Youth Homelessness

As a result of youth homelessness, unaccompanied youth face serious harms and barriers in life, all of which hinder their ability to re-assimilate into society, depress their motivation, and inhibit their becoming independent, and successful. The consequences of homelessness bring despair to youth in the form of mental health problems, substance use, victimization and criminal activity, unsafe sexual practices, and barriers to education and employment. These problems further burden society with the cost of finding ways to take care of these youth. If these youth are not helped, they will likely become an addition to the population of chronic homeless adults.

There are 162,000 homeless youth estimated to be victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the United States. The average age of entry into prostitution is fourteen. One of every three teens on the street will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.

There is national runaway safeline that was Founded by a group of Chicago agencies and originally named Metro Help, the hotline was established in 1971 to fill a need for comprehensive crisis intervention for young people in Chicago. In 1974, the National Runaway Safeline received an eight-month federal demonstration grant to establish a national hotline.

They maintain a database of thousands of resources nationwide.  When you contact them, they are able to connect you with a wide range of services and supports.  

There phone number is 1-800-runaway

For children that ran away because of abuse, neglect, human trafficking, or other issues, they have resources and assistance.

They also have resources for concerned adults. Remember 1-800-runaway.

It is time that we start to have compassion. Just as that man said at the end if the song; these are people too. Anger and hatred will never be ways to find solutions to anything. Remember, we don’t know all of their stories. How many are homeless by no fault of their own.

Stigmas often arise from a lack of understanding or fear, both of which can be exacerbated by inaccurate or misleading representations in the media. Stigmas can lead to stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination. People who are experiencing homelessness are marginalized and discriminated against in various ways. The first step to eradicating homelessness is knowing what stigmas surrounding homelessness exist and their impact on people who experience homelessness.