The FY2018 Budget Sells Our Youth Short

As you may have heard the Mayor's proposed FY18 budget, DC Values in Action, was released Tuesday. While we've only done an initial analysis a few things stood out.

First, we're thrilled to see that the proposed budget comes close to maintaining recommended TANF benefits for the over 10,000 children who were at risk of losing assistance this year.

Other areas of the budget are less positive:

• Funding for Out-of-School Time was kept flat at $4.9 million meaning we'll need to work collaboratively with council to get the full $10 million dollar investment we know we need.
• The homelessness budget increases youth housing services by $2.4 million; $3.3 million lower than anticipated. One bright note, the PASS and ACE diversion programs both saw modest boosts for next year.
• School funding only saw a 1.5% increase; 2 percentage points less than recommended by the per-pupil funding formula task force.
• Our modest transportation ask - $2 million to reduce a major barrier for adult and reconnecting learners- was NOT funded. 

We joined DC Fiscal Policy Institute, Bread for the City, Children's Law Center, Jews United for Justice and Miriam's Kitchen in a Press Release that was issued earlier today which breaks down other areas of the budget.  We strongly recommend reading it.

We'll continue to dig into the budget this week and will be sending out our April Newsletter (filled with some key opportunities to get involved) tomorrow. Equally exciting we'll be launching a new budget advocacy tool for members on Monday. So keep an eye out!

In the meantime, here are Budget Hearing dates. All hearings are held at the John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. If you wish to testify, you may sign up here or directly contact the committee staff persons listed below. Some of these agency hearings are held concurrently with other agencies under the committee jurisdiction. Please note that dates & times subject to change. Check the Council website for updated schedule: bit.ly/dcfy18budget. And you can watch hearings live here.

Committee on Education - Chairperson David Grosso

To testify: sign up here or call 202-724-8061

Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education
Budget Hearing: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123

Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 11 am in Room 120

District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) - Public Witnesses Only
Budget Hearing: Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL)
Budget Hearing: Monday, May 1, 2017 at 11 am in Room 412

District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) – Government Witnesses Only
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Public Charter School Board
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

State Board of Education
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Committee on Finance & Revenue - Chairperson Jack Evans

To testify contact: Sarina Loy, sloy@dccouncil.us or 202-724-8058

Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123

Committee on Human Services - Chairperson Brianne Nadeau

To testify: email humanservices@dccouncil.us or call 202-724-8170

Department of Disability Services and Office of Disability Rights
Budget Hearing: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at Noon in Room 500

Child and Family Services Agency
Budget Hearing: Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Department of Human Services
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 9, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Committee on Labor and Workforce Development - Chairperson Elissa Silverman

To testify contact: Charnisa Royster, croyster@dccouncil.us or 202-724-7772

Department of Employment Services
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

Workforce Investment Council
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

Committee on Transportation & the Environment - Chairperson Mary Cheh

To testify contact: Aukima Benjamin, abenjamin@dccouncil.us or 202-724-8062

District Department of Transportation
Budget Hearing: Monday, April 24, 2017 at 11 am in Room 500

Department of Parks and Recreation
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Committee of the Whole - Chairman Phil Mendelson

To testify: email cow@dccouncil.us or call 202-724-8196

University of the District of Columbia
Budget Hearing: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 11 am in Room 123

One month closer to ending Youth Homelessness in DC

As National Homeless Youth Awareness Month comes to an end, SMYAL is preparing to open an LGBT homeless youth facility. And just two weeks ago, we hosted our first Intersectional Happy Hour at Local 16, looking at how youth homelessness is an LGBTQ issue here in the District.

LGBTQ youth account for 43% of  the 545 youth experiencing homelessness at any given time, here in the District. Our city is 68 square miles, which means that is the equivalent of 8 homeless youth for every square mile in DC. And all youth require a tapestry of supports and services, because homelessness does not look the same for each individual.

So we wanted to highlight just some of the resources here in the District, for youth experiencing homelessness:

• Coalition for the Homeless Transitional Housing for Men
• Covenant House Safe Haven & Transitional Housing
• DC Public Schools Homeless Children and Youth Services
• Latin American Youth Center Safe Housing
• Sasha Bruce Safe Homes
• Wanda Alston House

And if you'd like a way you can help, beyond the general support and donations all these organizations need, check out Stand Up for Kids' Winter Clothing Drive:

Join StandUp For Kids in assisting Washington’s homeless and at-risk youth this holiday season by donating coats and winter accessories. StandUp will distribute these to youth who need them through our outreach center and any extras will be given to DC schools. Please contact Natasha Byrd, our director of program support, to arrange drop-off details. Consider working with your office or apartment building neighbors to do a drive! 

