Youth

Intervention services, housing options, and transitional support for the foster care system are strategies to end youth homelessness.

Unaccompanied homeless youth present unique challenges to existing homeless assistance systems.  Most organizations are built around the needs of homeless adults and families – not unaccompanied young people. Homeless youth and young adults are at pronounced risk for physical abuse, sexual exploitation, mental health disabilities, chemical or alcohol dependency, and death.

 

Although the Alliance estimates that as many as 50,000 youth are sleeping on the streets, definitive data on youth homelessness does not yet exist.

With these limitations in mind, the Alliance recommends the following as strategies to end youth homelessness:

  • Early and intense intervention plus family reunification, if possible. Sometimes, youth simply need to be reconnected to their family and provided case management to resolve the internal conflict that led to homelessness. Other times, early and intense intervention by child welfare services or other public programs can help end youth homelessness.
  • An expansion of long-term housing options consistent with the developmental needs of young people. Unfortunately, some youth cannot be safely connected to adults and families and require a safe, alternative form of permanent housing, which should include the services and case management necessary to attend to their needs.
  • After-care support for youth aging out of foster care. Despite all that is not known, it is clear that the foster care system and other state-run institutions play a key role in youth homelessness. Young people aging out of the foster care system often do not have the resources to transition safety and productively into their communities. Life skills, including job training, higher or practical education, and needs-based case management are all necessary to help ease the way from foster care to adulthood.

Spotlight

Federal Policy Brief | April 23, 2013
Congress could offer necessary, crisis services for homeless youth by appropriating at least $115 million in fiscal year (FY) 2014 for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) programs.
Federal Policy Brief | September 6, 2012
This federal policy brief describes child welfare’s National Youth in Transition Database, which collects data on the services provided to youth aging out of foster care as well as the reporting of outcomes for youth who have exited, which includes homelessness. The survey is first administered at age 17, and then again when the youth is 19 and 21.
Report | July 25, 2012
This report provides a discussion and recommendations for moving Los Angeles down a path toward more effective services for youth experiencing homelessness. The purpose of the L.A. convening, which was co-hosted by the Alliance and the California Homeless Youth Project, was to have stakeholders engage in a focused discussion about what is and what is not working in serving youth. The discussion touched on four strategies: prevention, emergency response, housing, and support services.
Webinar | July 11, 2012
On Wednesday, July 11, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET, the Alliance hosted a webinar that focused on host homes and other alternatives to physical shelter beds, as well as ways of improving the responsiveness of the adult crisis system to the needs of youth in crisis.
Best Practice | July 3, 2012
Youth Services of Tulsa (YST), which is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a nonprofit agency that provides a continuum of diverse programs and services to youth ages 12-17 (and their families). YST delivers family intervention services such as family reunification and family connecting to support the strengthening of families for runaway and homeless youth, and those at-risk.
Report | March 6, 2012
This brief provides an examination of data on homeless youth, estimates of the number of homeless youth across a typology, and gives a summary of promising strategies to more effectively end youth homelessness.
Solutions Brief | January 26, 2012
Having an accurate count of homeless youth helps a community to understand the scope of the problem and to design solutions. The District of Columbia Alliance of Youth Advocates (DCAYA) is leading the effort to deepen understanding about the prevalence and needs of homeless youth in Washington, DC.
Webinar | November 15, 2011
This is the PPT presentation to the webinar held on November 8, 2011, Family Intervention to Address and Prevent Homelessness Among LGBTQ Youth.
Best Practice | November 15, 2011
New York City is working to prevent and end homelessness for LGBTQ homeless youth. Recognizing that most runaway and homeless LGBTQ youth will return to their family, New York City is funding two community-based organizations to strengthen youth’s connections to families to prevent and rapidly end their homelessness.
Solutions Brief | November 15, 2011
It is commonly estimated that 100,000 children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation each year. In this brief, the Alliance examines the relationship between commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth homelessness.

Library Resources

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Webinar | June 18, 2012
This webinar discusses the importance of family intervention; the practices used to reunify and connect homeless youth with their parents; and a model designed to decrease risky behaviors.
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Solutions Brief | November 17, 2011
When runaways and homeless youth cannot be reunited with their families, the creation of housing models that also address the service needs of youth is one solution to ending youth homelessness. The goal of this brief is to outline a spectrum of youth housing models that connect affordable housing, self-sufficiency services, and positive youth development approaches. This brief examines youth housing combined with positive youth development services and highlights four housing models and programs that demonstrate promise in housing for older adolescents and young adults.
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Report | October 5, 2011
Annual prevalence estimates for homeless youth in the U.S. have ranged as high as 1.6 million among those aged 13-17 (Ringwalt et al., 1998). In this report, researchers present a history of typologies of homeless youth and also suggest recommendations for further research on this population.
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Best Practice | June 17, 2011
First Place for Youth is a nonprofit organization that serves youth who are preparing to age out of foster care or who have recently aged out of care and are experiencing a housing crisis.
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Webinar | November 4, 2010
This webinar, the first in a series from the Alliance and the National Network for Youth, will feature tips for including youth in your community's point-in-time count.
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Webinar | October 27, 2010
Ending Youth Homelessness - Strategies for Increasing Community Support and Improving Your Ten Year Plan.
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Toolkits | October 20, 2010
The Alliance and the National Network for Youth recommend that communities fully include homeless youth in their local January 2011 Point in Time (PIT) counts by using the strategies in this brief.
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Solutions Brief | August 3, 2009
This issue brief identifies proven interventions from the fields of child welfare, community mental health, and juvenile justice, and it promotes their use as a model for youth homelessness prevention and early intervention. It is directed at community planners and youth advocates, who should view these services as critical components of a service and housing spectrum that can end youth homelessness.
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Solutions Brief | April 10, 2009
This two-page brief provides an overview of the prevalence and experience of LGBTQ youth, causal factors, and risks to LGBTQ youth while homeless.
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Solutions Brief | December 8, 2008
This report highlights the incidence of homelessness among LGBTQ youth and the vulnerability of LGBTQ youth to becoming homeless. As compared to their heterosexual peers, LGBTQ youth face a greater risk of exploitation. This brief explores pathways into homelessness for LGBTQ youth and ways to end homelessness for this group. It also includes a chart on the systems components for addressing homelessness among all youth, including LGBTQ youth.
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Solutions Brief | August 10, 2006
This issue brief reviews the key issues surrounding youth homelessness, including causes and characteristics of homeless youth. It also contains an introductory explanation of the youth housing continuum, a development model for stable and supportive housing for young adults and policy implications regarding youth homelessness.