Youth Homelessness

How many youth and young adults are homeless in King County?

One Night Count^[1]

• 473 unaccompanied youth and young adults in shelter/transitional housing
• Youth and young adults are not distinguishable from other adults in the street count

Safe Harbors Data

• 364 young adults
• Unaccompanied minors are excluded by law from giving informed consent to provide data to Safe Harbors.

Who are homeless youth?

Homeless Youth and Young Adults are young people between the ages of 12 and 24 who are “unaccompanied”, meaning they are not part of a homeless family.

Many have been in foster care or difficult home situations for a large part of their childhood and for one reason or another, end up on their own and without any means of support in their teens or early 20’s.

Some aged out of the foster care system at age 18 unprepared for life as an independent adult.

Others have been on the street sporadically or continuously throughout their teen years.

All have experienced some kind of trauma since they landed on the street and many come from a childhood full of traumatic experiences.

Many suffer from mental health conditions or learning disabilities and most have been exposed to a street culture that involves daily drug and alcohol use and other behaviors required for street survival but counterproductive to getting housing, education and jobs.

Why are young adults treated differently from other homeless adults?

While young adults may also be part of the single adult population, many of them share developmental needs with youth and identify more with the youth population and culture. Therefore, specialized services are required to engage them and effectively support them in gaining stable housing.

Why are youth homeless?

Family Problems

• Physical or sexual abuse: It has been estimated that between 17-35% of homeless youth experience physical or sexual abuse.
• Strained relationships: difficult parent-child relationships can become explosive during adolescence.
• Parental neglect: parents under extreme stress or otherwise impaired may assume that teens are old enough to care for themselves.
• Addiction by a family member often makes the home seem less hospitable than the streets.
• Family conflicts related to sexual orientation or gender identity; a disproportionate number, of LGBTQ youth experience homelessness based on lack of tolerance. While 3-5% of the U.S. population identifies as gay or lesbian, up to 43% of homeless youth identify as gay or lesbian.^[3]

Economic Problems

• Shortage of affordable housing,
• Insufficient wages,
• Lack of medical insurance/access to healthcare, and
• Limited employment opportunities.
• Youth may become homeless while living with families, and experience inter-generational poverty. Children under 18 represented 31% of people staying in shelter and transitional housing.^[4]
• Youth may also be forced to separate from families due to shelter limitations based on family composition, age, and sex of the youth and/ or shelter availability.

Residential Instability

• Inconsistent foster care placements
• Transitioning out of foster care

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, 20,000-25,000 youth ages 18 and older transition out of the foster care system homeless.^[5] When youth age out of the foster care system, they often do so without a home, life skills, resources, or family support. In fact, 25% of former foster youth nationwide reported that they had been homeless within 2-4 years of exiting foster care.^[6]

• Juvenile detention or state prison detention

In 2006, 3852 admissions were made to secure juvenile detention in King County. Youth are sometimes discharged without stable housing. A criminal record makes it difficult to find housing, even within the homeless assistance system.

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^[1] Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH) 2007 One-Night Count of People who are Homeless in King County, WA  //homelessinfo.org/ONCreportv2.pdf
^[2] National Coalition for the Homeless.  Homeless Youth Fact Sheet #13.  August 2007.
^[3] National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.  December 14, 2006. http://www.thetaskforce.org/press/releases/pr1019_121406
^[4] National Coalition for the Homeless.  Homeless Youth Fact Sheet #13.  August 2007.
^[5] National Alliance to End Homelessness.  Fact Checker:  Accurate Statistics on Homelessness.  June 2007   Youth Homelessness.
^[6] Ibid.