Youth Today
Opinion
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3.2KFoster Care System Needs To Get Its Heroes Straight
Here’s the first rule of heroism: Real heroes don’t go around proclaiming themselves “heroes.” Here’s the second rule: People who are truly...
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1.6KWhat Would You Do If You Lived Among Shootings in Chicago?
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. You might know it by “Chiraq,” but we all call it Englewood and...
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4.1KResearchers, Social Workers, Foster Youth in College Need to Work Together
In the past few years, the pathways and lives of adults with experience in foster care have increasingly been a prominent concern...
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5.3KFederal Government Must Spend More, Do More for Homeless Youth
Resilient, talented and unique describes the 4.2 million youth and young adults who experience homelessness in our country every year. Their faces,...
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6.0KLGBTQ Youth Become Homeless for Many Reasons, Not Just Family Rejection
Policy regarding young people experiencing homelessness, youth involved in the juvenile legal system, young people of color and youth who are lesbian,...
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5.3KFamily Conflict for LGBTQ Youth Can Mean Housing Instability
Riley (all names have been changed to protect research participants’ privacy) had been living with their grandmother before moving into the emergency...
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2.0KCriminal Record Bars Many Young Adults From Stable Housing
Each year, thousands of young adults filter through the criminal justice system in Charlotte, N.C. While a lot of attention is given...
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7.1KHow We Can Leverage Social Networks, Tech to Help Homeless Young
I was recently interviewing a young person in a drop-in center serving people experiencing homelessness. While I have been working with this...
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3.3KHow Higher Education Can Help Remedy Homelessness, Housing Insecurity
“Students attending colleges and universities across the United States experience homelessness and housing insecurity.” We consistently start our presentations with this statement.
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2.2KCourts, Social Services Can Work Together on Housing Instability
Public health experts recognize that as little as 10-20% of our individual health may be attributed to treatments received from the health...
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2.7KViolence Against Homeless Youth Is Encouraged By Our System
It is an arid, 100-degree August night in Tempe, Ariz. Five of us are volunteering on outreach in the downtown area tonight...
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3.5KPolice Can Help Homeless Youth Instead of Arresting Them
Justin (not his real name) was waiting to run into our group of volunteers as we conducted street outreach to youth and...
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2.7KHousing Is Harm Reduction for Youth Experiencing Homelesssness
The epidemic of youth homelessness is rooted in oppression, white supremacy and, more specifically, a social service culture that too often pits...
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1.9KTo Ease Reentry, Help the Hosts Who Offer Couch Hopping
When Carlos first came to live with us he was about 16. A friend of my son’s, he had a long history...
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3.1KHomeless Young People Under 21st-century Capitalism Are Disposable
As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, we are surrounded by reports and images of abandoned and neglected children...
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2.7KDecriminalize Homelessness, Make Record Clearing More Accessible
In cities across America, being homeless puts you at increased risk for a criminal record. You can be charged for behaviors that...
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4.9KWashington State Must Help, Not Arrest Sex Trafficked, Homeless Minors
This summer, stories of now-deceased wealthy financier Jeffery Epstein’s sexual exploitations rocked the country. The girls Epstein exploited were mostly young, poor,...
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3.4KHomeless Youth Must Be Helped With Services, Not Forced Into Justice System
In 2013, my colleagues and I were gathering stories from youth around the country to better understand their pathways into the justice...
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1.6KBeing Homeless: Don’t Let Your Present Define Who You Are
I am a 22-year-old from Capitol Heights, Md. I first started experiencing homelessness at the age of 19 while I was in...
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1.9KYouth in Foster Care Deserve Greater Chance to Enter Diversion Programs
Over the past two decades, I have had the extraordinary experience of working with youth involved in the juvenile justice system and...