Make sure to also keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter, so we can keep you updated on our work to end youth homelessness, here in the District.

Even though Giving Tuesday is over, our End of Year campaign has begun. Over the past 5 years we've helped double emergency shelter and transitional living capacity for youth. Please consider making a donation of 25 dollars to help us continue moving forward so that all youth, even those experiencing homelessness, have a safe place to at least go to sleep at night.

A Bumpy Road to Self-Sustaining Employment: Paving the Way for Homeless Youth

As a continuation of our participation in Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, we'd like to take this week to highlight an important intersection of two of DCAYA's Issue Areas: Youth Homelessness and Youth Workforce Development. For many youth in the District and across the country, experiencing homelessness for short or extended periods of time can add significant barriers to their ability to connect to and thrive within workforce development programming. This week we're joined by guest blogger Amy Louttit from the National Network for Youth to elevate the challenges homeless youth experience in accessing workforce development opportunities and to highlight some areas of potential progress for this vulnerable population.

Barriers to Employment for Youth Experiencing Homelessness

The barriers that youth who are experiencing homelessness face when trying to access jobs and career pathways are diverse and profound. At the front end of the process to engage in the employment and workforce training necessary to be self-sufficient and seek affordable housing options, many of these youth lack the basic required documentation. A result of the transiency of their lives in general, as well as the fact that many of the minors do not have a parent or guardian to sign necessary documents, many homeless youth lack access to the social security cards, birth certificates and/or state issued identification cards needed to enroll in programs or complete required tax forms. While many of these documentation hurdles cannot be avoided (social security and identification verification are ubiquitously required to work), some programs have recently made it more difficult for youth experiencing homelessness to participate. For example, JobCorps recently reversed a long-standing policy that had allowed unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness to participate without parental signatures. When we consider that Runaway and Homeless Youth programs are the best places to link disconnected youth to employment, it becomes imperative that we focus on minimizing documentation hurdles for youth who lack the stable relationships necessary to safely obtain such signatures and paperwork.

Other youth experiencing homelessness are able to access jobs, but lack the supportive services required to help them continue to develop the life skills needed to maintain employment. The cost of transportation, lack of mentoring support, and healthcare needs are frequently cited as barriers. Without including supports to counter these pervasive barriers to employment for youth experiencing homelessness, these young people are much less likely to sustain their engagement in workforce training or on-the-job experience. The detrimental effects are twofold. Youth are unable to stick with the programs or jobs that are providing them with much-needed experience, training, and income. And employers on the other end of the equation experience a confirmation of perceptions that youth employees lack the ability to demonstrate reliability, persistence, and work appropriate self-advocacy skills.

Areas of Workforce Access Opportunities for Homeless Youth

In July of 2014, President Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law as part of a Federal effort to fill in the gaps youth face when navigating the workforce while gaining stability. This Act which governs programs such as JobCorps and other Youth Formula Funded programs attempts to encourage local labor to engage with "disconnected youth"-- those who are not enrolled in school and are disconnected from supportive services. In many instances, the disconnected youth population is currently experiencing homelessness or has in the past. 

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently collected public comments on regulations authorized by WIOA. While the Federal requirements were intentionally structured to minimize barriers to workforce and labor for unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness, some local communities are prescribing higher barrier documentation and eligibility requirements. Youth experiencing homelessness up to 24 years of age are particularly in need of programs that aid them in identifying and training for a career pathway. 

The programs funded by the DOL under WIOA are built to achieve just this goal for disconnected youth. However, at the local level some communities have instituted such requirements as passing "entry exams" to these programs. Entry exams are usually used to assess a young person's literacy and numeracy skill levels, but they can often be used as cutoff points for program eligibility. For example, many programs will not accept students who cannot perform at 8th grade literacy and numeracy levels for fear that youth will not be able to efficiently perform necessary workplace duties. These entrance exam barriers are particularly troubling for unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness because they are likely to change schools frequently. Such school mobility interrupts their education and often results in large gaps in their literacy and numeracy skills and often contributes to a young person's ability to persist through traditional pathways to high school completion. 

Understanding that delayed academic achievement is one of the underlying causes of youth disconnection, we must do better to incorporate basic skills education with workforce development training if we expect our disconnected youth to sustain engagement in school and work. Conversely, where these youth are unable to access WIOA programs, such as JobCorps, it is far more probable that they will be trapped in the cycle of poverty and homelessness due to lack of education and skills.

