Yes, We Can End Youth Homelessness!

At the beginning of June I attended the second Policy Briefing to End Youth Homelessness at the White House, co-sponsored by True Colors Fund. I can not speak for everyone who attended the event, but for me the highlight of the day was hearing a panel of youth speak about their experiences struggling to overcome homelessness. As one young man put it, “nobody chooses being homeless.” And I think that is the first thing that people need to understand about youth homelessness. These young people do not want to be on the streets.

About 18 months ago I wrote another blog where I tried to detail who homeless youth are and why they often end up on the streets. I won’t go into all that detail here, but it is important to keep a few facts in mind. There are nearly 2 million youth age 13 to 24 who experience at least one night homeless every year. Nearly 40% of these youth are LGBT, often being thrown out of religiously conservative families. Nearly 40% of homeless youth have been in the foster care system at some point. And, most upsetting of all, nearly 80% of these youth have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence at some time in their young lives. It is also important to remember that homeless youth hide in plain sight. Very few of them have serious mental illness issues or chronic substance abuse issues. So unlike many chronically homeless adults, these youth are able to make their way through our city neighborhoods largely unnoticed by the rest of us.

So why is it that I think this enormous problem can be solved? The answer is simple. Over the past two years, we’ve seen many communities either end or radically curb the levels of homelessness experienced by veterans. Even in communities like Los Angeles, where the number of people living outdoors has increased over the past few years, veteran homelessness is at an all time low. If we can solve veteran homelessness, we can solve youth homelessness.

The real question is not, why do I think this problem can be solved, but what will it take to end youth homelessness? There is no easy answer, but there are a few things which would help. First, we need a commitment of money from the federal government and local communities. A huge part of why veteran homelessness is down is because of the financial investment we have made to help these individuals.

Second, we need flexibility at the level of local communities to respond to the unique issues faced by youth in different communities. Homelessness in a city like Chicago where you can die of exposure in the winter is different that homelessness in Los Angeles.

Third, we need more coordination in communities across different sectors of government. The youth who end up in the foster system and in juvenile detention are often the very same youth who end up on the streets.

Fourth, we need a greater commitment to case management for youth. Every youth I have ever worked with is the victim of broken relationships and in need of caring adults to help them. Social workers who work with these youth need small case loads so that they have the time and energy to invest in their relationships with these youth. This is essential if we are to help these youth learn to trust adults again and grow into successful stable adults themselves.

Fifth, we need linkages to workforce development and education programs for these youth. Homelessness makes it almost impossible to stay effectively engaged in traditional schooling and a consistent history of employment.

But sixth, and most important, we must involve homeless youth in helping end youth homelessness. Homeless youth must be brought into the community planning process, not as token advisory groups, but as genuine collaborators. We should be paying homeless youth to serve in this capacity. The adults who work at local housing authorities are getting paid, why shouldn’t the youth? We must also give youth opportunities to become peer housing navigators. At the White House meeting one of the youth on the panel was such an advocate an his work had clearly transformed and empowered him. As he, glowingly said, “This has given me a platform to help other people!”

So what can you do as an average citizen? There are two simple places to start.

First, do a quick Google search for a homeless youth organization in your community and donate a small amount of money or time to it. You would be amazed at how strapped for resources most of these organizations are. Even small donations of used clothes can go a long way.

Second, get involved in promoting advocacy for homeless youth. I am going to give you a short list of advocacy organizations and their twitter handles. Follow them, like their posts, re-post their posts, help raise people’s awareness about the plight of homeless youth. Yes, together, we can end youth homelessness!

A small list Twitter accounts for national organizations fighting to end youth homelessness who you should follow and support.

A Way Home America: @awayhomeamerica

CSH: @CSHinfo

National Network for Youth: @nn4youth

Center for Social Innovation: ‪@c4innovates

True Colors Fund: ‪@truecolorsfund

Covenant House: @CovenantHouse

MANY: @MANYnetwork

I have many other friends and partners around the country, so if you go to my twitter @EricRicePhd you can see all the folks to help.

Eric Rice, PhD, Associate Professor at USC's School of Social Work

Eric Rice, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work and its online master’s degree program MSW@USC. An expert in high-risk adolescent behavior and social networks, Rice works primarily on issues of housing and HIV prevention for homeless youth. He works with many community-based organizations that serve homeless youth across the country, including My Friend's Place and Safe Place for Youth in Los Angeles, MANY, CSH, and A Way Home America in national efforts.

Note: this was originally published at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yes-we-can-end-youth-homelessness_us_579bb369e4b004301c50dd56

Gangs and Homelessness

The great thing about being a community based researcher is that I get the opportunity to spend a lot of time the field working directly alongside adolescents and young people experiencing homelessness. Recently, I have been working on a project that has me spending a lot of time at a community partner agency. In a passing conversation the other day with a young man I have come to know very well, he spoke in a positive manner how he felt that things were looking up for him.  However he briefly mentioned that he needed to find a different place to sleep because he feels that it’s no longer safe. Concerned, I asked him more about this statement. “People are getting shot. It doesn’t matter who you are.” More concerned, I politely asked him if he felt comfortable telling me where he slept at night. It turns out that this young person camps outside in a neighborhood that is 10 miles from the drop in center that he frequents but in the heart of one of the most gang-affected neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

Gangs and youth homelessness are two phrases that are not often used together. I personally am not sure why. My research estimates that 17% homeless young persons have ever or currently identify as a gang member and up to 56% have ever been affiliated with a gang member via a close friend, family member or romantic partner. This is much higher than rates estimated in America’s high schools (8% members and 33% affiliates). At the most recent West Coast Convening Meeting, before speaking about this topic, a colleague posed a question to a room full of leaders in the field of youth homelessness “Who here has ever worked with a young person that has been involved with gangs?” Every hand in the room raised.  

