Research
Bridge Center for Youth Research and Project Development
Research Collaboration
Building on a history of research participation, Bridge has partnered with MGH’s Psychiatry Department and their Center of Excellence to form a robust collaboration that unites researchers with the often-understudied demographic of homeless youth. This partnership allows Bridge to leverage the expertise and resources of a world-renowned research organization to assess the efficacy of our model and methods. In an increasingly data-driven world, providing proof of impact and testing our services through research solidifies our status as a leader in the field of youth homelessness, and provides us with concrete results we can share and disseminate.
Research Papers
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
Using multiple logistic regression analysis, de-identified data from rapid-rehousing program participants was investigated to find out which factors were associated with housing success. In the dataset of 104 young adults, results indicated that predictors of unsuccessful housing outcomes were: level of past cannabis use, experiencing interpersonal violence during the program, or becoming pregnant during the program.
Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness
This manuscript examined a sample of 958 youth who completed an intake at Bridge during FY23. We explored which characteristics were most common among youth who became high utilizers of Bridge (those who used the program for more than three months) compared to more acute users (those who used the program for less than three months).
Findings indicate that young adults who identified as a person of color, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, had a history of child welfare involvement, or reported higher rates of cannabis use at intake were more likely to be high utilizers of Bridge services and to experience longer periods of homelessness.
Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Motivational Enhancement Intervention for Problematic Substance Use Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness (2025)
Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness
In our first randomized controlled trial (RCT)*, 40 youth participated in a substance-use intervention called MY-BEST (Motivating Youth: Brief Engagement with Substance Treatment). This tailored intervention helps youth gain self-awareness about the impact of their substance use and motivates them to change their use. Youth were randomly assigned to either the MY-BEST treatment program or our traditional case management. The results indicate that MY-BEST had favorable substance use outcomes, was more effective than traditional case management in reducing alcohol use, and is a feasible intervention for service organizations to implement.
*a randomized controlled trial is a method for evaluating new interventions — participants are chosen at random to receive the new intervention or the traditional method, and attempts are made to “control” (keep equal) all other conditions between the groups, so that any gains made by those that received the new intervention can be reasonably attributed to it rather than to some other difference between the groups.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP)
In order to understand more about the factors that prevent suicidality in youth experiencing homelessness, data from comprehensive interviews with young adults at Bridge was analyzed. The main take-away from this analysis is that higher internal resilience (for example: agreeing with the statement “I am able to adapt when changes occur”) was related to lower rates of suicidal thoughts and self-injurious behaviors. In addition, this relationship was explained by the young adults’ feelings of social connectedness to others. This is the first known quantitative confirmation of past qualitative research findings in this area.
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
Young adults who experience homelessness are likely to have been exposed to a high level of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as abuse, experiencing or witnessing violence, and/or a family member’s suicidality. A cluster analysis was conducted to create subgroups of participants, who completed structured assessments at Bridge, to understand more about the different levels of exposure to ACEs in this population. The analysis describes three unique groupings. The characteristics of these subgroups and implications for trauma-informed care are discussed.
The American Journal on Addictions
Building on previous work, the results of semi-structured diagnostic interviews were conducted and analyzed in order to uncover specific diagnostic subgroups to understand more about the typical mental health complexities of youth experiencing homelessness. Four diagnostic subgroups (or “clusters”) were identified, and their associations with high-risk behaviors were examined.
Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness
Little is known about young people’s outcomes after Rapid Re-Housing programs, which provide case management and short-term rental assistance to young adults. In this study, substance use and psychiatric illness were compared to housing outcomes after Rapid Re-Housing. Results show that alcohol use disorder and cannabis use frequency predicted worse housing outcomes. Implications regarding treatment are discussed in the article.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP)
This study administered a semi-structured psychiatric diagnostic interview to determine rates of specific behavioral health disorders and comorbid (co-occurring) substance use diagnoses. To read the MGH article on the study, click here. This article was chosen as one of the JAACAP’s Editors’ Best of 2023.
Conferences & Research Posters
Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery 2026
Bridge presented a talk entitled “Tailoring Substance Use Prevention for Unhoused Young Adults: Bringing Protocols to Life” (see p. 19). This talk covered various protocols Bridge has developed to help youth contemplate and implement change in substance use behavior.
Runaway and Homeless Youth National Grantee Training Conference (2025)
Bridge Program Director Peter Ducharme presented a talk entitled “Demystifying Data: Practical Approaches for Evaluating and Elevating RHY Programs.” With this talk, he discussed the ways that programs serving homeless youth can strengthen their deliverables through data. Peter introduced the concept of a “data walk,” a simple, straightforward way for stakeholders to review and interpret data through visualizations, summaries, and open discussion. Peter’s talk was one of the best-attended of the conference!