The Federal Government is making strides toward filling in gaps and reforming laws. Meanwhile, youth-serving organizations and their partners are capitalizing on opportunities to advocate for better policies and watching for the WIOA final rules to be published. In the interim, States are beginning to develop plans with their funding under WIOA and local partners should look for opportunities to educate local policymakers about the unique issues unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness face. Together we can help to fill in these gaps and end the challenge of youth homelessness.

Amy Louttit is the Public Policy Associate at the National Network for Youth. We thank her for highlighting critical disconnections between the youth workforce development and youth homelessness fields. 

For more information on DCAYA's efforts to address the needs of homeless youth in DC, reach out to Senior Policy Analyst Joseph Gavrilovich (joseph@dc-aya.org). 

Oh SNAP! What can you really buy for $4.15?

Photo found on the USDA webpage "Supplementary Food Assistance Program"

On the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) webpage there is a colorful picture of a mom holding a baby and picking up a red apple with bright green veggies in the background. Under the picture there is a description, “SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities.” SNAP, formerly known as the federal Food Stamp Program, is supposed to act as a safety net for financially struggling families who cannot afford food.

Our friends at the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project took on the “SNAP Challenge" a week long educational exercise where participants can only spend $4.15* a day on food, simulating a SNAP food budget.

The Playtime Project staff shared with us their reflections during their in-office "SNAP Challenge":

Grocery item #1: Oodles of Noodles, $0.67

I am doing the Food Stamp challenge for lunch this week and was not prepared for how impractical it is to eat lunch for $2.50. I went to the grocery store and looked at a cucumber for some veggies...more than $2.00. I went to the canned bean aisle. Again, most of the beans were more than $2.00! I got the beans thinking I would divide it up for a couple meals with rice. The next morning as I was dashing out the door, I realized I needed to season my bland lunch so I sauteed a slice of onion and bell pepper. If I really wanted to save money, I would have to buy dry beans and bulk to soak them. I don't feel like I have the time and patience to do that now, so how practical is it for single parents in homeless shelters to soak beans and saute vegetables on their way out the door?

As I looked around the store feeling more and more deflated about my options, I could "get" in a more visceral way, how much sense it makes to buy "Oodles of Noodles," chips and soda to keep bellies full. It takes energy and time and creative thinking to cook healthy food on a budget and I could feel myself giving up and giving in to what is more practical for a busy live. It is easy to take for granted how many choices money can buy.

- Jamila Larson, Executive Director and Co-founder

Grocery Item #2: Elbow Macaroni, $2.88

As I think over the past couple of days during the Food Stamp Challenge, I have a greater appreciation for the quality and abundance of food I have been privileged to have over the years. Shopping on $22.50 for the week was difficult. While I usually purchase numerous fresh fruit and vegetables, I realized that on a food stamp budget that just wouldn't be possible. Instead I purchased items that I felt would keep me full for the week. That meant a lot of carbs (with rice and pasta), and canned chili/beans. The items I bought did not provide a lot of diversity for meals, I was going to have rice or noodles for the next week.

- Joel Schwarz, Development Manager 

Grocery Item #3: Dried Bag of Black Beans, $1.72

As a employee for a direct service and advocacy organization working with families experiencing homelessness, I consider myself to be relatively well informed about the diverse and broad issues affecting the homeless population. That being said, participating in the SNAP challenge has given me a greater appreciation for the daily challenges that living in poverty brings. The foods which were most affordable and within my budget for the week were those that required a lot of preparation - a bag of dried beans, rice, pasta, and soup. I am fortunate to live in a house with an appropriate kitchen and 9-5 job that afforded me the time and resources to make those decisions. I'm also a single, young professional without children, whose needs I would also need to meet. It is hard to imagine a family that might have the time and energy to make the same food choices that I had made. Week after week, month after month, it is easy to understand that individuals and families would prioritize getting children to and from school, after school programs, searching for an apartment or job, and other necessary tasks over elaborate meal preparations.

It is no surprise that children who experience homelessness go hungry at 2 times the rate of their housed peers. Obesity and nutritional deficiencies are common among the children we serve, but I find that it is the limited choice in food and nutrition over lack of will that contributes to the problem.

- Kelli Beyer, Communications and Outreach Manager

*SNAP benefits are affected by a person’s income, number of family members, additional assistance benefits, and a variety of other factors that require complex calculation. $4.15 represents the average daily benefit.

