2. Today’s Presenters Debby Shore, National Network for Youth, Washington D.C. Lynn Morison, Policy Director for Ending Youth and Family Homelessness, Bill Wilson Center, San Jose, California Maggie Riden, Executive Director, DC Alliance of Youth Advocates, Washington DC Tyrone Thompson, Clark County Regional Initiatives Coordinator, Las Vegas, NV

3. Webinar Sponsors National Network for Youth National Alliance to End Homelessness John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes DC Alliance of Youth Advocates We are each devoted to ending youth homelessness, increasing opportunities for homeless youth and helping them reach their full potential

4. Technical Details To submit live questions, click on the “Questions” panel on your screen, type your question, and click “Send” Presentation materials and audio will be posted on The National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Network for Youth and John Burton Foundation websites.

5. Purpose To elevate awareness of the critical importance of the Point In Time Count of 2013 To encourage stakeholders to organize locally to make this count, count !! Provide tools, methodologies and promising practices to support your efforts to get unaccompanied homeless youth accurately counted in each community in the country (urban and rural)

6. HEARTH Act Implementation All sub-populations must be included in the Point in Time Count including youth ages 18-24 New PIT Category for Youth 18-24 included for the first time in 2013!! Communities are encouraged to develop plans to end homelessness for everyone - including youth!!

7. Why a Youth PIT Count Matters Accurate data supports our ability to advocate for homeless youth Lack of information about the scope of youth homelessness contributes to the lack of adequate resources Improved collaboration between youth providers and Continuums of Care can lead to better delivery of services

8. Stakeholders Must Work Together Youth who are homeless or at risk Runaway and Homeless Youth Providers (Street Outreach, Basic Center Shelters and Independent Living Programs) Adult Providers who are serving 18 - 24 year olds School Coordinators Youth Advocates Public Systems of Care (mental health, health, substance abuse, TANF, Food Stamps, Law Enforcement) Continuums of Care

9. Aspirations for the Webinar To help communities plan for the youth component of the 2013 bi-annual point in time count To develop concrete strategies in order to ensure the most accurate data To learn techniques for better coordination of key stakeholders To discover creative ways to plan for tackling youth homelessness in your community

11. Partners in implementing the youth count: Methodology and data collection Recruiting, training and deploying youth Report Findings City of San Jose Bill Wilson Center Applied Survey Research Continuum of Care Overview

12. City of San Jose Population of over 945,000 Largest city in Santa Clara County Department of Housing, Homeless Program Primary funder of Point In Time count

13. Bill Wilson Center Community based nonprofit agency serving families and youth 16 programs providing counseling, housing, education and advocacy Annual budget of $12 million with 130 staff Programs involved in count – Transitional Housing Program, Drop In Center, Crisis Youth Shelter

14. Applied Survey Research Nonprofit social research firm Conducted numerous PIT counts and targeted youth counts Contracted to facilitate count in Santa Clara County

15. Santa Clara Collaborative on Affordable Housing and Homeless Issues Lead entity for the Continuum of Care for Santa Clara County Includes: CBO’s Faith based organizations Housing providers County and city departments Community Technology Alliance (HMIS)

16. Methodology Shelter count included youth shelter, Transitional Age Youth (TAY) shelter and TAY transitional housing Reported on single night Targeted street count utilizing Drop In Center staff and youth Done over two days between 3:00p.m. – 7:00p.m.

17. Methodology cont’d Survey administered to both street and sheltered youth Every third youth encountered in the street count Representative sample of sheltered youth

18. Recruiting and Training Homeless youth from our Drop In Center Identify leaders Hold focus groups Training with ASR 90 minute orientation How to fill out enumeration form Administer the survey

19. Deploying Youth went out in teams of two Staff drove youth to sites the youth had identified: streets, malls, encampments, abandoned buildings Categorized youth as being under age 18 or between the ages of 18-24 Youth compensated for all hours worked including training hours

20. Report Findings “2011 City of San Jose Homeless Census and Survey” Overview of youth characteristics Where they typically reside at night Their use of government services Their social support networks What caused their homeless episode

