HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION SERIES: Spotlight on Youth Homelessness

September 23, 2024
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This is the first in a new series on local and federal efforts to prevent homelessness. Read the other spotlights and the first-ever federal homelessness prevention framework at usich.gov/prevention.

 

For every person in America who moves off the streets or out of shelters and into homes, more than one loses a home and starts to experience homelessness.  This indicates that we cannot end homelessness until we prevent people from losing homes in the first place.

Our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic showed the promise and power of preventing homelessness. Homelessness had been on the rise since 2016, but when the pandemic began, the nation came together to invest more in housing, support, and systems that prevent people from losing homes in the first place. Elected leaders from all levels of government used their power to help the most vulnerable, and President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan—the biggest single-year investment in ending homelessness in U.S. history. Congress created emergency rental assistance, temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit, and distributed cash directly to lower-income households. State leaders used federal and state funding to enhance these federal programs, and local leaders prioritized discretional funds for housing stability and homelessness prevention. These decisions prevented millions of evictions and cut poverty nearly in half. As a result, we flattened the post-2016 curve and prevented another rise in homelessness during the worst parts of the pandemic (2020-2022). Together—across party lines—we showed that progress is possible—even during the most difficult times.  

In an effort to spur more innovation and more action at all levels of government and across all sectors, USICH collected emerging best practices from communities that are working to prevent homelessness. This is the first in a new series on local and federal efforts to prevent homelessness. New spotlights will be published every few weeks, each focusing on a specific method of homelessness prevention—from guaranteed basic income to eviction prevention. Other spotlights will focus on preventing homelessness among specific populations, including families, older adults, people with disabilities, and people in the justice system.

Along with the first federal homelessness prevention framework recently released by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), we hope you will use this information to intensify your community’s commitment to preventing this life-and-death crisis.

Youth Homelessness in America

More than 34,700 youth and young adults were experiencing homelessness on their own on a single night in January 2023, according to HUD’s 2023 Point-in-Time Count. But this is likely an undercount because many youth experience “hidden” forms of homelessness living in motels/hotels or on family/friends’ couches. Over the course of the 2021-2022 school year, public schools reported 1.2 million students* experiencing homelessness—a 10% increase from the previous school year—and more than 75% of them were “hidden homelessness” in unstable and often unsafe environments. Even more troubling, a nationwide study released by Chapin Hall in 2017 found that 700,000 youth (ages 13-17) and 3.5 million young adults (ages 18-25) had experienced some form of homelessness over the course of a full year. 

Homelessness disproportionately impacts youth of color, youth who identify as LGBTQI+, youth with disabilities, English learners, and youth who are pregnant or parenting. Compared to their peers, these groups face additional barriers—such as discrimination—to finding and maintaining housing.

Furthermore, the foster-care system is one of the biggest pipelines into youth homelessness. Every year, almost 20,000 young people age out of foster care and up to 46% of them experience homelessness by age 26. Nearly one-third of youth experiencing homelessness are or have been in the foster-care system at some point in their lives. Our systems are failing to protect these young people and failing to set them up for success after they age out of the system.  

Local Efforts to Prevent Youth Homelessness

Given the intense flow of the foster care-to-homelessness pipeline, communities are increasingly targeting programs to this population. The city of Oakland, California uses a points-based prioritization system to identify people most at risk of homelessness—including youth exiting the foster-care system—and offer them emergency financial assistance, case management, and wraparound services. Since 2018, the Keep Oakland Housed Initiative has distributed $5,400-$8,150 to more than 8,500 people, preventing 92% of them from homelessness six months later. Oakland’s model is now being deployed in communities across Alameda County.

In San Diego County and Ventura County, California, foster youth between the ages of 18 and 24 are prioritized for transitional housing with integrated support services. San Diego County also prioritizes this population for housing vouchers from the Family Unification Program. More than 90% of the youth helped by the Ventura Homeless Prevention remain housed one year later, and the nonprofit’s model was recently adopted by a nonprofit in nearby Oxnard.

In addition to the foster-care system, health systems are also a major pipeline into homelessness for all ages. In Washington state, for instance, almost 80% of the young people who experience homelessness within a year of exiting any system of care came from inpatient treatment facilities for mental health and/or substance use disorders. 

Recognizing this, advocates worked to create new funding and services in the state. House Bill 1929, which passed unanimously this year, fully funds and establishes the Post-Inpatient Housing Program for Young Adults to offer transitional housing along with mental health and substance use support for up to 90 days to strengthen recovery and identify long-term housing. Instead of standard discharge planning, Northstar Advocates works with young people to customize “Return To Community” plans for housing and services, key relationships, passions, education, and employment. 

There are other bright spots as well. In Waterville, Maine, the Mid-Maine Shelter and Services organization operates housing with on-site case management and other services for youth exiting foster care, inpatient treatment, and jail. Living near and connecting with neighbors their own age is a unique developmental need and preference for young people. And in San Francisco, the city and county target emergency rental, housing, and employment assistance for young people at risk of homelessness, particularly LGBTQI+ people who are more likely to experience homelessness. The city is also teaming up with providers, researchers, and Google to launch a pilot program to test the effectiveness of direct cash.

Federal Action to Prevent Youth Homelessness

Keeping youth and young adults safely and stably housed is a priority for the Biden-Harris administration. In his FY 2025 budget, President Biden asked Congress to guarantee a housing voucher for every youth aging out of foster care. As part of the White House Homelessness Prevention Working Group, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) committed to promote child-welfare funding/services to support families at risk of homelessness and to explore opportunities to test prevention strategies for this population.

In the last year, the federal government has taken the following actions, among others, to prevent youth homelessness:

So much more work needs to be done, and the Biden-Harris administration is committed to preventing homelessness and to building a nation where every person—no matter their age—has a safe and affordable home.

 

USICH wants to hear from you! Do you have best practices for effective and innovative ways to prevent homelessness? Click to share them with USICH.

 

*The Department of Education definition of homelessness includes youth and young adults who are doubled-up or couch-surfing. For more information on how different federal agencies define eligibility for homelessness programs, click here.

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