Whenever adults interact with young people, they are working cross-culturally. Even if there appears to be a common cultural heritage between the two, youth culture is different from adult culture, and those differences will affect all aspects of the interaction. These cultural differences become even more pronounced when working with at-risk populations such as homeless, street-dependent youth who, in addition to all the other issues they face, have adapted to a culture of the streets. Street Culture is about understanding this culture and how it affects the behavior and thinking of youth who are living it. But it is not about the external "look" of the culture of the streets, which may change over time or from place to place. It is about the response to the environment exhibited by adolescents that underlies that culture. Because of this, and because much of the concepts are the result of adolescent thinking and behavior (as opposed to homeless thinking and behavior), much of the material has application even outside of the context of programming for and working with young people actually surviving on our streets. If you are challenged by youth behavior in any capacity, including parenting, you may recognize the challenges in these pages and find tips that will help you to become more effective with, and a better resource for, young people.
About the Author: Jerry Fest has been an advocate for young people since 1970. He is the founder of and worked 12 years as the director of Janus Youth Program's Willamette Bridge -- a continuum of services including streetwork and outreach, emergency shelter, transitional living, independent living, case management, and youth business and partnership programs. In 1987 he developed the "self-government" model for residential services; one of the earliest program models based on the principles of Positive Youth Development. Mr. Fest has served on the Board of Directors of the Northwest Network for Youth, the National Network for Youth, and served two terms as the Region Ten representative to the National Council for Youth Policy representing federally funded runaway and homeless youth programs in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington State. In 1996 he received the Oregon Child and Youth Care Association "Citizen of the Year" award for his work with street-dependent youth, and received the Year 2000 Helen Reser Bakkensen award for exemplary leadership, service, and advocacy on behalf of homeless youth. Mr. Fest provides consultation and training for programs nation-wide from his home in Portland, Oregon. He has been certified in the Advancing Youth Development curriculum and served as the lead trainer for the Portland BEST Initiative (Building Exemplary Systems of Training, a national Youth Development training project). His unique one-day presentation of the Youth Development approach, Youth Development: A Winning Hand, has been presented nation-wide helping audiences to quickly grasp the basics of Youth Development and strategies for youth participation. In addition to his Youth Development emphasis, Mr. Fest offers training and consultation for programs working with runaway, homeless, and other at-risk youth populations, with specific expertise in federal Street Outreach Programs, Transitional Living Programs, and Basic Centers. Mr. Fest has served as a federal Peer Monitor and Peer Monitor trainer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, and as an Expert Witness for cases involving street-dependent/homeless youth. His clients have included the Administration for Children and Families, Head Start, Job Corps, and a diverse community of private non-profit organizations.