Cheri Gladney EDU 644; Child and Family Welfare Instructor; Karen Conzett February 19,2015

ChicagoNew York

 59,112 homeless students in the school year  up 7.7% in a year  more than double (221%) what it was five years earlier

 Approximately 1.7 million young people call the streets home every year.  Nearly 20,000 homeless people 24 years old and younger live in New York City.  Children under 18 accounted for 39% of the homeless population.  Of that number, approximately 42% were younger than age 5.  Approximately 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT.  Every year, approximately 5,000 homeless young people will die because of assault, illness, or suicide while trying to survive.

The Homeless Youth program provides several types of important services for homeless youth. They include:  Emergency Shelter - Either through placement in a shelter, group home or by purchasing lodging, youth receive a safe, clean, dry place to sleep.  Transitional Services - These services focus on developing skills necessary to support oneself, including education, employment services and subsidized housing.  Drop-in center/outreach - These services seek to find homeless youth and assess their needs. Program staff may attempt to reunite them with family or refer them to transitional services.  Services for singles - Singles programs serve youth who do not have children.

 emergency and transitional facilities for victims of domestic violence  transitional housing for adolescents aging out of foster care  programs for homeless and runaway youth  transitional programs for people in recovery  supported housing for veterans, people living with HIV/AIDS, ex-offenders, substance abusers, the chronic homeless, and the severely and persistently mentally ill

Homeless youth can face devastating short and long-term consequences.

“Chicago’s Plan 2.0 is a broad- ranging, seven-year action plan that reaffirms, builds on the core tenets outlined in Chicago’s original Plan to End Homelessness – homeless prevention, housing first, and wraparound services - and identifies new strategies to improve access and opportunity for those most in need.”

“The Bureau of Housing and Support Services administers an array of programs to address the problems of homelessness in the State. These programs provide a continuum of services for homeless, at risk and low-income households. BHSS programs are designed to prevent homelessness, provide shelter for the homeless, construct supportive housing for the homeless and offer essential services to stabilize housing situations and increase levels of self-sufficiency.”

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