Rss@dailykos.com (sher Watts Spooner) · Sunday, April 17, 2016, 6:51 pm
A new study from the Department of Health and Human Services paints a bleak picture for the nation’s homeless youth, but it also recommends some steps to help the tens of thousands of homeless young people on the nation’s streets.
Here are some of the conclusions from the just-released report, done with data collected by 11 agencies nationwide that work with homeless youth:
- The average homeless youth spent nearly two years living on the streets.
- More than 60 percent of homeless youth were raped, beaten up, robbed, or otherwise assaulted.
- Nearly 30 percent of the HHS study participants identified themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and nearly seven percent identified as transgender.
- About half of homeless youth had been in foster care, and youth with a foster care history had been homeless for much longer (27.5 months, on average) than youth who had never been in foster care (19.3 months, on average).
- More than half of the study’s participants became homeless for the first time because they were asked to leave home by a parent or caregiver.
- More than half said they tried to stay at a shelter but that the shelter was full.
- More than half also needed a safe place to stay; help with education; access to laundry facilities; a place to study, rest, or spend time during the day; and a phone.
This comprehensive, first-of-its-kind study was funded by the HHS Administration for Children and Families’ Family & Youth Services Bureau and was conducted by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The study focused on 873 youth ages 14 to 21, who were interviewed extensively by 11 agencies in cities across the country, from Boston to San Diego.
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