Youth Homelessness: Facts and Solutions

» Facts
» Characteristics of Homeless Youth
» Pathways out of Homelessness
» Causes of Youth Homelessness
» Four Basic Types of Homeless Youth (Meet the Youth)
» Effective Solutions for Youth Homelessness
» 10 Needs to Prevent & End Youth Homelessness
» What Needs to Change?

Facts
If you don’t personally know someone living on the streets, it’s easy to pretend youth homelessness isn’t a problem. It is a problem, and it affects millions of normal kids every day. It’s time to wake up and pay attention.

• 1.6 to 1.7 million people under 18 will experience homelessness each year. (That’s more than the population of Philadelphia.)
• 63% of runaway and homeless youth are never reported or sought after by guardians.
• 22 to 44% of their parents abuse drugs or alcohol, leading to domestic violence and conflicts.
• 79% were attending school regularly before entering a shelter.
• most don’t experience long-term homelessness. They often go home, find relatives to stay with or make it on their own.
• most have multiple overlapping problems that can affect development; may require professional help 

Characteristics of Homeless Youth

• No self-sufficiency skills
• No financial resourcesv
• Mental health problems; post-traumatic stress disorder
• Deteriorating physical health
• Substance Abuse

There are Three Main Pathways Out of Homelessness

• Parents
• Extended family
• Independent living (only after trying the other two)

Causes of Youth Homelessness

• Family breakdown: a result of dysfunctional or troubled situation
• Systems failure: mainstream programs like child welfare, juvenile corrections facilities and mental health programs. Former foster care youths are disproportionately represented in the homeless population.

Meet the Youth
There are four basic types of homeless youth.

Fleeing/Runaway
Meet Jamie

20% of Runaways have attempted suicide. Read More

 

Episodic (a.k.a. Couch Surfers)
Meet Eva


Most Couch Surfers are from low-income communities. Read More



Street-Dependent (Travelers/Squatters)
Meet Ryan


Most squatters attend mainstream school. Read More


Unaccompanied (Shelter Hoppers)
Meet Karina
Most shelter hoppers are female. Read More

Solutions
 There are three main different kinds of effective solutions:

1. Early Intervention/Prevention: make sure a homelessness episode or a family separation doesn’t result in long-term homelessness. 
   • Improve mental health and family systems.
2. Intervene with Already-Homeless Youth: to reunite them quickly with their families while strengthening the families’ stability

1. Independent Housing Options: to help youth who will not be able to return to their families.
   • Some youth will never be able to return to their families; they need housing programs that provide both shelter and support to help them become self-sufficient.

…but each type of homeless youth has different needs:

• Jamie (Runaway) and Eva (Episodic) would benefit from early intervention, mental counseling, community-based services and alternative family placements.
• Karina (Shelter Hopper) requires intensive family reunification services, case managers or youth advocates or life skills training.
• Ryan (Street-Dependent) would be helped from street-based outreach and one-on-one connections; it’s important for housing to provided first before tackling other issues.

10 Needs to Prevent & End Youth Homelessness

1. Plan: strategies focused on ending youth homelessness
2. Data: how many youth are homeless, what their needs are, etc.
3. Emergency prevention: crisis counseling, family reunification services, etc.
4. Systems prevention: mainstream programs that provide care and services to youth
5. Outreach: programs that reduce barriers and encourage homeless youth to enter the system
6. Youth housing continuum: youth shelters, transitional housing, etc.
7. Services: access to funded services through mainstream programs
8. Youth development: programs that engage youth in meaningful ways, building leadership and decision-making skills
9. Permanent housing: supportive housing for homeless youth
10. Income: assistance to homeless youth to secure income; educational and vocational programs

What Needs to Change?

Most cities focus on “reaction” solutions instead of long-term solutions. Some good interventions that are not being developed or supported enough are:

• Peer Outreach: train young people (ages 16 to 21) to go out on the street with adult outreach workers. (Homeless youth trust other youth much more easily than they trust adults.)
• Crisis Assistance Information to Youth: develop community-based outreach where young people are (like schools) to prevent homelessness.
• Better Inter-Organization Coordination: create local resource centers and/or websites that address the varied needs of at-risk youth
• Affordable Housing: increase the number of affordable housing options for young adults (ages 16 to 25). 

Youth homelessness is a large problem, but by no means is it a hopeless one. If we try to understand the problem as a whole, we can begin to work toward better solutions. It’s time to act; enter the YN Out of the Shadows Contest. 

For More Info:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763098.html

http://www.hopenetworks.org/addiction/Children%20of%20Addicts.htm

 

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