The above story is only one of about 550,000 from homeless youth every year across the United States on any given day. There are many different paths that young people take into homelessness. The most common cause of youth homelessness is family conflict, but other situations like poverty or substance use can make a person more likely to become homeless. Certain groups are at much greater risk to being homeless, including those identifying as LGBTQ, those parenting or pregnant, those with disabilities, or youth of color, particularly for African American and Native American children. While many of these young people have experience trauma that led them into homelessness, homelessness itself can be a traumatic experience having long-lasting effects.
Homelessness and juvenile justice can lead to one another in a paradoxical cycle for youth. Although the exact overlap of young people who are both homeless and in the criminal justice system is unknown, one interview study reported that 44% of homeless youth had stayed in a detention center or jail, 78% had interacted with the police, and 62% had been arrested; these numbers are way above the average for housed youth. Youth in the justice system are more likely to become homeless in the future because the time in the system can hurt their education, job prospects, and family stability.
Criminalization of “survival activities” that people use to cope with homelessness have detrimental effects on these people’s ability to get housed in the future. Expunging these charges is a large part of what the Homeless Person’s Representative Project’s Youth Initiative does. Ingrid Lofgren, the director of the Homeless Youth Initiative at HPRP, sees a range of charges in her line of work, most of them minor. Minor theft, panhandling, or even sleeping or sitting in certain places can result in fines or arrest.
Teens who miss school because of housing or family conflict may be charged with truancy. If they can’t pay the fines for these charges, they can be arrested, which causes them to miss more school or work. Many experts and service providers agree on the important of decriminalizing these survival activities for any person who is homeless.
The siloed relationship between criminal justice and housing efforts reflect a larger pattern in service providers. Lofgren remarks on the disconnect between homeless, child welfare, healthcare, and school services. To combat the problems of homelessness, Lofgren believes that young people need more support between all these areas.
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