Below are five reasons why regions should consider conducting a youth-focused homeless count...

1. Youths have different needs and challenges than adults. To improve our understanding of these challenges the questions asked should be tailored to the audience. The youth count survey instrument has been refined throughout our years of supporting youth-specific counts and draws from Chapin Hall's Voices of Youth Count, the HUD Point In Time count survey, and feedback from Youth Advisory Boards (YABs) created in support of Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (YHDP) awards.

2. Unaccompanied youth are more likely to be unsheltered than the general homeless population. According to the 2020 AHAR report, 49% of all unaccompanied youth were unsheltered compared to 38.9% for the entire homeless population. This disconnect with providers can make it more difficult to access the community resources needed to obtain housing. The youth count provides an extra opportunity to engage this population. 

3. Data gathered from youth experiencing homelessness can help prevent other youth from becoming homeless in the future. By improving our understanding of what causes homelessness among youth, interventions can be created to prevent other youth from becoming homeless. 

4. There are other Federal programs that attempt to address youth homelessness outside of HUD that have different definitions of homelessness. This chart shows how youth homelessness is defined by HUD, the Department of Education, and according to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. Having a more specific understanding of youth homelessness can help communities better utilize the full range of federal resources available to address youth homelessness. 

5. Youth counts provide a voice to homeless youth. This is important for youth empowerment and also for effective program development. 

More details on using Counting Us to conduct a youth-homeless count can be found here.