In connection with my book presentation last week that talked about the “new homeless” being  more youthful and this weekend’s reading where it talked about how homeless youth work with shelters, I decided to dive more into the topic of homeless youth in the U.S..

This article goes over some topics that we have already discussed in class. For example, how the homeless population is starting to have a makeup of more younger people in their 20s rather than the “old homeless” who have usually been in their mid 50s. It also talks about how homeless youth usually crash on their friends’ couches or hang out on the streets. The article empathized that, “mostly, they just blend in.”

New York is holding their annual homeless count and following along the same criteria that we learned about in class when doing their count. However, many homeless people are “overlooked.” The article also talks about how failure to make an accurate homeless count results in, “fewer social services for people at particular risk of being drawn into prostitution and cycling into long-term homelessness, according to organizations that specialize in helping young homeless people.”

The city has made efforts to add more beds to shelters, yet youth shelters find themselves not having enough resources for homeless youth. The problem is how “homeless” is defined. We’ve learned in class the definition that counters use to count how many homeless people there are and it’s very specific. Because homeless youth often sleep at their friend’s place or extended family, they are “technically homeless” but can not be counted if they are not sleeping on the streets.

Like the article said it’s important to count homeless youth in order to get more help for them and get more services and resources to help them. Failure to count homeless youth leaves them in the shadows and allows society to turn a blind eye to them. We fail as a society if we don’t acknowledge their struggles as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/nyregion/young-and-homeless-in-new-york-overlooked-and-underserved.html?_r=0