This piece is part of our month long blog series for "Homeless Youth Awareness Month." Continue reading to learn more about the challenges homeless youth face in the District. A special thank you to Homeless Children's Playtime Project for sharing their experiences with us during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.  Read the Playtime Project's blog to learn more about their ongoing work to bring healthy play experiences to children experiencing homelessness. 

Homeless Youth Awareness Month Blog Series

What comes to mind when you think of November?

Sweater season, warm apple cider, the crackling of a bonfire in a backyard, the smell of Thanksgiving dinner wafting through a home with the sound of family in the background …


For me, many warm memories come to mind when I think about the season.

However, November is also National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, a potent reminder of the stark realities our DC youth face.

This time last year, DCAYA released a Bold Strategy to End Youth Homelessness. The Bold Strategy was created in collaboration with Covenant House DC, Latin American Youth Center, Sasha Bruce Youthwork, StandUp for Kids DC, Wanda Alston Foundation, and the Washington Interfaith Network. The strategy offered a holistic solution to solving the varied problems which lead youth to becoming trapped in the cycle of homelessness.

Thanks to the ongoing dedication of DCAYA’s community of advocates, the Bold Strategy was adopted by the DC Council, written into legislation, and passed as the Homeless Youth Amendment Act. Unfortunately, the legislation did not receive adequate funding to meet all of the intended initiatives.

Where does this leave DC’s homeless young people?

For Homeless Youth Awareness Month, DCAYA is launching a blog series to address the impact of the DC government underfunding critical resources for homeless youth. Follow the month-long series to understand how a family reunification program, additional street outreach, and other youth-focused services would help stabilize a young person’s life.

While the funding was cut short, what advocates are able to do with the resulting funds is astounding.

• There are 15 new emergency beds to be available specifically for homeless youth. 

• Advocates and providers will conduct annual Point-In-Time Studies to gather updated data on youth experiencing homelessness.

• DCAYA is leading the charge in developing a coordinated intake system for homeless youth. Read more about this initiative in our blog “Coordinated Entry: Boot Camp and 100 Day Challenge.”

So enjoy November. Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner and warm apple cider, but remember your 4,000+ young neighbors who are struggling to find a safe place to sleep or a warm dinner to fill their bellies. Together, as a community, we need DC to fully fund life-saving resources for homeless youth.


Sincerely,

Maggie Riden

Executive Director of DCAYA


Click to donate to DCAYA’s advocacy efforts to end youth homelessness.

Click to sign-up to DCAYA’s newsletter and receive updates on youth homelessness advocacy efforts.

As Hypothermia Season is upon us, we want to remind everyone that if you see anyone outside when it’s 32 degrees or below don’t keep walking, take action and call the Hypothermia Hotline 1 (800) 535-7252. You may end up saving a life.

Coordinated Entry: Boot Camp and 100-Day Challenge

This week homeless youth advocates went to boot camp.  There wasn’t a lot of yelling and push-ups, but there was sweat-inducing policy planning and some ice breakers that got a little intense.  

On Monday and Tuesday, along with the Interagency Council on Homelessness and Community Solutions, DCAYA co-hosted a DC policy boot camp on coordinated intake and referrals for homeless youth.  Participants came from Office of State Superintendent of Education, DC Public Schools, Department of Behavioral Health, Department of Human Services, Children and Family Services Agency, Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, The Community Partnership, Latin American Youth Center, Sasha Bruce Youthbuild, Wanda Alston House, and Covenant House.  Together, they mapped out a working plan to build a District-wide, coordinated entry system for unaccompanied homeless youth. 

Coordinated entry is a system where a homeless youth can show up at any “front door” government agency or community-based organization, be assessed by a standardized assessment tool, and then be referred in a standardized way to best-fit programs.  It sounds simple, but it is actually really difficult to get all the pieces in place to make this process work.  

Think about it, dozens of government agencies and community-based organizations, each with their own requirements and missions, have to come together to select and hone a standardized assessment tool.  They have to change their current referral protocols and habits to a semi-standardized referral protocol based off the chosen assessment tool.  They have to create and maintain a living database that shows available housing slots and service slots. Then they have to figure out what happens when a youth is assessed and referred, but there are not enough services for them.  And those are just a few of the challenges.

That’s why the boot camp model doesn’t end after the two-day planning period.  Now starts the 100-day challenge to implement the work plan.  DCAYA and its fellow participants have only 100 days to make coordinated entry happen. This is a very rapid timeline, meant to keep the momentum going to bust through the obstacles that have kept coordinated entry from happening in the past.