The College for Problems on Drug Dependence (CPDD) 87th Annual Scientific Meeting (2025)
In June 2025, Bridge went to New Orleans to present at the annual conference of The College on Problems of Drug Dependence. This is the 87th meeting of the CPDD, which is the oldest conference on addiction in the country. Bridge Program Director Peter Ducharme and Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program Colin Burke presented a symposium titled “Substance Use Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Quantitative Findings and Clinical Intervention in a Community-Based Partnership.”
Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery 2025
Bridge presented a talk entitled “Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Research and Recovery in an Academic-Community Partnership” (see p. 14/15). This talk covered the implementation, maintenance, and expansion of our academic-community partnership with researchers from Mass General Brigham. Our goal is to continue our research collaboration to address the existing gaps in the literature on this underexplored topic.
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Autistic Traits and Substance Use Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness (2025) —presented at Harvard Psychiatry Research Day 2025
Preliminary data shows high rates of autistic traits in transitional age youth experiencing homelessness (ages 16-25). These rates are higher than those reported in general and clinical youth populations and also are associated with greater risk of harmful substance use. These screening results indicate the need for targeted treatment and further study to better understand this connection.
“Motivation Requires a Helping Hand” : Piloting a Contingency Management-Based Substance Use Intervention Tailored to Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness (2025) —presented at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Conference 2025
Out of 65 young adults experiencing homelessness who started a tailored substance use reduction program, 71% completed all sessions. By the end of the program, there was a reduction in average use of alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and cocaine as well as increased linkages to local recovery resources across the group. These promising results show that a tailored contingency management program is feasible, popular, and effective in organizations tackling youth homelessness.
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American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) National Conference 2024
Dr. Colin Burke presented a talk entitled “Phenotypic Risk Profiles, Rehousing Outcomes, and Service Utilization Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness.” This talk broke down characteristics of youth experiencing homelessness based upon psychiatric, substance use disorder (SUD), and psychosocial factors and examined the relationships of those characteristics to outcomes such as suicidality, resilience, rehousing success, and service utilization.
Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery 2024
Dr. Colin Burke presented a talk entitled “Transitional Age Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Recent Findings and Next Steps.” (see p. 5)
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Prediction of One-Year Housing Outcomes Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness in a Rapid Re-housing Program (2023) – presented at the Harvard Public & Community Psychiatry Symposium 2023
This research poster utilized a retrospective chart review looking at youth participating in Rapid Re-housing (RRH) following one year of being housed in their own apartments. The poster identifies factors associated with success and positive outcomes after one year of RRH services. We found that those not experiencing Cannabis Use Disorder had more successful outcomes in RRH than those who were.
Demographic, Psychosocial, and Service Use Factors Associated with Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Substance Use in Youth Experiencing Homelessness (2023) – presented at the Harvard Public & Community Psychiatry Symposium 2023
This study looked at data within the MY-BEST Randomized Controlled Trial taking place at Bridge (see below). This poster looked at data from session number 3 from MY-BEST which utilizes a structured interview to elicit participants’ attitudes and beliefs about substance use. The study identified certain beliefs that may act as barriers to youth reducing or stopping substance use.
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Prevalence, Comorbidity, and Psychosocial Correlates of Psychopathology and Substance Use Disorders Among Homeless Transitional Age Youth: Preliminary Findings (2021)
This study examined the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) reported by a group of youth utilizing Bridge services in 2020 – 2021 and found that 95% of youth had experienced at least one Adverse Childhood experience and on average, youth had Bridge had experienced 4 ACES in their life.
Ongoing Studies
Working Title: Education Resilience in Young Women Experiencing Homelessness
Collaborator: Northeastern University
This study uses qualitative methodology to explore how young women experiencing homelessness perceive their educational experiences, with a particular focus on those who left school before graduating. Through semi-structured interviews, the research centers participant voices to understand how school-based stressors and broader contextual factors shape disengagement and attitudes toward re-engagement in school. Findings aim to illuminate barriers to engagement within school environments and to inform more responsive, trauma-informed interventions to prevent school disconnection and promote meaningful re-entry into education.
Working Title: Contingency Management as a Powerful Substance Use Reduction Tool for Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Collaborator:MGH Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research
Working with researchers at Massachusetts General Brigham, we are conducting a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of our Contingency Management Program. This program was designed to reduce the use of substances in young adults (ages 18-24) and expose young people to community-based recovery groups. Contingency management provides financial incentives to assist people in reaching their personal goals and is a well-validated treatment approach to behavior change. The analysis of the first 68 young adults to participate will explore the effectiveness of this service and indicate areas for improvement.
Working Title: Toward Enhancing Resilience: The Role of stress in Cannabis Use Disorder Among Homeless Transitional Age Youth.
Collaborator: Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry
Bridge has partnered with Dr. Colin Burke at the Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program at Massachusetts General Hospital to understand more about the role of cannabis and stress in the lives of young adults who are experiencing homelessness. Affectionately nicknamed, the “Stress Study” by Bridge team members and young adults, this study invites young people (ages 16-25) to answer questions about themselves and listen to a series of auditory stressors (i.e., occasional loud beeps) while their heart rate, cortisol levels in the form of palm sweat and eye blinks are recorded.
