True Colors United and the National Homelessness Law Center released the 2021 edition of their annually updated report, “State Index on Youth Homelessness.” The report reviews and scores how well-prepared states are to prevent and end youth homelessness. Youth experiencing homelessness face a wide array of barriers preventing them from accessing needed resources and services. A state’s policy and legal infrastructure can either provide protections for or hinder youth who are exiting homelessness. The report finds that the scores of nearly all states improved between 2020 and 2021, though the performances of many states still lag, with Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, and South Carolina scoring the lowest on the index. The report also acknowledges that a high score on the index does not necessarily indicate less-challenging experiences for youth experiencing homelessness, as some states with comprehensive infrastructures – such as New York and California – also have severe shortages of affordable housing.
The index gives scores to states using a 100-point scale, evaluating each state on metrics within three categories: Laws and Policies, Systems, and Environment. In the Laws and Policies category, states were evaluated on the basis of metrics such as whether they had a “Runaway and Homeless Youth Act,” whether they had policies designed to limit interactions between youth experiencing homelessness and the criminal justice system, and whether they promoted educational access for youth experiencing homelessness. The report highlights promising practices in states that scored highly in this category. Minnesota, for example, has enacted a “Homeless Youth Act” that funds a range of services to support youth experiencing homelessness. The report also highlights areas where policies could be removed or enhanced to better support youths. Thirty-four states allow police to take runaway youth into custody, and nine states allow runaway youth to be detained. The report recommends repealing punitive measures like these, as they can cause trauma and increase the chances that youth remain involved in the legal system.
In the Systems category, states were evaluated on the basis of metrics such as whether they had a plan to end homelessness that includes a youth component and whether they had an office that specifically addresses youth homelessness. Three states (Kentucky, Washington, and Wisconsin) received perfect scores, while Arkansas, Mississippi, and Kansas received the lowest scores. The report highlights Wisconsin’s state plan as one that lays out specific strategies to support youths experiencing homelessness in areas of permanent housing, postsecondary education, and in rural settings. The report recommends that states create entities that focus solely on designing, implementing, and evaluating youth homelessness programs and that they form a State Interagency Council on Homelessness.
In the Environment category, states were evaluated on the basis of metrics such as whether they had youth community advisory boards, whether they required staff training on issues specific to LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness, and whether they established sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes within homeless youth programs. California and the District of Columbia received perfect scores in this category, while Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wyoming each received scores of zero. The report recommends organizing a youth action council to inform state policy and responses to youth homelessness and ensuring that any statewide strategy to address and prevent youth homelessness is inclusive of LGBTQ+ youth. This is particularly important as homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth is on the rise: between 2020 and 2021, the number of transgender youth experiencing sheltered homelessness increased by 28.6% and the number of nonbinary youth experiencing sheltered homelessness increased 26%.
Read the report at: https://bit.ly/3tflg9J