Overview Available studies estimate that over 1 million youth are homeless each year in America. There are limited resources to help youth reconnect with their families, find safety from the streets, or provide the support needed to prepare for independent living. Instead, youth are often left to fend for themselves, facing survival on the streets, recruitment by gangs, exposure to drugs, and sexual exploitation. Thousands of youth who seek shelter assistance are turned away each year.
Causes. Many youth report severe family conflict as a primary reason for becoming homeless. Volatile conditions within a family create an environment where the youth may experience physical violence, sexual abuse, chronic neglect, or abandonment. Youth may also become homeless when their families force them to leave due to pregnancy, drug or alcohol use, sexual orientation, or school problems.
Youth homelessness also reflects the deficits in public systems of care such as child welfare, juvenile corrections, and child mental health systems. Each year, approximately 30,000 youth age out of foster care and 100,000 youth leave the juvenile justice system with little or no financial and housing resources.
Efficient and Effective Programs. Homeless youth programs are becoming more efficient and cost-effective. Providers are using new strategies to reach as many youth as they can with available resources and protect youth from having to sleep on the streets or find shelter in abandoned buildings or other unsafe environments. The Office of Management and Budget’s Program Assessment Rating Tool process rated RHYA programs as “effective,” the highest rating available. In 2010, Transitional Living Programs exceeded the federal target for safe program exits, and Basic Center Programs exceeded the federal target for proportion of youth prevented from running away as a result of receiving preventive services.
Creating a Stable Foundation. Homeless youth programs provide youth with a stable foundation from which they can reunify with their families or develop the skills to live independently. The goal for all youth is to achieve greater economic independence through educational attainment and employment and career advancement. Providers are helping youth stay engaged and graduate from high school, achieve secondary education, and access employers and career development opportunities.
Need for More Data. Although we know a lot about the nature of youth homelessness and the number of youth the problem affects, national data on the full extent of the problem is lacking. The 2008 reauthorization of RHYA programs required the Department of Health and Human Services to complete a study on the incidence and prevalence of youth homelessness. That study has not yet been conducted.
Current Status In its FY 2012 Budget Proposal, the Administration proposed a $5 million increase for RHYA programs to $121 million. The increase would be targeted toward a demonstration project to serve sexually exploited youth.
Recommendation Congress should provide $135 million for RHYA programs in FY 2012, $14 million over the Administration’s request. This should include $3 million to fund the RHYA-mandated incidence and prevalence study of youth homelessness, which would provide better data that can be used to inform interventions and evaluate outcomes. It should also include $11 million for a targeted increase to the Transitional Living Programs (TLPs) to support housing and service interventions that would allow youth a stable foundation so they can work to complete high school. This initiative would quickly increase the capacity of TLPs to respond to youth who are unsheltered or moving from home to home, strengthen collaboration between homeless youth programs and schools, and provide youth with the opportunity to graduate from high school and have a better educational base from which to achieve economic independence.
