No Place to Call Home: Why Youth Homelessness Needs Urgent Attention

By Audrey Williams

 

Homelessness isn’t just an adult issue. Every year, thousands of young people in the U.S. experience life without a safe or stable place to sleep. Whether they’re crashing on a friend’s couch, staying in shelters, or living on the streets, youth who are homeless face unique and often invisible struggles. Many are still in school. Some are working. And far too many are simply trying to survive in a system that wasn’t built to support them.

According to the 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, on a single night in January 2024, more than 34,700 unaccompanied youth under the age of 25 were experiencing homelessness (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2024). Most were between 18 and 24, but many were minors. These young people aren’t just numbers, they are sons, daughters, classmates, and neighbors who fell through the cracks.

One of the most heartbreaking truths is that many of these youth didn’t become homeless by choice. As Burnes and DiLeo (2016) explain, common causes include family conflict, abuse, neglect, and aging out of foster care. Once out on their own, youth face an uphill battle. With no stable address, how do you fill out a job application? Without a phone or internet, how do you apply for services? These barriers keep many youth trapped in survival mode.

On top of that, research from Toro, Dworsky, and Fowler (2013) shows that youth experiencing homelessness often deal with untreated trauma, mental health struggles, and high rates of victimization, especially LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color. They are more likely to be assaulted, exploited, or arrested. Systems meant to protect them like shelters, hospitals, and schools often fail to meet their needs or push them away.

So what can we do?

The good news is that solutions exist. Experts stress that we need prevention and early intervention, not just emergency shelters. That means helping families before they fall apart. It means giving foster youth more support as they transition into adulthood. It also means offering safe housing options that don’t come with strings attached. Programs like Housing First, which give youth a stable home first and offer services second, have been shown to work (Burnes & DiLeo, 2016).

But real change requires us students, teachers, voters, neighbors to care enough to act. Whether that means volunteering, donating, voting for policies that fund youth services, or simply listening to a young person’s story, your actions matter. Because no one, especially not a teenager should ever be left without a place to call home.

References: 

Burnes, D. W., & DiLeo, D. L. (Eds.). (2016). Ending homelessness: Why we haven’t, how we can. Lynne Rienner Publishers. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=HyFIEAAAQBAJ

Neiditch, D. (n.d.). Facts about child homelessness in New York City [Image]. DanNeiditch.org. https://danneiditch.org/facts-about-child-homelessness-in-new-york-city/ 

Toro, P. A., Dworsky, A., & Fowler, P. J. (2013). Homeless youth in the United States: Recent research findings and intervention approaches. American Journal of Public Health, 103(S2), S86–S93. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301618

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2024). The 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress: Part 1 – Point-in-time estimates of homelessness. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2024-AHAR-Part-1.pdf