Young, Alone, and Homeless in the Lone Star State

1. Young, Alone, and Homeless in the Lone Star State Policy Solutions to End Youth Homelessness in Texas

2. Texas Appleseed promotes social and economic justice for all Texans by leveraging the skills and resources of volunteer lawyers and other professionals to identify practical solutions to difficult, systemic problems.

3. Texas Appleseed Areas of Focus Means for Policy Change • Fair Housing & Disaster Recovery • Fair Financial Services • School-to-Prison Pipeline • Criminal Justice • Juvenile Justice • Foster Care • Homeless Youth • Research/Policy Reports • Legislative/Local Advocacy • Pro Se/Self Help Guides • Guide Books/Handbooks • Coalition BUilding

4. The mission of TNOYS is to strengthen, support, and protect critical services for Texas youth and their families in order to ensure their success.

5. Priority Areas: • Prevention and Early Intervention • Foster Care • Youth Homelessness • Transition to Adulthood • Trauma Informed Care • Youth/Adult Partnerships and Youth Voice

6. Prior Work Youth Count Texas! Rights’ Guide: Providers Homeless Youth Handbook

7. Why This Report? Content • Raise awareness • Identify drivers to youth homelessness • Identify policies and programs that work • Identify gaps in services and resources • Identify opportunities to build capacity • Recommend policy and priority changes • FAQs • Education • Juvenile/Criminal Justice • Foster Care • Physical & Behavioral Health • Community Services & Supports • Policy Recommendations Throughout

8. What we Will Cover Today • What systems contribute to youth homelessness? • What systems are strained by youth homelessness? • What resources and services are available? • What can Texas and its communities build on to better support homeless youth and young adults?

9. Foster Care Findings Too many youth in foster care are: • Without an appropriate placement • Running away • Vulnerable to trafficking • Aging out into homelessness • Not “opting in” to Extended Foster Care • Not able to access Supervised Independent Living • Also involved in the juvenile justice system and therefore at heightened risk of homelessness

10. Top 15 Counties with Highest Number of Children who Ran Away From a DFPS Placement (FY 2016)

12. Youth Aged Out of Foster Care by Region, Statewide (FY 2016) Top 15 Counties with Highest Number of Youth Aged Out of Foster Care, Statewide (FY 2016)

14. Juvenile Justice Findings • Increased risk of victimization for youth who are homeless • Varying responses among counties to runaways • High number of reoccurring runaways • Criminalization of symptoms and survival behavior lead to cycle of system involvement • Transition out of a facility is a point of risk of homelessness

15. Top 15 Counties with the Highest Total Runaway Referrals to Probation and Total Runaway Youth Referred to Probation, Ranked by Total Referrals (FY 2015)

16. Top 15 Counties with the Highest Count of Youth Reported Missing to Law Enforcement (2016)

17. * In counties with 50 or more runaway youth referred

18. School Status of Youth Referred for Runaway (FY 2015) Prior Referrals of Youth Referred for Runaway (FY 2015)

20. Education Findings • Texas is identifying more homeless students but some districts are not identifying any. • Schools are important to identifying youth homelessness and connecting to resources. • Homeless liaisons are not adequately resourced. • Students experiencing homelessness experience poor academic outcomes. • Students experiencing homelessness receive exclusionary discipline at disproportionate rates.

21. Top 15 Districts with the Highest Count of Unaccompanied Homeless Students, Ranked by Count (School Year 2014-15) Top 15 Districts with the Highest Count of Homeless Students (Accompanied & Unaccompanied), Ranked by Count (School Year 2014-15)

28. Health Findings • Trauma looms large for youth experiencing homelessness • Minor consent laws are confusing and unnecessarily complicated • Economic barriers prevent youth from obtaining health care

29. Community services and resources • There is substantial research on best practices for serving homeless youth and young adults. • Texas has a strong infrastructure of nonprofit CBOs providing these services. • Exiting programs are under-funded and cannot meet demand; they are also at risk. • The State of Texas does not appropriate funding specifically for serving youth who are homeless. It is also unclear in Texas who is responsible for serving homeless youth. • Although federal funding is growing, it remains insufficient.

30. Recommendation: build on existing programs • Prevention services, including Services to At-Risk Youth • Services for youth in foster care, including PAL and SIL • Services for homeless populations that are not specific to youth • Services for victims of domestic minor sex trafficking • Funding for McKinney Vento implementation • Lessons learned from Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grants

31. Recommendation: strengthen collaboration • Coordination at federal level • Collaboration, accountability, and funding at the state level, such as through a task force • Collaboration at the local level • Education, law enforcement, juvenile justice, criminal justice, child welfare, health care, mental health care, Continuum of Care organizations, community-based providers

32. Contact Information www.texasappleseed.org www.tnoys.org cgendron@tnoys.org bmerfish@texasappleseed.net gmcdonald@texasappleseed.net Christine Gendron Brett Merfish Gabriella mcDonald