An Open Door and a Helping Hand for Homeless Young People

Sylvia Mathews BurwellBy Sylvia Mathews Burwell, HHS Secretary

To end homelessness among young people, it’s important to listen to their experiences, and to learn from them. A new report released by HHS today tries to do just that.

Homeless young people live in constant transition. As one young person at a shelter in San Diego, California said, “When I was in 4th grade, I lived in a campground, three homeless shelters, my mom’s ex-boyfriend’s, and I went back with my dad, and then left again, and then went back with my dad, and then now I came here.”

In spite of the challenges they face, they’re chasing their own dreams and aspirations. One young person in a Chicago, Illinois shelter said, “In 5 years… I will definitely be in school—a 4-year college. I definitely aspire to be in college. I feel like that’s the biggest goal of all.”

One night in January of 2014, there were more than 45,200 young people across the country without a parent or guardian who were homeless. And the Department of Education reports that an estimated 89,000 unaccompanied students experienced homelessness at some point during the 2013 to 2014 school year.

These numbers are far too high. We can, and we must, do better.

That’s why we have come together with partners across the federal government as part of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. As the Chair for the Council, I’m looking forward to the progress we’ll continue to make, and the many Americans we can help together.

Under this Administration, the Council has taken some of the most concrete steps in our nation’s history to prevent and end homelessness. We’ve laid out the first comprehensive federal plan to end homelessness, called “Opening Doors .” We’ve set goals and laid out strategies to reach them. And with those specific plans, we’ve committed to ending homelessness among veterans, young people, families and the chronically homeless.

These are bold goals, but we’ve already made historic progress. Already, two states and 23 communities have announced that any veteran who is homeless can get the services and housing they need.  Programs like Medicaid are working with supportive housing services to try out new ways to help homeless people get the housing and the health care they need. And we’ve worked through the Affordable Care Act to help make sure more homeless and at-risk youth can get health coverage.

Today, we’re turning up our focus on the many homeless young people in our communities.

Many of these young people don’t know that there are people who are ready to help them. So this week we’re launching a new public service announcement campaign exit disclaimer icon targeted at runaway and homeless youth.

If you know of any young people who need help, call the National Runaway Safeline at 1-800-RunAway, visit 1800runaway.org exit disclaimer icon, or text 66008. Spread the word about these options on social media, and to organizations you know who might come into contact with homeless young people.

No young person in America should be without a safe space to sleep, and a roof overhead. That’s what we’re working to fix from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and that’s our commitment here at HHS.

This post originally appeared on hhs.gov/blog .

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