, identify, locate, and utilize Philadelphia-based social and health services; and, (2) To explore youth’s perceptions of the usability, usefulness, and accessibility of YMP.
