Today’s Presenters
 Debby Shore, National Network for Youth,
Washington D.C.
 Lynn Morison, Policy Director for Ending Youth and
Family Homelessness, Bill Wilson Center, San Jose,
California
 Maggie Riden, Executive Director, DC Alliance of
Youth Advocates, Washington DC
 Tyrone Thompson, Clark County Regional Initiatives
Coordinator, Las Vegas, NV
Webinar Sponsors
 National Network for Youth
 National Alliance to End Homelessness
 John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes
 DC Alliance of Youth Advocates
We are each devoted to ending youth homelessness, increasing
opportunities for homeless youth and helping them reach their
full potential
Technical Details
 To submit live questions,
click on the “Questions”
panel on your screen, type
your question, and click
“Send”
 Presentation materials
and audio will be posted
on The National Alliance
to End Homelessness,
National Network for
Youth and John Burton
Foundation websites.
Purpose
 To elevate awareness of the critical importance of the
Point In Time Count of 2013
 To encourage stakeholders to organize locally to make
this count, count !!
 Provide tools, methodologies and promising practices
to support your efforts to get unaccompanied homeless
youth accurately counted in each community in the
country (urban and rural)
HEARTH Act Implementation
All sub-populations must be included in the Point
in Time Count including youth ages 18-24
New PIT Category for Youth 18-24 included for the
first time in 2013!!
Communities are encouraged to develop plans to
end homelessness for everyone - including youth!!
Why a Youth PIT Count Matters
 Accurate data supports our ability to advocate for
homeless youth
 Lack of information about the scope of youth
homelessness contributes to the lack of adequate
resources
 Improved collaboration between youth providers
and Continuums of Care can lead to better delivery
of services
Stakeholders Must Work Together
Youth
Advocates
Public Systems of
Care (mental health,
health, substance
abuse, TANF, Food
Stamps, Law
Enforcement)
Runaway and Homeless
Youth Providers (Street
Outreach, Basic Center
Shelters and
Independent Living
Programs)
Continuums
of Care
Youth who are
homeless or at
risk
School
Coordinators
Adult
Providers
who are
serving 18 24 year olds
Aspirations for the Webinar
 To help communities plan for the youth
component of the 2013 bi-annual point in time
count
 To develop concrete strategies in order to ensure
the most accurate data
 To learn techniques for better coordination of key
stakeholders
 To discover creative ways to plan for tackling youth
homelessness in your community
Overview
 Partners in implementing the youth count:
City of San
Jose
Bill Wilson
Center
Applied
Survey
Research
Continuum
of Care
 Methodology and data collection
 Recruiting, training and deploying youth
 Report Findings
City of San Jose
 Population of over 945,000
 Largest city in Santa Clara County
 Department of Housing, Homeless
Program
 Primary funder of Point In Time count
Bill Wilson Center




Community based nonprofit agency serving
families and youth
16 programs providing counseling, housing,
education and advocacy
Annual budget of $12 million with 130 staff
Programs involved in count – Transitional
Housing Program, Drop In Center, Crisis
Youth Shelter
Applied Survey Research
 Nonprofit social research firm
 Conducted numerous PIT counts and
targeted youth counts
 Contracted to facilitate count in Santa Clara
County
Santa Clara Collaborative on Affordable
Housing and Homeless Issues
 Lead entity for the Continuum of Care for Santa Clara
County
 Includes:
CBO’s
Faith based
organizations
County and
city
departments
Housing
providers
Community
Technology
Alliance (HMIS)
Methodology
 Shelter count included youth shelter,
Transitional Age Youth (TAY) shelter and
TAY transitional housing
 Reported on single night
 Targeted street count utilizing Drop In
Center staff and youth
 Done over two days between 3:00p.m. –
7:00p.m.
