Archive for December 2015

This paper, part of a series, emerged from the National Alliance to End Homelessness Practice Knowledge Project with the goal of identifying those approaches most likely to succeed in reducing the number of homeless youth.

They identified the following as necessary elements of such a system for unaccompanied minor youth.

• Prevention.  The structures that support minor youth – families, schools, caring adults, and communities – can be strengthened and assisted to prevent their homelessness.  Child welfare also has an important role to play.
• Crisis and Early Intervention.  Communities need enough shelter beds and services to ensure that no unaccompanied minor youth ever spends a night on the streets.  Further, crisis programs must have the capacity to connect youth and families to mainstream resources in the community to meet their long-term needs, including those resources that will enable youth to meet their long-term education and employment goals.
• Longer Term Housing and Services.  For youth who cannot immediately return home, communities must have a variety of safe, supportive, and developmentally responsive transitional housing options available to ensure that youth under 18 can begin to develop independent living skills, healthy and affirming social connections, and emotional wellbeing. These housing options must have low barriers to entry, and low tolerance for involuntary exits.

READ MORE..http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/ending-homelessness-for-unaccompanied-minor-youthHomelessness Project- Strategies for helping Unaccompanied Youth off the Street

This paper, part of a series, emerged from the National Alliance to End Homelessness Practice Knowledge Project. The Alliance, in partnership with Funders Together to End Homelessness and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and with the support of the Raikes Foundation and the Melville Charitable Trust, periodically convened insightful and experienced practitioners with a goal of identifying those approaches most likely to succeed in reducing the number of homeless youth.”>Ending Homelessness for Youth ages 18-24This paper, part of a series, emerged from the National Alliance to End Homelessness Practice Knowledge Project.

Each year, around 150,000 unaccompanied older youth experience homelessness. These youth have a broad range of needs but there is no comprehensive system to prevent their homelessness, provide supportive services, and ensure sufficient safe shelter and long-term housing options. Such a system is needed, and practitioners have identified the following as essential elements of such a system.
Supportive Relationships. Youth need help to develop and navigate supportive relationships with family, peers, and other caring adults. Short term and permanent connection should be nurtured.
Housing and Services. Youth can succeed in a variety of housing models, some of which must be low barrier. Key to the success of housing programs is the availability of developmentally appropriate services. The best services are: voluntary, provided in a harm reduction framework, informed by youth, and structured to allow them to make mistakes.
Connection to Mainstream Services. For long-term support, youth need to be connected to mainstream systems. To accomplish this, providers can advocate making the systems more responsive, help youth learn how to advocate on their own behalves, and support them as they engage with the systems.
Quality Staff. Frontline staff needs to be well trained and well supported.
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This paper, part of a series, emerged from the National Alliance to End Homelessness Practice Knowledge Project.

Rapid re-housing is an intervention that helps people who are homeless quickly return to permanent housing. The intervention has been widely used to end homelessness for adults, including both individuals and families. This report examines lessons learned from providers implementing rapid re-housing to help youth escape homelessness.

1. Rapid re-housing for youth requires purposefully embracing a client-driven, Housing First philosophy. Landlord engagement is crucial to implementing a successful rapid re-housing for youth program.
2. Rapid re-housing can work for youth, but it will need to be a little different from an adult rapid re-housing model.
3. Getting the services right is key for youth success in rapid re-housing.
4. Rapid re-housing for youth requires flexibility—in case management style, in funding, and in outcome measures.
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This paper, part of a series, emerged from the National Alliance to End Homelessness Practice Knowledge Project and examines in greater depth one promising strategy to end youth homelessness: family intervention.

Learning what works and what does not in family intervention is vital to ending youth homelessness, and providers shared the following important lessons:

1. Family intervention is almost always appropriate, and families should be seen as a valuable part of the solution to youth homelessness.
2. Early intervention is critical for keeping youth at home safely, or reuniting them quickly, with families.
3. Family intervention models are wide-ranging and flexible and can include early intervention, quick reunification, or just reconnection and improved relationships for youth who don’t return home to live.
4. Practical considerations of a family’s material circumstances are required to effectively facilitate family intervention.
5. Outcome measures vary and include those focused on process (participation in services) and those measuring entry into (or return to) shelter.
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