This 100-challenge is nationally historic.  While this model has been very successful in implementing coordinated entry for adults, this is the very first time it will be attempted for unaccompanied homeless youth.  The unaccompanied homeless youth system presents more challenges than the adult side: stricter privacy laws, mandatory reporting laws, working with the 18-24 age group that is often mis-resourced, etc.  But we know DC is ready for this challenge.  

DCAYA has been chosen as the lead organization for this challenge.  We are slightly daunted by the massive amount of work that we are facing over the next 100 days, but we know it is worth it.  It will be incredibly rewarding to collaborate with hard-working, creative, compassionate people from government agencies and community-based organizations. Our youth deserve a coordinated entry system when they come to us for help, and we are going to make it happen.

Katie Dunn is the youth homelessness and expanded learning policy analyst for DCAYA.  She is listening to Rocky pump-up music to get through this 100-day challenge.

Interview with Charmia Carolina - Even In My Bad Days, There's Hope

Photo Courtesy of Tina dela Rosa 

This fall, the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates turns 10! On September 26th, youth advocates, business leaders, and councilmembers will come together to celebrate the accomplishments of the past and our aspirations for the future. As a coalition, DCAYA’s story lies in the experiences of our members who make up the collective power of the alliance. Each week leading up to the 10-Year Anniversary Celebration, we will feature an interview from an advocate or young person who helped build DCAYA into the strong coalition it is today. PURCHASE TICKETS

We met Charmia Carolina when she offered to share her story for the DCAYA short video series “Youth Voices”. Charmia’s powerful presence on camera and honesty in the film brought audience members to tears when her story premiered at the DCAYA report release on disconnected young people.

Now, nearly a year later, we followed up with Charmia to see how her life has evolved after graduating from the Sasha Bruce Youthwork program.

Join Charmia and DCAYA at the 10 Year Anniversary Celebration where she will be honored  as an "Emerging Leader," for sharing her story to better the local community. 

_______________________________________________________________________

It’s been almost a year since you’ve graduated from Sasha Bruce Youthwork. How has your life changed since finishing the program? 

Going from nothing to graduating within a year and a half, graduating with a GED, getting a full-time job and keeping a full-time job, and then getting an apartment today - it’s showing me lines of maturity that I had never seen within myself, that I didn’t see happening.

I work now on the Sasha Bruce maintenance crew. This is my first job and a lot of people started to work when they were 15/16, so this means a lot because I have a lot of responsibilities. It’s also a comfortable environment. I like going to work, and it provides for me and my daughters.

What does it mean to you to be able to provide for you and your daughters?

It means everything because I went from not even being able to buy [my children] something to drink at times when they were thirsty, or when they were hungry and trying to get through those days when there wasn’t much to eat. Now, just to have a job that provides just that, it is a piece of mind. 

What is it like to now work at the program and interact with other young people who are fighting similar battles that you fought over a year ago?

Ok, prime example. I seen a boy talking about how he wanted to drop out of school the other day and I told him, “You’re here at the Sasha Bruce house and you’re thinking about dropping out of school when you’ve got nothing but good mentors here that help you study with your homework.” The boy said that he was having problems with math and cursive and didn’t want to tell anybody because he was embarrassed. I told a staff member who sat down with him and helped him, and when he was done the boy was like, “I want to go to college to play football!” I was glad that I spoke up and said something because the conversation went from he’s not going to school to thinking about going to college. I feel like my voice counts.

Also, I feel like they can relate to me. So anytime I can talk to a young person to keep them on the right track, I will, because I want them to feel the joy that I feel of accomplishing something.


Do you feel like you just needed a person to give you an opportunity?

Yes. I went through school and kept giving up, kept giving up. Within six years I tried to go back three or four times, even to GED programs and nothing really clicked. For some reason, I got into Sasha Bruce out of 300-and-something-people when they only had slots for 30. I got accepted. I was like, this is something I need to do, and if I didn’t change at that point, I felt like I would have never changed. I would have just let time go passed.


What could you say to other youth people who are struggling to get a job or to go back to school?

Don’t stop. There were a lot of obstacles. I could have woken up and said, man, I don’t feel like going in because the baby’s been crying all night. There’s a lot of things out there that are going to stop you. Just don’t stop because if you don’t stop, all you can get is success in the end.


