Journeys of Hope, Inc.  

According to the definition used by the McKinney-Vento Education Assistance Act, the term "homeless youth" covers young people who lack fixed, adequate, or regular housing.  This includes young people who:

• are living in emergency or transitional homeless shelters with their parents, or whose families have doubled up with friends or relatives due to economic hardship or other reasons.
• cannot, or choose not to, stay with their families in shelters.
• are awaiting foster care. (In Massachusetts, this means youth who are in state care or custody and in temporary, transitional, or emergency placements.)
• are unaccompanied or not living in the physical custody of their parents/guardians,  including "runaway" or "throwaway" youth.
• have no known shelter at all and are living in parks, empty buildings, or cars, or are moving from one friend’s place to another’s or staying with a relative*

*Source: Massachusetts Department of Education

 

What are some risk factors of homelessness among youth?

• Difficult economic climate: more competition for entry level jobs, housing, etc.

• State budget cuts which are reducing programs for youth aging out of public care programs such as foster care, group homes and DYS

• Lack of supportive adult relationships

• History of abuse, neglect and substance use

• Mental illness

• Involvement in the juvenile justice system