Youth Homelessness

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Who are homeless youth?

From the Recommendations to the Commission on Homelessness

From the Destination: Home Glossary

5 Categories of Homeless Youth

Homeless Youth Data

Homeless Youth Among Us campaign

National Alliance to End Homelessness Resources

From the Homeless Youth Council's Recommendations to the Commission on Homelessness

From the Destination: Home GLOSSARY (p. 48)

Homeless Youth – One who is under age 18 who meets the definition of homeless person. Per the Department of Education: (Governs Subtitle B - Education for Homeless Children and Youth funds - McKinney-Vento funds used by EVSC)

The term homeless "children and youths" —

(A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes —

(i) children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;

(ii) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C));

(iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and

(iv) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).

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Five Categories of homeless youth

have been identified, as defined by the National Network of Families and Youth Services

Runaway Youth

Runaways are youth who have left a home environment and who, in theory, could go back home.  Often they do return home fairly quickly.  Many runaways are seen in shelters around the country.

Throwaway Youth

These are the youth who have come from some stable living situations but have been thrown out for any number of reasons.  There may be accompanied mental health issues and, commonly, substance abuse issues, or a combination that may result in parents just not knowing what to do other than to say “Get Out.”

Homeless Youth

These are youth who do not have a place to which they can return.  They may have come from very dysfunctional family situations, or the family has dissolved, or living situations have been primarily in various placements group homes.  These young people really are on the streets and lack places to which they might return. 

Systems Youth

Young people who have been in the child welfare system, who bounce out, who leave group homes, or leave placements.  These are youth who end up on the streets because placements and foster care are not working.  They often turn up in homeless youth and runaway programs.

Street Youth

Sometimes referred to as homeless/street involved youth.  They have been homeless so long that they have become quite involved in the street culture.  They may be episodically homeless, going home for a while or being in placement for a short time, but they become used to street life and street culture.  This is a tough population because of the substance abuse and risk behaviors that accompany street culture.  Their life situations tend to be complicated, and access and availability of multiple services have an impact on the scope and length of time they remain on the street.

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Homeless Youth Data

“Youth homelessness is disturbingly common. Although the prevalence of youth homelessness is difficult to measure, researchers estimate that about 5 to 7.7 percent of youth experience homelessness. With at least one million youth on the streets and in shelter—and thousands more leaving juvenile justice, mental health facilities, and leaving foster care systems—the problem of youth homelessness continues to grow.

“Everyone finds transitioning to adulthood difficult, but homeless adolescents have even greater obstacles to overcome. Stable housing linked with services are critical to helping homeless youth transition to adulthood.”

(National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2007)

“The precise number of homeless and runaway youth is unknown due to their residential mobility and overlap among the populations. Determining the number of these youth is further complicated by the lack of a standardized methodology for counting the population and inconsistent definitions of what it means to be homeless or a runaway. Estimates of the homeless youth population range from 52,000 to over one million. Estimates of runaway youth — including “thrownaway” youth — are between 1 million and 1.7 million.”

(Congressional Research Service, 2007)

Local Statistics

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Homeless Youth Among Us

Virgin Mobile USA and Virgin Unite are using their corporate resources to help end youth homelessness. Over the past two years, they have formed the RE*Generation group of national service and advocacy groups and launched a web site devoted to increasing awareness. The RE*Generation web site is attempting to garner 1,000,000 signatures to raise awareness and advocacy for homeless youth. Virgin Mobile contributes direct funding to several national groups serving or advocating in the interest of homeless youth, including StandUp for Kids, Children's Health Fund, and Youth Noise. RE*Generation wanted to connect youth and young adults who wish to help with simple means to make a difference: signing up on the Declaration to End Youth Homelessness, volunteering, text messaging to donate clothing, and downloading ring tones to donate funds. Additionally, Virgin Mobile USA and RE*Generation have involved themselves in federal advocacy, helping to convince Congress to pass a resolution declaring November the National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. This adds to the recognition of November which has been known as the National Runaway Prevention Month as sponsored by the National Runaway Switchboard. The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a proud partner to RE*Generation and Virgin Mobile's advocacy efforts.  www.homelessyouthamongus.org

How many youth are homeless?

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National Alliance to End Homelessness resources on Youth Homelessness

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