July 1, 2005

Beyond the Tunnel Problem: Addressing Cross-Cutting Issues that Impact Vulnerable Youth

This report was authored by Timothy Ross and Joel Miller and released by the Youth Transitions Funders Group in July 2005. The first in a series of papers designed to inform practitioners, officials, funders, and advocates, this paper focuses on the typology of cross-cutting issues. It explains the following cross-cutting dynamics that have a negative impact on the well-being of vulnerable youth, including: the tunnel problem in which a youth's entry point into government systems will tend to determine the services they receive, rather than their underlying problems; the lack of information flow that inhibits effectively sharing information about the young person between separate agencies; a diffusion of responsibility that often results in vulnerable youth falling between the gaps; and unloading problem cases and shifting burdens to different agencies that may simply exacerbate the youth's problems. A list of additional resources is provided.