1University of California, San Francisco; 2Kenya Medical ResearchInstitute

Purpose: Stigma, a known risk factor forHIV-related behaviors,mayparticularly burden street children. Despite the recognized impor-tance of stigma, little research has addressed perceptions of streetchildren in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted interviews and focusgroup discussions with community leaders in the Luanda District ofWestern Kenya, a region from which street boys living in the neigh-boring city of Kisumu are known to originate. Prior research hasshown that the population of Kisumu street children is almost exclu-sivelymale. Our study examines how community attitudes of stigmaand sympathy vary across contexts and considers how these percep-tions may relate to possible points of intervention.Methods:We conducted 21 semi-structured interviews and 5 focusgroup discussions with community leaders, service providers, andcommunity members. Participants were recruited from 4 villages inthe Luanda District of Kenya, and from other key places within theDistrict, including the regional marketplace. We used grounded the-ory to identify and analyze community members’ perceptions ofstreet youth.Results: Community members differentially attribute sympathy,stigma and community responsibility to youth when describingstreet boys’ process of leaving the community versus when describ-ing chokoraa, the vernacular term commonly assigned to street boys.When describing youth coming fromwithin their own communities,community members consider both individual-level factors (being“unruly”) and the structural factors, such as poverty, domestic dis-putes, orphanhood and harsh discipline, which could lead boys toleave home. Community members do not express sympathy or nu-ance when asked to define chokoraa, generally focusing not onyouth’s origins but on youth’s current homelessness, negative influ-ence on other children, and presumed individual responsibility forbeing on the street. Similarly, community members’ narrativesaround youth who leave home include several terms that suggestconnection, such as school, mother, and father, that are not found indescriptions of chokoraa. Conversely, numerous stigmatizing termsappear exclusively in narratives describing chokoraa, such as dirty,steal, problem, trash, and sniffing (in reference to inhalants). Finally,responsibility for addressing youth’s needs is differentially assignedin the twonarrative contexts. Responsibility for youth in the commu-nity context is assigned to families and communities, whereas theresponsibility for addressing the “problem” of chokoraa is assignedoutside the community.Conclusions: The context in which street boys are considered de-termines community members’ relation to and judgment of them.These findings suggests that interventions to decrease stigma andsupport a sense of community responsibility for street boys may bemost effective if they stress boys’ connection to their home villagesand bring chokoraas back into the context of their sending commu-nities.Sources of Support: Center for AIDS Research, UCSF; UCSF Depart-ment of Pediatrics; Pomona College.

112.

STREET-INVOLVED YOUNG FATHERS ACROSS 9 CITIES INWESTERN CANADAChristopher Drozda, MA, Elizabeth Saewyc, PhD, RN, FSAHM, SheilaMarshall, PhD, Grant Charles, PhD.

University of British Columbia

Purpose: Although street-involved and homeless youth reportpregnancy at higher rates, there is almost no research about street-involved teen fathers. We examined the background and currentsituation of street-involved youth in Western Canada who werefathers compared to their street-involved peers without children.Methods: Secondary analysis of the 9-city 2006 British ColumbiaStreet Youth Health Survey, (N � 762, 48%male, ages 12 to 18 years).Chi Square and t-tests tested differences between street-involvedfathers (n � 38) and non-fathers (n � 314). Measures included de-mographics, housing situation in past 30 days, chronic conditions,school attendance, Sources of past-month income, substance use inthe past 30 days, access to drug treatment services, and where youthsee themselves in 5 years.Results: Street-involved fatherswere almost a year older on average(M � 17.36 vs.16.36, t � -5.15, p�.001), but, they began their streetinvolvement at younger ages (M � 11.6 years vs.12.8 years, t � 2.41,p�.05). Most reported their children lived with relatives (46.3%), but17.1% lived with them, and 14.6% in foster care. Non-fathers weremore likely to have lived with parents in the last thirty days thanfathers (50.6% vs. 23.7%, ?2 � 9.87, p�.05), while fathers were morelikely to report precarious housing, i.e., on the street (36.8% vs. 19.1%,, p�.05) or in a tent (23.3% vs. 8.6%, p�.001). Street-involved fathersweremore likely to have been told they have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome(26.9% vs. 10.0%, ?2 � 6.81, p�.05). Street-involved fathers were lesslikely to be currently attending school (37.9% vs. 60.3%; ?2 � 5.42,p�.05). However, they were more likely to report working in a legaljob than non-fathers (58.8% vs. 40.7%; ?2 � 4.03, p�.05), or to obtainmoney from income assistance (19.5% vs. 9.5%; ?2� 4.19, p�.05) andfrombeing award of the courts thannon-fathers (12.2% vs. 2.7%; ?2�

8.77, p�.05). Street-involved fathers reported a higher prevalence ofrecent illicit drug use compared to non fathers for several drugs,including crystal meth (26.3% vs. 9.2%, ?2 � 8.39, p�.05), inhalants(16.7% vs. 5.7%, ?2 � 6.05, p�.05), ketamine (18.6% vs. 4.1%, ?2 �

12.45, p�.001) and heroin (21.1% vs. 7.3%, ?2 � 7.95, p�.005). How-ever, street-involved fathers were also more likely to have accessedsome form of substance abuse treatment, including detox (24.3% vs.9.0%, ?2 � 7.91, p�.005) and inpatient treatment centres (16.2% vs.6.5%, ?2 � 4.36, p�.05). Given these higher challenges, it was notsurprising that street-involved fathers were more pessimistic abouttheir future; they were significantly more likely to expect to be deadin five years (31.6% vs. 9.2% non-fathers; ?2 � 16.44, p�.001) .Conclusions: Street-involved fathers face a number life challengesand health inequities. For street-involved youth who are fathers,social services need to understand the complex background of theyoung men. FAS, a diminished sense of future, and substance useprovide challenges, but street-involved fathers’ involvement in ser-vices and employment may provide opportunities for engagementand support.Sources of Support: Grant #HOA-80059, Canadian Institutes ofHealth Research, & McCreary Centre Society.

113.

“IT’S NOT JUST ME ANYMORE”: A PILOT PHENOMENOLOGY OFHOMELESS ADOLESCENT PARENTHOODCharles Rogers, MD, Sara Kinsman, MD, PhD, FSAHM.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Purpose: Homeless adolescent parenthood is associated with mul-tiple risks, negative outcomes, and stigma for adolescents and theirchildren. A significant gap in this literature involves the voices andexperiences of young parents themselves. This gap impedes efforts atimplementing supportive health and social interventions and effec-

S75Poster Abstracts / 52 (2013) S21–S113