You’ve attended a few Council hearings, testifying about year-round jobs for youth and then recently, on passing the Homeless Youth Amendment Act. What is it like to speak publicly at Council hearings and share your story?
I actually get to speak my opinion to people that can make a change within my community and express to them from a youth’s point of view how we feel, how everyday livin’ is, and what they can do to help us change it. That is a great thing to me because it means my voice means something.


What does your voice mean?

I feel like I count now. At first, I didn’t feel like my opinion mattered. Now, when I go talk to the DC Council and the Mayor, they might remember my name or at least part of my story. I feel like, if I can get them to remember me and I can get them to remember what I’m saying, it’ll stick in their minds and they’ll make a change.


What’s your vision for DC?

I want a lot of stuff to happen. I want the homelessness to stop because that’s a big thing. If you have nowhere to sleep at night, you can’t really focus on the next day or the next meal or anything of that nature. So I want the District to start with that and then help out with more jobs for people like myself who want to take the next step and are willing to work hard.

A special thank you to Charmia Carolina for being a part of the DCAYA 10 Year Anniversary Celebration. Your strength and perseverance is an inspiration for youth and advocates alike. Join Charmia and DCAYA on September 26th and support youth fulfill their bright futures.

10 Reasons Why DC Should Invest 10 Million in Homeless Youth

It is our time to tell DC Council that we will not turn our backs on the cities most must vulnerable youth. They are resilient and need our support now to grow-up and become successful adults. View the infographic explaining the "End Youth Homelessness Amendment Act" and sign and share the petition to support and fully fund the legislation. Here are 10 reasons why:

1.) Youth Need a Home to Do Their Homework

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There are over 4,000 homeless students in DC Public Schools right now and that number continues to grow.  Trying to concentrate and learn is nearly impossible when you are going through the trauma of homelessness.

2.)  Homeless Youth Often Become Homeless Adults 

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Youth will become adults. Without help, youth cannot simply escape homelessness when they turn a certain age.

3.) A Good Night’s Sleep Prevents Sickness 

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From headaches to life-threatening diseases, homeless youth get sick a lot more because of unhealthy environments, stress, and vulnerability.  Not only is it a painful way to live, but the medical and public health costs are a high tax burden. View infographic to learn more.

4.) A Prison Meal Should Not Be the Alternative to No Meal at All

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Youth turn to illicit markets when other markets are closed to them.  This puts them at-risk and in prison.  Months and years behind bars are a huge personal cost for the youth, and a big financial cost to the community. Watch video to learn more.

 

5.) You Need a Roof to Raise a Family

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Homeless youth are caregivers. They take care of grandparents, siblings, cousins, and their own children. Watch video to learn more.

6.) Jobs are Hard to Keep Without a Home

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To apply for jobs, youth need a place of residence and contact information for their resume's. To keep a job youth need stable housing without the stress of reapplying for housing vouchers, figuring out childcare options, wondering where they will get their next meal etc. 

7.) Being Homeless is Expensive

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Homeless youth have their things stolen, have to leave things behind when they are on the move, and can’t make basic, every-day investments that save money. Youth homelessness is also expensive for taxpayers. View infographic to learn more.

8.) Every Youth Deserves a Safe Place to Stay 

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Sleeping on the street or at playgrounds is terrifying.  Sleeping at a friend’s house with strangers is terrifying.   Sleeping at an adult shelter can be terrifying.  Youth shouldn’t have to spend every day in fear.

9.) It Was COLD this Winter - It May Not Be So Cold Next Year

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With the freezing cold weather and snow – people cared about those suffering outside. With warmer weather brings less news coverage, less blog posts and less overall empathy about this vulnerable population. We need to secure funding NOW so that homeless youth don't become a blip on our radar, but an issue our community is willing to tackle.

10.) Youth Have A Will, Now Let’s Provide Them a Way 

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Homeless youth go to school. They hold jobs. They take classes to be better parents. Homeless youth are like all youth- they have dreams and drive. They have been struggling to make it, now it’s up to us to give them a chance.

SIGN THE PETITION TO END YOUTH HOMELESSNESS 

 

   

The above quotes come from testimonies given at the Department of Human Services hearing on the End Youth Homelessness Amendment Act. DCAYA recommends saving the quotes and publishing them onto social media sites to spread the word on signing the petition to support and fully fund the #HomelessYouthActDC.

 

For more on youth issues in DC you can FOLLOW us on Twitter, LIKE us on Facebook, SUBSCRIBE to this blog and VISIT us at www.dc-aya.org.