Homelessness among youth has become a serious and disturbingly common social problem in many countries. Nevertheless, research on this population remains limited, especially in terms of intervention evaluations. Several interventions for homeless youth have been formally evaluated, but a complete systematic overview of studies on the effectiveness of interventions is lacking. Only one review reported systematically on interventions for homeless people, including homeless youth. Several descriptive reviews of the literature are also available. To address this gap in the international literature and build on previous research, the primary goal of the current systematic review is to increase the knowledge base regarding evidence-based interventions for homeless youth. The study seeks to provide an accurate and complete picture of effective interventions for homeless youth by collecting, summarizing, categorizing, and evaluating quantitative studies (i.e., those that have assessed treatment outcomes). It is hoped that this information will provide a starting point for further development of existing and promising interventions and encourage researchers and policymakers to conduct sound research on interventions in order to improve the quality of care delivered to homeless youth. Although intervention evaluations are still in their infancy, previous studies have increased understanding of the causes of homelessness among youth: consistently, youth report family conflict as an important reason for leaving their home. In addition, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse is often cited as a reason for their homelessness. The complexity and diversity of problems suffered by homeless youth have been reported by many researchers as well. High levels of physical, emotional, and mental health problems, including depression, suicidal behavior, post-traumatic stress disorders, and conduct disorders are identified. Moreover, homeless youth also report engagement in high-risk activities, including substance abuse; involvement in illegal or delinquent activities while living on the streets, such as dealing drugs, stealing, and prostitution; and risky sexual behavior. Evidently, homeless youth are exposed to many dangers and are therefore at an extremely high risk of becoming victimized again after leaving home. As a result of these studies to understand the complex (health) issues of homeless youth, there has been an increase in the development and improvement of social services, social policies, and interventions to assist this group. It is not surprising that the majority of interventions aim to improve the quality of life of homeless youth by reducing homelessness and/or its associated problems. In order to conceptualize the range of outcomes these interventions should address, a framework is proposed in which four basic conditions (socioeconomic security, social inclusion, social cohesion, and empowerment) on two levels (either society and the individual or institutions and communities/groups) constitute the quality of life or well-being of individuals (Figure 1). Each condition has several indicators, which represent important outcomes. Interventions can be implemented on the personal and societal level as well as on the community and institutional level, and can help to achieve multiple outcomes, such as mental/physical health, accessibility of services, vocational assistance, and healthy interpersonal relationships.
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