Every year more than a half million young people, ages 12 to 25, experience homelessness in the United States. They are on their own. Overwhelmingly, they are youth of color and young people who identify as LGBTQ. These young people want to learn, work, and contribute positively to communities.
In this critical period of brain development, young people benefit from positive experiences and environments. Collectively, we can do more for them by advancing policies and programming aimed at the environmental supports young people need to transition into successful adults and responsible citizens.
At the Raikes Foundation, we believe youth homelessness is solvable by working together. Since 2011, we've aimed to make it a rare, brief and one-time occurrence for young people in King County. More recently, we've expanded our efforts to also help Washington state and the nation prevent and end youth homelessness. We see our role as a catalyst by bringing people together to learn what work, share promising practices and unlock resources for youth.
PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION
As a society, we're missing major opportunities - through our public schools, child welfare services, and juvenile justice system - to recognize the early warning signs of young people in crisis and connect them to supportive services. We can stem the tide of youth homelessness through enhanced prevention and early intervention efforts.
Public Schools: On average, there are 14 students experiencing homelessness in every public school across America. With the proper support, teachers and staff can help identify youth who are facing crises and connect them to the right services, such as counseling, legal assistance, or housing.
Child Welfare: The instability of being in the foster care system often leads young people directly to homelessness. With more resources and improved coordination among youth-serving agencies, child welfare can play a vital part in keeping young people from ever experiencing homelessness.
Juvenile Justice: Too many youth cycle between the juvenile justice system and homelessness. Law enforcement, probation officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges can break this cycle by linking young people to supportive services, such as housing, education, and employment opportunities.
CRISIS RESPONSE
Even one night on the streets can derail a young person's future. The faster crisis response systems can identify and match a young person with appropriate services, the sooner that young person can get back on a path toward stability. That's why we're fostering collaboration to better understand the needs of young people, align available services and develop innovative solutions.
PATHWAYS TO STABILITY
Education and employment are fundamental for long-term stability as young people exit homelessness. We're working with partners to create education and employment pathways that help homeless youth get on a positive trajectory toward adulthood.
PARTNERSHIPS AND ADVOCACY
The time to act is now. If we don't invest in our future today, we allow existing problems to grow, which only costs us more in the long run. We're partnering with public and private leaders across the nation to fund research and raise awareness of the urgency of solving youth homelessness.
In just a few years, much has been accomplished in King County's fight against youth homelessness. The Raikes Foundation is proud to be a contributor to these community-led efforts with support from other funders, service providers, policymakers and young people. We all recognize that our journey is not finished, but we are on our way to making youth and young adult homelessness rare, brief and a one-time occurrence. Here are some of our proudest accomplishments to-date.
On a recent Monday morning, a young woman took a seat before the Seattle City Council, opened her PowerPoint slides, and cheerfully introduced herself to the elected officials.
“My name is Montrai Williams,” she told the council, flashing a photograph of herself in pigtails at the age of four. “I go by Trai.”
She spoke with the calm and confidence of a seasoned political veteran. Yet Trai is far from typical in the halls of government—one reason why she is such an effective advocate for preventing and ending youth homelessness in King County.
On a recent Monday morning, a young woman took a seat before the Seattle City Council, opened her PowerPoint slides, and cheerfully introduced herself to the elected officials.
“My name is Montrai Williams,” she told the council, flashing a photograph of herself in pigtails at the age of four. “I go by Trai.”
She spoke with the calm and confidence of a seasoned political veteran. Yet Trai is far from typical in the halls of government—one reason why she is such an effective advocate for preventing and ending youth homelessness in King County.
Five years into our work on youth homelessness, the Raikes Foundation team reflects on challenges, successes and lessons learned from our work to-date in King County. Our hope is that this document will inform other public and private funders as they set out on their own journeys to support young people facing homelessness in their communities.
Read MoreThis brief from the National Alliance to End Homelessness examines data on homeless youth, estimates the number of homeless youth across a typology, and summarizes promising strategies to more effectively end youth homelessness.
Read MoreSchools play an integral role in preventing youth from experiencing homelessness and supporting those who do. Commissioned by the Raikes Foundation, this report by Civic Enterprises and America's Promise Alliance draws on available data and first-hand testimonials to outline what must be done to properly support schools in this important work.
Read MoreThis plan is a shared community vision—and represents a shared community commitment—to tackle the problem of youth homelessness. It includes a detailed roadmap of steps for our community to take within a specific period of time to ensure fewer young people experience homelessness, or spend shorter stays in shelters or on the streets if they do become homeless.
Read More“Like all children, homeless youth have boundless promise. Or rather, they have promise that is bounded only by our ability to help them find their way. ”
– Tricia Raikes
To support outreach efforts and the outreach learning lab with a focus on how to assess the impact of outreach and learn about improved practice.
To fund direct service programs for homeless youth and support the annual All-Star Softball Classic for Homeless Youth.
To facilitate the Youth and Young Adult Funders Group, a collaborative of private and public funders working together to prevent and end youth homelessness in King County.
To launch Youth Advocates Ending Homelessness, a youth leadership program that engages current or previously homelessness youth through regional efforts to prevent and end youth homelessness.
To co-fund a Project Manager position for the Homeless Youth and Young Adult Initiative, to implement Youth Housing Connections, a regional strategy to improve young people’s access to appropriate housing, and to support the expansion of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
