Last updated: July 2011 www.ojjdp.gov/mpg

 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 1

Shelter Care 

Shelter Care provides nonsecure, residential placement to both delinquent juveniles and children 

temporarily in need of services. Youths can be placed in shelter care if they are awaiting adjudication, 

if they are unable to return home immediately, or if they are waiting to be placed in a more structured 

residential home. In general, youths are placed in shelter care when they are in some form of a crisis 

situation or in a state of transition. According to a 1999 evaluation of a short-term shelter for adolescents 

whose families were in crisis, the majority (62 percent) of youth were eventually reunited with their 

families, while 35 percent went to live in other noninstitutional settings (Teare 1999). 

Characteristics of Shelter Care 

Shelter homes vary widely in terms of the services they provide and the residents they serve. For 

example, some long-term shelter homes can hold a youth for 1 year or longer, while emergency shelters 

limit stays to 30 days or fewer (Koehn et al. 2011). Depending on the shelter, a youth can receive a 

service plan and assessment, medical screenings, individual and group counseling, in-house education, 

and access to food and recreational programming (Hicks–Coolick, Burnside–Eaton, and Peters 2003). 

Some youths receive aftercare follow-up or job training/placement services. Shelters generally provide 

a structured daily schedule and intense staff–resident interaction and allow limited outside visitors. 

According to the Residential Census of Juvenile Facilities of 2006, most surveyed shelters are privately 

held and about half hold 10 or fewer youths at a time. 

Some locales use shelter care to hold preadjudicated youths as an alternative to more secure detention 

(Mogulescu and Caro 2008). This is common in cases of youths who have committed status offenses 

and is in line with the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act’s Deinstitutionalization of Status 

Offenders requirement. The requirement states that holding a youth in secured custody for a status 

offense (e.g., drinking, truancy, running away) is generally against Federal statutes (with some 

exceptions). 

Youths who enter a shelter may be suffering from abuse, neglect, or mental health disorders or have 

prior involvement with the criminal justice system (Litrownik 1999). Thus, many youths in shelters are 

likely to have emotional and behavioral problems as well as other special needs and concerns (Votta 

and Manion 2003). While shelters may provide some form of stability and assistance to youths, they 

may also be plagued by problems such as bullying, theft of private property, and overcrowding (Dalton 

and Pakenham 2002). 

Suggested Reference: Development Services Group, Inc. 2011. “Shelter Care.” Literature review. Washington, D.C.: Office of 

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Shelter_Care.pdf

Prepared by Development Services Group, Inc., under cooperative agreement number 2013–JF–FX–K002. Points of view or 

opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies 

of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 2

Outcome Evidence

A 2006 evaluation of a Managing Youth in Short-Term Care program, which trains emergency shelter 

staff, found positive outcomes for shelter-wide incidents such as incorrigible behavior and violence 

against other youth (Barth 2007) when the program was implemented. The program was developed by 

the Girls and Boys Town National Resource and Training Center and was adapted from the Teaching 

Social Skills to Youth curriculum (Dowd and Tierney 1992). The program concentrates on enhancing 

interaction between youth and staff and on daily teaching of social skills through a therapeutic teaching 

method. According to the evaluation, the total combined incident rate (violence, injury, runaway, etc.) 

declined from 1.81 incidents per youth each month before implementation to 1.25 incidents per youth 

postimplementation, a statistically significant difference. Responding to behavior incidents (e.g., use of 

restraint, seclusion) showed the greatest significant decrease (40 percent). However, runaway incidents 

significantly (attempt or running away) increased over time.

A 2006 study of homeless and runaway youth showed that emergency shelter services can be useful in 

preventing future substance use (alcohol and illegal drugs) in residents postdischarge. Youths using 

emergency shelter and crisis services in the Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas Runaway and Youth 

Services Network were found to have decreased substance use 6 weeks and 3 and 6 months after their 

discharge date (Pollio 2006). All State networks provided similar emergency shelter and crisis services, 

including short-term basic shelter, crisis support, and counseling.

These two evaluations show that shelter care can potentially have positive effects on the recidivism of 

juveniles, but more research should be carried out in regard to which programs work best for different 

populations in a shelter care setting.

References

Barth, Richard P., Johanna K.P. Greeson, Rebecca L. Green, Sarah Hurley, and Jocelyn Sisson. 2007. 

“Outcomes for Youth Receiving Intensive In-Home Therapy or Residential Care: A 

Comparison Using Propensity Scores.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 77:497–505.

City of Falls Church, Va. 2011. “Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention.” Falls Church, Va.: City of Falls 

Church. Available at 

http://www.fallschurchva.gov/Content/Government/Legal/Detention.aspx. 

Dalton, Melanie M., and Kenneth I. Pakenham. 2002. “Adjustment of Homeless Adolescents to a 

Crisis Shelter: Application of a Stress and Coping Model.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence

31:79–89.

Dowd, Thomas P., and Jeff Tierney. 1992. Teaching Social Skills to Youth: A Curriculum for Child-Care 

Providers. Boys Town, Neb.: Boys Town Press.

Hicks–Coolick, Anne, Patricia Burnside–Eaton, and Ardith Peters. 2003. “Homeless Children: Needs 

and Services.” Child and Youth Care Forum 32:197–210.

Hockenberry, Sarah, Melissa Sickmund, and Anthony Sladky. 2009. Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 

2006: Selected Finding. Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice 

Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Hurley, Kristin Duppong, Stephanie D. Ingram, J. Douglas Czyz, Nicholas Juliano, and Evelyn 

Wilson. 2006. “Treatment for Youth in Short-Term Care Facilities: The Impact of a 

Comprehensive Behavior Management Intervention.” Journal of Child and Family Studies

15:617–32.

Koehn, Christine E., Ronald W. Thompson, Karen J. Authier, and Mary Bosco. 2001. “Palm Beach 

County Child Abuse and Neglect System Redesign: Initial Process Evaluation.” Journal of Child 

and Family Studies 10:245–54.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojjdp.gov 3

Litrownik, Alan J., Heather N. Taussig, John A. Landsverk, and Ann F. Garland. 1999. “Youth 

Entering an Emergency Shelter Care Facility: Prior Involvement in Juvenile Justice and Mental 

Health Systems.” Journal of Social Service Research 25:5–19.

Mogulescu, Sara, and Gaspar Caro. 2008. Making Court the Last Resort: A New Focus on Supporting 

Families in Crisis. Washington, D.C.: Vera Institute of Justice.

New Hampshire Department of Human Services. 2010. “Shelter Care.” Concord, NH: New 

Hampshire Department of Human Services. Available at 

http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/djjs/community/shelter.htm. 

Pollio, David E., Sanna J. Thompson, Lisa Tobias, Donna Reid, and Edward Spitznagel. 2006. 

“Longitudinal Outcomes for Youth Receiving Runaway/Homeless Shelter Services.” Journal of 

Youth Adolescence 35:859–66.

Teare, John F., Robert E. Larzelere, Gail L. Smith, Christina Y. Becker, Lynn M. Castrianno, and Roger 

W. Peterson. 1999. “Placement Stability Following Short-Term Residential Care.” Journal of 

Child and Family Studies 8:59–69.

TFC Consultants, Inc. N.d. “MTFC Program Overview.” Eugene, Ore.: TFC Consultants, Inc. 

Available at http://www.mtfc.com/overview.html.

Votta, Elizabeth, and Ian G. Manion. 2003. “Factors in the Psychological Adjustment of Homeless 

Adolescent Males: The Role of Coping Style.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and 

Adolescent Psychiatry 42:778–85.