ii. Prevention

Support Youth Transitioning Out of Systems

Supporting youth transition out of systems (to avoid homelessness) refers to assisting youth in their transition out of systems such as the juvenile justice system and the foster care system, among others. The focus is on helping youth regain self-autonomy and avoiding homelessness. Evidence suggests that transition-age youth (TAY) from the child welfare and juvenile justice systems are at risk for homelessness, but that programs such as supportive housing programs and other transition services can reduce the risk of housing instability while helping youth develop...

Increasing Access to Services, Supports, and Resources for Youth

As the title suggests, the strategy of increasing access to services, supports, and resources for youth is a means of ensuring that the programs and resources that are available to youth at risk of homelessness are equitable, easy for youth to navigate, well-coordinated, and in communication with each other (43).

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Identify All Youth At-Risk of Experiencing Homelessness

Preventing homelessness among youth begins with being able to identify all youth at risk of experiencing homelessness before they become unhoused. Identifying those at risk requires the development of specific monitoring tools, implementing school-based, school-partnered strategies to identify and engage youth early on, and training a diverse range of providers who interact with youth to better identify risk. Early identification and intervention is an effective strategy to prevent youth homelessness (39).

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What is Prevention?

In Structural Prevention of Youth Homelessness prevention of youth homelessness is defined as, “policies, practices, and interventions that either... reduce the likelihood that a young person will experience homelessness, or... provide youth experiencing homelessness with the necessary support to stabilize their housing, improve their wellbeing, connect with the community, and avoid re-entry into homelessness” (36). Implementing prevention strategies is a crucial component of a multi-faceted approach to reducing youth homelessness (37). Preventing homelessness among youth can even serve to prevent homelessness among adults, as evidence shows that experiencing homelessness as a youth increases the risk of homelessness later in life (38)

Fostering Permanent Connections

Fostering permanent connections refers to strategies such as facilitating and encouraging long-term connections with youth and their family members (if safe to do so), chosen family(ies), and other positive, supportive adult figures and mentors. Interventions that aim to reunify, strengthen, and stabilize families by providing training and financial support to caregivers can be an effective tool in the diversion process (41). Special attention should be directed towards youth who are or feel isolated.

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Implementing Diversion Strategies

Implementing diversion strategies means administering interventions that aim to route youth experiencing homelessness away from emergency shelter beds in favor of alternatives such as non-emergency community housing programs and fostering financial security so that youth at risk of homelessness have increased access to rental housing (41). Diversion strategies are an effective method of preventing homelessness among youth, easing demand for emergency shelter, and connecting youth at risk of homelessness with services and financial resources (42).

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