Working Title: Health and Healing for the Unhoused Population: Using Dialogue to Build Trust, Understanding, and Community
Collaborator: Boston College School of Social Work (Gabelli Presidential Scholarship Program)
Qualitative focus groups were conducted by presidential scholars at Boston College to better understand how unhoused young adults experience the medical system. A series of group interviews with 23 transitional-aged youth were held at Bridge, featuring questions such as, “Can you share a specific experience where you felt you were treated differently in a medical setting because you are unhoused?” Themes from these interviews were compiled and presented at a student-run fundraising event that benefited Bridge and another local shelter. Ongoing qualitative analysis will provide deeper insight into the perspectives of young people navigating the healthcare system while facing the challenges of homelessness and housing instability.
Quality Improvement Projects
We are excited to announce that we are piloting several new services to support young adults who come to Bridge seeking assistance.
Working Title: “Asking for Help”- Patterns and Follow-Up to Bridge Email Requests
In an effort to evaluate our ability to respond to requests for services through the main Bridge email, we are currently performing a thematic analysis on our incoming emails. The goal is to look for patterns, evaluate the quality of our past service connections, and identify areas for improvement.
Working Title: Increasing Engagement with Education and Career Counseling Through Incentivized Motivational Interviewing.
Nicknamed “Young Achievers,” this project aims to use lessons learned from our contingency management substance-use reduction pilot to help increase young adult participation in education and career services at Bridge. The program will offer a series of one-on-one sessions utilizing a combination of financial incentives and motivation interviewing techniques to explore young adults’ hesitancy to work on their education/career goals, help them gain self-awareness around their motivation to continue to reconnect to these goals, and encourage them to make concrete steps forward with education and career opportunities that they may not have otherwise embraced. Connection to education and career outcomes will be tracked.
Working Title: Fighting Addiction & Overdose Through Positive Peer Connection
We have had great success with our first year of introducing the Recovery Track at Bridge and are currently working on expanding the initiative further. The Recovery Track refers to a multi-level substance-use-reduction, peer-education program in the style of “choose-your-own-adventure”, so young adults can participate at the level that is right for them. The aim of this project is to change the culture at Bridge around substance use by focusing on training highly motivated young adults to be peer-educators, offering peer support regarding substance use psychoeducation and opioid overdose prevention. The project also includes increased opportunities to access life-saving resources such as Narcan and to attend recovery-based social connections such as sober outings, sober gyms, and local recovery centers.
Working Title: Prevalence of Autistic Traits in Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) we are interested in estimating the rates of autistic traits in the young adults at Bridge. The purpose of this is to understand more about the specialized needs of young adults who are utilizing Bridge services. Attention will be paid to the interaction between social behaviors linked to autism and substance use. The long-term goal is to develop target interventions to the needs of clients who may have challenges with social connectedness, reciprocity and communication.
Working Title: Evaluation of Brief Psychotherapy for Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Our team of behavioral health therapists at Bridge are currently implementing specialized treatment options for the complex mix of mental health concerns commonly experienced by homeless youth. Targeted treatment plans include: Cognitive Processing Therapy for trauma, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for typical therapeutic needs (anxiety, depression, and psychosis), Motivating Youth-Brief Engagement with Substance Treatment, Psychodynamic Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. We are interested in understanding more about treatment outcomes and how to best support Bridge clients accessing and completing therapy.
Working Title: The Effects of a Financial Advising Initiative for Transitional Aged Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Nicknamed the “Millionaires’ Club,” this initiative at Bridge aims to provide financial savings and investment education to young adults who are interested in understanding more about this topic. This financial advising includes multiple sessions covering high yield savings accounts, investment and more! We are interested in understanding how the young adults’ financial goals, sense of financial security and hope for the future evolve over the course of these sessions.
Working Title: Family Resolution Intervention: A Family and Financial-Based Intervention Diverting Young Adults from Homelessness and Housing Instability
The purpose of the Family Resolution Intervention is to better identify and support young adults who are interested in problem-solving with family and/or guardians to prevent or reduce the length of stay in emergency shelters. We are interested to find out how this intervention can make episodes of homelessness brief and non-recurring.
Working Title: Long-Term Rapid Re-housing Follow-Up for Young Adults
Young adults at Bridge participate in Bridge’s Rapid Re-housing Program. Under the Rapid Re-housing program, young adults live independently, signing their own leases for up to two years. We are interested in learning more about what happens after the end of their time with Rapid Re-housing, what they have learned, and what feedback they have about the program. Outcome measurements include obtaining safe and stable housing, achieving academic goals, achieving job readiness, and obtaining financial and personal self-sufficiency.
Working Title: Quality of Life Follow-Up for Congregate Care
Young people experiencing homelessness who utilize Bridge’s congregate care services will be asked if they would like to participate in “Bridge Aftercare,” which includes an effort to ascertain longitudinal quality of life measures to understand more about Bridge’s effect over time. Quality of life interviews will be conducted every six months for three years (or as long as individuals are interested).