As a researcher my goal is to bring more attention to the intersection of these issues and understand how these two areas intersect. Both of these social issues are complex, to say the least. . I will be the first to admit that I don’t have answers. In fact, the more answers I search for, the more questions I seem to arrive at. I do know that gangs, and the violence that comes with them, do affect the majority of young people that experience homelessness or housing insecurity. It terrifies me that there are young people experiencing homelessness who, on top of the plethora of risks that come with sleeping outside, have to safety plan around gang rivalry drive-bys. But this is a reality. A very real reality.  Going forward, social agencies, leaders, front line workers, researchers, policy makers can not look at these issues separately. We cannot operate in silos.

Robin Petering, MSW, is a PhD Candidate at the University of Southern California School of Social Work (USCSSW). She obtained her Masters of Social Work in 2011 from the Luskin School of Public Affairs in the University of California Los Angeles. Although Robin's primary role is a social scientist, she is committed to bringing yoga to underserved populations. She currently teaches multiple yoga workshops agencies serving individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity across Los Angeles and is continuously expanding this endeavor.

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  Robin Petering, PhD

  RT @natashalennard: the legal system needs to shift away from presuming the credibility of police over that of their accusers. https://t.co/9w3vWbupBP

  Nov 3, 2017, 8:24 AM

Thoughts going forward after WCCV from Megan Gibbard

I leave every West Coast Convening with incredible gratitude for the skill and focus of those attending– leaders addressing youth homelessness along the West Coast.  I feel humbled by the quality and spirit of the conversations had during our time together. 

In no particular order, here are a few questions I formed while at the April 2016 West Coast Convening in Los Angeles.  I hope they spark further questions and thinking for readers.

 Can we embrace a “Support & Housing First” philosophy: a safe housing option available for every young person without condition AND the support services as young people need them, wherever they are? 

I’ve often wondered why “Housing First” is received poorly by some youth providers and advocates.  We want to house young people, right?  What’s the beef with this approach?  I’ve learned that, as with many methodologies, how we operationalize it matters. One concern with Housing First is that it becomes operationalized as Housing Only, pulling resources from front line supportive services for young people.  If dollars are reallocated from outreach, case management and basic needs to housing only we risk housing some at the expense of others who may be unable or unwilling to accept housing just yet.  We may also be placing young people in housing without the necessary services available to stay in housing. What could our reframe of Housing First look like?  How about “Support and Housing First?”

How can we promote a different conversation across systems and communities around coordinated entry and assessment?

In many of our current conversations on coordinated entry and assessment we talk past one another.  The system advocates aren’t heard.  The providers aren’t heard. We all keep saying the same thing.  (I’m guilty of this …). I am a passionate believer in the importance of coordinating entry to housing across a community.  Here are some other things I believe are true:

• 100% high needs kids in one small facility runs the risk of being chaotic for young people and challenging for providers.
• The best matching of young people and housing is about giving young people several options and asking them what will best meet their needs.
• We must address the needs of every young person who walks in our (real or figurative) doors, but not all needed responses will be the direct provision of housing.

What does it actually look like to account for the developmental need of youth and young adults?

What would it look like to get more concrete about the criteria for developmentally appropriate services?  How do you know if a program or support is developmentally appropriate?  Some “adult” programs certainly are, some “youth” programs may not be. We have had our “youth exceptionalism” challenged by larger systems of care for homeless individuals.  This raises for us, I think, a healthy challenge to better articulate what is different about homeless young people and what is needed.

These are only a few of my thoughts – small “ah-ha’s!” during the day-long conversation.  I’d be eager for your responses and additions at megan@awayhomeamerica.org.  I look forward to continuing the work with smarties up and down the West Coast, and across the United States.

Megan Gibbard is the Director of A Way Home America, the national effort to build the movement to end homelessness among young people. She previously coordinated the regional effort to prevent and end youth homelessness in King County, Washington; and was the Executive Director of Teen Feed, a small agency in Seattle’s University District. Megan has over 10 years of clinical experience with homeless youth. Current volunteer service includes membership on the board of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and Teen Feed. She received her MSW from the University of Washington in 2004 and her LICSW in 2011. She is a sailor and a terrier enthusiast in her spare time.

West Coast Convening V

April 7th and 8th in Los Angeles is going to be the fifth Convening of providers, community stake holders, advocates and researchers from up and down the West Coast.  We are dedicated to eradicating youth homelessness and helping young people build healthily, self-sufficient lives!

Thank you to USC School of Social Work, Safe Place for Youth, and the LA LGBT Youth Center on Highland for hosting the event.  

We will be posting pictures and other content from the event here.  Stay tuned for more.