The nation’s comprehensive strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, has a goal to prevent and end homelessness for youth and children in 2020.  Opening Doors was amended in June in part to define the end to homelessness as when every community will have the capacity to quickly identify and engage people at risk of and experiencing homelessness, prevent the loss of housing, provide immediate access to shelter, and quickly connect people to housing assistance and services to help them achieve and maintain stable housing.  It was also amended to emphasize the use of data in decision-making to prevent and end homelessness.  Our analysis of the numbers of homeless children and youth and the numbers of beds available for homeless children and youth gathered from the 2014 Point-in-Time Count and Housing Inventory Count provide data that can be used in decision-making by policymakers, federal officials, state and local officials, homeless and housing service providers, and others to prevent and end homelessness.

Our first post in our series discussing homelessness without shelter in America pointed out that 4,271 unaccompanied homeless children and 17,638 unaccompanied homeless young adults were without shelter on a given night in January 2014.  Unaccompanied homeless children were without shelter in 34 states.  Additional shelter beds are needed in 22 of these states so that all unaccompanied homeless children have access to shelter.

Homeless children without shelter reside in both urban and rural areas and both urban and rural areas need additional youth beds for children.  For example, in Texas, 62 unaccompanied homeless children were without shelter and 58 additional beds were needed in the City of Houston/Harris County and 267 unaccompanied homeless children were without shelter and 183 to 203 additional beds were needed in the Texas Balance of State CoC.

Homeless young adults also need more assistance.  The 17,638 homeless young adults without shelter on a given night were in all 50 states.  Additional shelter beds are needed in 47 of these states so that homeless young adults have access to shelter.

Additional beds for unaccompanied homeless young adults also are needed in both urban and rural areas.  In Georgia, 57 unaccompanied homeless young adults were without shelter in the Atlanta CoC and 22 to 31 additional beds were needed and 92 unaccompanied homeless young adults were without shelter in the Savannah/Chatham County CoC and 92 additional beds were needed and 310 unaccompanied homeless young adults were without shelter in the Georgia Balance of State CoC and 310 additional beds were needed.

In total, 3,665 to 3,768 additional youth beds are needed to provide shelter for all of the unaccompanied homeless children and 16,346 to 16,777 additional youth beds are needed to provide shelter for all of the unaccompanied homeless young adults.  The U.S. Senate has proposed $33 million in its fiscal year 2016 housing appropriations bill to implement demonstration projects in up to 10 communities, including at least four rural communities, which are designed to reduce youth homelessness.  The Senate also has included language in its bill to make it easier for homeless young adults to establish eligibility for homeless services.  Although these provisions should reduce youth homelessness in the 10 demonstration communities and in communities where there are sufficient shelter resources, unaccompanied homeless children and young adults without shelter were reported in 339 CoC areas and there were not enough shelter beds for them in 290 CoC areas.  Congress should appropriate enough money so that homeless youth have access to shelter no matter where they live.