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Times Square Phenomenon

NCJ Number
88484
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Covenant House operates shelters for under 21-year-old runaway, homeless, and abused youth in New York City; Toronto, Canada; and other cities. The 'Under 21' crisis center is a special shelter for juvenile prostitutes in New York City's Times Square district, center of the world's biggest sex industry.
Abstract
Father Bruce Ritter began helping homeless juveniles in New York's Lower East Side after some desperate juveniles asked him if they could stay overnight in his apartment. He now directs Covenant House operations, including 'Under 21.' This program operates 24 hours a day. Youths can get help with no questions asked. They are given food, shelter, clothing, security, and medical treatment. Most of the juveniles coming to Under 21 have been sexually degraded, beaten, and held prisoner by a pimp. They often have worked in pornographic films, which is legal in New York at age 16. Most of the kids have venereal disease. Under 21 offers its services to about 12,000 youths annually and helps about one-third of these to get off the streets for good. At least 80 percent of these juveniles have had formal, substantive contact with the juvenile justice system. Most come from one-parent families with histories of abuse, alcoholism, and poverty. Most have some kind of physical learning disability and are school dropouts. No public jurisdiction in New York will accept responsibility for homeless 16-and 17 year-olds because 16-year-olds are legally allowed to be on their own. The work of Covenant House complements the efforts of the formal juvenile justice system.