21. Goals for Future Counts Expand count to include all of county – different demographics and challenges in counting in more rural areas Engage the homeless liaisons in the school districts in participating Utilize the data in ending youth and family homelessness

22. Lessons Learned Involve youth from the beginning in planning and implementing the count Provide financial incentives for participation, ideally an hourly rate Recognize the limitations of this model as it may not be effective in more rural areas and doesn’t take into account school data

24. Getting a Seat at the Table Lessons Learned in DC What we’re going to talk about: Our evolution in engaging our local Interagency Council and Continuum of Care The outcomes realized by engaging our ICH/CoC How we got there- strategies and approaches Looking ahead

25. The Context Interagency Council and CoC Providers/ Advocates for Families Providers/ Advocates for Individuals Youth Providers Interagency Council and CoC Providers/ Advocates for Families Providers/ Advocates for Individuals Youth Providers 20102012

26. The Evolution 20102011 Roughly 122 beds for youth $782,000 in local funding was allocated to youth Less than 10 youth (under 18) were counted in the annual PIT; over 600 families with a youth head of household counted 2012 156 beds for youth $818,500 in local funding was allocated to single youth; $1,337,000 to families with a head of household under 24 years of age 26 unaccompanied minors were counted in PIT. Families with a head of household under 24 are rising dramatically. DCAYA conducts Youth Survey finds 390 homeless youth in two weeks of March. Over 230 beds dedicated to youth $910,000 in local funding was allocated to single youth; $2,100,000 to families with a head of household under 24 years of age 13 unaccompanied youth were counted in the PIT. Over 1/3 of family shelter users were headed by a parent under age 24

27. How we did it Build and maintain your collective knowledge base Be Solution Oriented Build linkages/coalition of the willing among youth providers Find your allies and advocacy partners Become a constant presence in your local ICH Or CoC meetings

28. Looking Ahead Increasing capacity of local PIT Support collaboration/join advocacy of youth providers is ongoing Want to learn more? Contact Maggie Riden, Executive Director, DC Alliance of Youth Advocates www.dc-aya.org maggie@dc-aya.org or 202-587-0616

29. Michele Fuller-Hallauer, MSW, LSW Continuum of Care Coordinator Las Vegas/ Clark County CoC www.helphopehome.org

30. CoC and School District Title I HOPE Coordinator Sits on CoC decision making body Title I HOPE Project Facilitator Sits on the CoC evaluation working group Member of the Homeless Youth Services Working Group

31. School District and the Census Title I HOPE office Conducts monthly update of housing status for youth in school On day of count updates their housing status report Break out data into housing status categories Hotel/motel Street Car/van/camper Emergency shelter In the home of another person/family

32. Youth Teams Youth team developed Homeless youth vs. out of school youth training Specific areas assigned Target: Malls Parks Recreation centers Fast food restaurants

33. Rural Census: Partners Code Enforce- ment Animal Control Metropolitan Police Department Recreation centers Family Resource Centers Homeless Service Providers

34. Process Census tract maps Meetings Assignments Deployment Report back

35. Contact Information Michele Fuller-Hallauer MSW, LSW Continuum of Care Coordinator SNRPC-Committee on Homelessness Regional Initiatives Office 1600 Pinto Lane Las Vegas, NV 89106 (phone) 702-455-5188 www.helphopehome.org

36. Resources National Alliance to End Homelessness: http://www.endhomelessness. org/pages/youthcount Interactive map Fact sheets & Recommendations Webinars National Network for Youth: Recommendations For System Enhancements toward Ending Youth Homelessness: http://www.nn4youth.org/system/files/NN4Y%20Recommendations%20 REV%205-24-12-1%20copy.pdf HUD Guidance on Youth PIT Counts: http://www.hudhre.info/ documents/2011PITYouth Guidance.pdf

37. Questions Use the “Questions” tool on the GoToWebinar Control Panel to Submit Questions The presentation materials and audio will be posted at: http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/youthcount http://www.cahomelessyouth.org/past.html http://www.nn4youth.org