On a given night in 2015, there were 2,380 unaccompanied homeless children without shelter in the United States and not enough shelter beds to give them shelter in each Continuum of Care (CoC).  To have enough shelter for each unaccompanied homeless child in each Continuum of Care, an additional 1,758 to 1,896 shelter beds are needed in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing.

According to data from the 2015 Point-in-Time Count, unaccompanied homeless children without shelter are located in 33 states and additional shelter beds are needed for unaccompanied homeless children in 21 to 23 states.  Eighty-seven percent of the unaccompanied homeless children without shelter are located in five states.  These five states are California, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, and Oregon.  These five states are where 95 percent of additional shelter beds are needed.

Unaccompanied homeless children without shelter are located across the country.  Unaccompanied homeless children without shelter are located in 101 of the 403 Continuum of Care areas in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  They are located from the far northwest reaches of the country in Alaska in the Anchorage CoC and the Alaska Balance of State CoC to the far southeast parts of the country in Florida in seven of the Florida CoC areas.

The need for additional shelter beds also occurs across the country.  Additional shelter beds are needed for unaccompanied homeless children without shelter in at least 44 to 55 CoC areas, if every empty emergency shelter bed, transitional housing bed, and permanent housing bed in the CoC for unaccompanied children and youth is considered available.  Four of the CoC areas where additional shelter beds are needed comprise large
rural portions of a state: Georgia Balance of State CoC, Hawaii Balance of State CoC, North Carolina Balance of State CoC, and Oregon Balance of State CoC.

The need is extraordinary in some areas.  Twenty or more additional shelter beds are needed in 10 or 11 of these CoC areas.  More than 100 additional shelter beds are needed in 5 to 6 of these CoC areas.

With additional resources above the renewal demand made available for these CoC areas, no unaccompanied child would be sleeping in the streets and in other places not meant for human habitation.