Youth Homelessness Prevention | Atheists Helping the Homeless, DC

Homelessness troubles young and old in a similar way but youth experience homelessness differently than adults and families. They have to face housing instability and they move from house to house or sleep on strangers’ couches and sometimes in unsafe conditions. 

Juvenile Law Center can prevent youth homelessness. These child welfare and justice systems do not directly cause youth homelessness, but some of their practices and policies may contribute enhance homelessness. These systems have Ways to prevent youth homelessness.

Following are the ways to Ways to prevent youth homelessness

1. youth homelessness prevention and reuniting families: Kids are less likely to leave home in the first place if they nurture under the shade of their parents. parenting skills in adults develop better relationships with their children ages 13 to 17. Coaching takes place through confidential phone consultations, support groups, and in-home family counselling.

Outreach staff connects runaway children with their parents to improve family dynamics. Returning youth to abusive homes is never desirable, and reunions with families are seldom achievable for those who have aged out of foster care at 18. They represent more than 10 per cent of the homeless youth population and spend two to four years on the streets.

2. Safeguarding education and employment opportunities: youth care centres connect homeless kids with adults who teach them the academic and job skills needed for future self-dependent. Many youngsters in the program secure placements in various fields such as construction, food service, and computer technology. All participating youth are paid for their time to make them self-confident. Programs are organized

through volunteer support and partnerships with businesses, private foundations, other non-profits, and faith communities.

3. Mobilizing philanthropists:  various organizations have a national network to reduce homelessness through strategic collaboration and grant-making. Using a team approach, these funders aid the development of homeless service systems that combine public, private, and non-profit resources proficiently and successfully.

4. Turning social-service "silos" into systems: Funders, agencies, and elected officials from the youth and young adult homelessness task force to plan a systems model to coordinate separate sectors and programs to end homelessness among the county's young adults.

Conference participants learned from media connections and others how agencies can frame messages to aim at different audiences. Message delivery strategies included ways of engaging traditional media and of using new social media to prevent youth homelessness. 

Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program

In addition to youth navigators, diversion and rapid exit funds, crisis housing, and rapid re-housing, the program provides youth-specific resources for responding to homeless youth.