Homeless Youth Initiative Goes to the Legislature

Editor’s Note: This guest column was written by Richard Hooks Wayman, who is campaign director at Minnesota Youth Services.

What should be Minnesota’s response to youth who experience abuse, abandonment, or neglect in their homes and end up homeless?

Although Minnesota prides itself on providing a high quality of life for many children and youth, each year thousands of youth between the ages of 12 and 21 years find themselves without the support of their families and on the streets or seeking permanent housing.

Unfortunately, there is no state law that specifically addresses intervention or support for homeless youth. (While state law allows county child welfare services to offer intervention to abused and neglected children, most counties lack the resources to offer teenagers foster care or life skills training.)

In order to address this critical issue, the Minnesota Youth Service Association (MYSA) and the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless have authored the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to address the lack of shelter, housing, and shelter for youth requiring one-to-one support and intervention!

In the 1990s, Minnesota saw a significant increase in youth ages 12 to 21 seeking protective services because they had no parental, substitute, or foster homes to which they could safely go. According to the most recent data, these numbers have yet to decline. However, funding for these services has been cut over the past few years causing a loss in shelter beds and housing options.

Recent losses in federal state, and local funding have resulted in the loss of 16 shelter beds, 137 youth apartments (supportive housing units), and 48 full-time youth case workers.

Most Minnesotans assume that if a youth is homeless, he or she will find shelter, but most shelters report turning youth away in winter due to a lack of bed spaces for the demand! Minnesota must do better to protect and nurture older adolescents!

Youth workers, shelters, and supportive housing help keep kids safe and protected. With a spectrum of services from youth outreach to family reunification, homeless youth services are vital to protecting our future generations from becoming long-term homeless adults.

The Twin Cities metropolitan area has seen an enormous amount of homeless and at-risk youth seeking shelter with over 3,000 youth served each year. However, the crisis of youth homelessness also exists in Greater Minnesota. Hundreds of youth are served each year in youth shelter and housing programs in Duluth, Brainerd, Bemidji, Willmar, and Rochester. Statewide, there are just over 100 shelter beds and approximately 450 youth housing units to serve thousands of youth; most youth are turned away or placed on waiting lists to receive help.

Youth serving programs know from experience that youth who fail to obtain one-to-one support often are sexually exploited or face higher risks of chemical dependency, psychological harm , prostitution, and suicide.

The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act hopes to bridge part of these problems by offering state funding through the Department of Human Services to support a spectrum of services, shelter, and housing. The Act creates a comprehensive policy which accomplishes the following:

• Offers youth outreach to work on family reunification and provide referrals and advocacy.
• Offers youth drop-in centers to provide meals, basic needs, clothing, family reunification, life skills training, counseling, and community connections for education and employment.
• Assists youth in accessing emergency shelter programs for food and safe, temporary housing while family placements options or supportive housing options are explored. The law requires the shelter and its agents to comply with court orders and applicable laws. The shelter must attempt to notify a runaway’s parent or guardian within 72 hours.
• Provides options to fund transitional or supportive housing, to provide homeless youth with rental assistance to access safe, dignified housing when family reunification is not an option. Housing providers must offer youth support in maintaining education, employment and life skills training.

MYSA and the Coalition for the Homeless believe that a small investment of $1.2 million by the state would leverage additional financial support from federal grants and private philanthropy. It’s also a small price to pay to help hundreds of youth stay off the streets and away from crime, sexual exploitation, and chemical dependency.

Minnesota homeless youth are resilient and have the skills to succeed. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act would offer support to some of our state’s most vulnerable citizens! Please take a moment to contact your state Representative and Senator and ask them to support funding for homeless youth services!

If you would like to receive additional information about the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act initiative this year, please contact Rich Hooks Wayman at hookswayman@yahoo.com or (612) 730-7574.