Methodology cont’d
 Survey administered to both street
and sheltered youth
 Every third youth encountered in the
street count
 Representative sample of sheltered
youth
Recruiting and Training
 Homeless youth from our Drop In Center
 Identify leaders
 Hold focus groups
 Training with ASR
 90 minute orientation
 How to fill out enumeration form
 Administer the survey
Deploying
 Youth went out in teams of two
 Staff drove youth to sites the youth had identified:
streets, malls, encampments, abandoned buildings
 Categorized youth as being under age 18 or
between the ages of 18-24
 Youth compensated for all hours worked including
training hours
Report Findings
“2011 City of San Jose Homeless Census and Survey”
• Overview of youth characteristics
• Where they typically reside at night
• Their use of government services
• Their social support networks
• What caused their homeless episode
Goals for Future Counts
 Expand count to include all of county –
different demographics and challenges in
counting in more rural areas
 Engage the homeless liaisons in the school
districts in participating
 Utilize the data in ending youth and family
homelessness
Lessons Learned
 Involve youth from the beginning in planning
and implementing the count
 Provide financial incentives for participation,
ideally an hourly rate
 Recognize the limitations of this model as it
may not be effective in more rural areas and
doesn’t take into account school data
Getting a Seat at the Table
Lessons Learned in DC
What we’re going to talk about:
 Our evolution in engaging our local Interagency
Council and Continuum of Care
 The outcomes realized by engaging our ICH/CoC
 How we got there- strategies and approaches
 Looking ahead
The Context
2010
2012
Youth Providers
Youth
Providers
Interagency
Council
and
CoC
Providers/
Providers/
Advocates for
Advocates for
Families
Individuals
Interagency
Council
and
CoC
Providers/
Providers/
Advocates for
Advocates for
Families
Individuals
The Evolution
2010
•Roughly 122 beds
for youth
•$782,000 in local
funding was
allocated to youth
•Less than 10 youth
(under 18) were
counted in the
annual PIT; over
600 families with a
youth head of
household counted
2011
•156 beds for youth
•$818,500 in local funding was
allocated to single youth;
$1,337,000 to families with a
head of household under 24
years of age
•26 unaccompanied minors
were counted in PIT. Families
with a head of household
under 24 are rising
dramatically.
•DCAYA conducts Youth
Survey finds 390 homeless
youth in two weeks of March.
2012
•Over 230 beds
dedicated to youth
•$910,000 in local
funding was allocated
to single youth;
$2,100,000 to families
with a head of
household under 24
years of age
•13 unaccompanied
youth were counted in
the PIT. Over 1/3 of
family shelter users
were headed by a
parent under age 24
How we did it
Build and maintain
your collective
knowledge base
Build linkages/coalition
of the willing
among youth providers
Find your allies and
advocacy partners
Be Solution Oriented
Become a constant
presence
in your local ICH
Or CoC meetings
Looking Ahead
 Increasing capacity of local PIT
 Support collaboration/join advocacy of youth
providers is ongoing
Want to learn more?
Contact
Maggie Riden, Executive Director,
DC Alliance of Youth Advocates
www.dc-aya.org
maggie@dc-aya.org or 202-587-0616
Michele Fuller-Hallauer, MSW, LSW
Continuum of Care Coordinator
Las Vegas/ Clark County CoC
www.helphopehome.org
CoC and School District
 Title I HOPE Coordinator
 Sits on CoC decision making body
 Title I HOPE Project Facilitator
 Sits on the CoC evaluation working group
 Member of the Homeless Youth Services
Working Group
School District and the Census
 Title I HOPE office
 Conducts monthly update of housing status for
youth in school
 On day of count updates their housing status
report
 Break out data into housing status categories





Hotel/motel
Street
Car/van/camper
Emergency shelter
In the home of another person/family
Youth Teams
 Youth team developed
 Homeless youth vs. out of school youth
training
 Specific areas assigned
 Target:
 Malls
 Parks
 Recreation centers
 Fast food restaurants
Rural Census: Partners
Code
Enforcement
Animal
Control
Metropolitan
Police
Department
Recreation
centers
Family
Resource
Centers
Homeless
Service
Providers
Process
Census tract maps
Meetings
Assignments
Deployment
Report back
Contact Information
Michele Fuller-Hallauer MSW, LSW
Continuum of Care Coordinator
SNRPC-Committee on Homelessness
Regional Initiatives Office
1600 Pinto Lane
Las Vegas, NV 89106
(phone) 702-455-5188
www.helphopehome.org
Resources
 National Alliance to End
Homelessness:
http://www.endhomelessness.
org/pages/youthcount
 Interactive map
 Fact sheets & Recommendations
 Webinars
• National Network for Youth: Recommendations For System
Enhancements toward Ending Youth Homelessness:
http://www.nn4youth.org/system/files/NN4Y%20Recommendations%20
REV%205-24-12-1%20copy.pdf
• HUD Guidance on Youth PIT Counts:
http://www.hudhre.info/ documents/2011PITYouth Guidance.pdf
Questions
Use the “Questions” tool on the GoToWebinar
Control Panel to Submit Questions
The presentation materials and audio will be posted at:
http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/youthcount
http://www.cahomelessyouth.org/past.html
http://www.nn4youth.org