First Annual Homeless Assessment Report on
Homeless Adults and Youth (HUD)
• Disproportionate representation of individuals of
color in homelessness compared to the general
population.
• Even when factoring-in poverty, there was a
slight disproportionate representation for
individuals of color.
Homelessness by Race and Ethnicity
Racial Category
% of Sheltered
Homeless
Population
% of U.S. Poverty
Population
% of U.S.
Population
White, Caucasian
41.1%
45.5%
69.1%
Individuals of
Color (Minority
Status)
58.9%
54.5%
30.9%
Table 1. Homelessness by Race and Ethnicity
First Annual Homeless Assessment Report - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Adults
Youth Homelessness by Race and
Ethnicity
Racial Category
% of Homeless Teen
Population (seeking
services)
% of Teen Population
White, Caucasian
49.1%
69.6%
Individuals of Color
(Minority Status)
39.8%
30.3%
Table 2. Youth Homelessness by Race and Ethnicity
General Teen (13- 17) Population – 2000 Census
Local Studies Reporting Over-Representation
of Youth of Color
• African Americans were over-represented in a probability
sample from shelters throughout metropolitan Detroit,
where 46 percent of 118 homeless youth were African
American compared to 22 percent in the area’s general
population. (McCaskill)
• Both African American and American Indian youth were
over-represented in a street sample of 13 to 21 year olds
in Seattle (Cauce)
• Both African American and American Indian youth overrepresented in statewide sample from Minnesota of 11 to
17 and 18 to 21 year olds. (Owen)
Data from the
Runaway and
Homeless
Youth
Management
Information
System
(RHYMIS)
2005
Basic Center
(Shelters)
Transitional
Living Program
(Youth Housing)
Percentage
in General
U.S. Teenage
Population
(2000 US
Census)
White
56.3 %
49.1 %
69.6 %
African
American
29 %
30.9 %
14.5 %
American Indian
3.5 %
7.2 %
1.1 %
Latino
15.4 %
12.8 %
16.3 %
Asian
.9 %
.9 %
3.8 %
Native Hawaiian
& Pacific
Islander
.8 %
.8 %
.2 %
Multi-cultural
1%
0%
3.1 %
(7.6 % have
another ‘other
race’)
Not Provided
8.4 %
11 %
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
CONTRADICTORY RESEARCH
• Two national surveys of school-aged youth who experience
a runaway or homeless episode each year showed no
disproportionate impact on youth from communities of color.
Minority youth seem to have similar rates of runaway and
homeless experiences as white youth.
• The Prevalence of Homelessness Among Adolescents in the
United States. American Journal of Public Health,
88(9):1325-1329. Ringwalt, C.L., Greene, J.M., Robertson, M. &
McPheeters, M. (1998)
• Runaway/Thrownaway Children: National estimates and
characteristics. National Incidence Studies of Missing,
Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART),
October, 2002. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention. Hammer, H., Finkelhor, D., & Sedlak,
A. (2002)
LINKING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS TO POVERTY
• State and local studies - homeless youth come
from lower-income and working-class families
and neighborhoods.
• In a broad four-state Midwestern sample of 602
homeless youth, 2/3 of the youth’s parents
(68%) reported household incomes below
$35,000 (Whitbeck)
LINKING YOUTH HOMELESSNESS TO POVERTY
•In a Detroit shelter, most youth (69%) came from
families in which the parents held unskilled or
blue-collar jobs. Most came from neighborhoods
that had median family incomes below $40,000.
(McCaskill)
•Another study in Detroit helped to bolster the
previous Detroit study and findings with a sample of
176 homeless youth. (Toro)
UNEMPLOYMENT AND YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
American Indian and African American youth experience high
rates of unemployment presumably affecting their ability to find
and retain housing.
Total, ages 16-19
Ages 18-19 Only
6%
10%
12%
23%
Hispanic
12%
20%
Total
8%
14%
Race/ethnicity
White
African American
Youth Not In School and Not Working, 2003
DISPARITY IN TREATMENT WITHIN
HOMELESS YOUTH SERVICES DOES
NOT APPEAR TO BE AN ISSUE
Most recent assessment of federally funded Runaway and
Homeless Youth Act programs:
There is no documentation or research that
community-based shelter, drop-in, or
transitional housing programs lack in culturally
competent services to youth of color.
“All grants are awarded competitively, and require that
applicants establish the need for assistance in a local
area and the characteristics of the targeted population to
ensure that targeted beneficiaries are those RHY means
to be served and can be served effectively and
efficiently. Credible documentation of this is weighted
heavily in this section of the grants review process, and
plans and principles for serving these youth must also be
described.”
(Detailed Information on the Runaway and Homeless
Youth Assessment, Program Assessment Rating
Tool, 2007)
OVER-REPRESENTATION IN FOSTER
CARE – FEEDER TO YOUTH
HOMELESSNESS
• 542,000 children and youth are in foster
care on any given day in the U.S. (Cauce)
• African American children are 35% of
foster care population (15% of US child
population)
• American Indians are 2% of foster care
population (1% of US child population)
•Every year, about 20,000-25,000 youth ages
16 and older transition from foster care
•Many homeless youth report a history of
foster care – studies estimate 21 to 53% have
prior histories. (Toro)
•25% of former foster youth nationwide stated
that they had been homeless at least one
night within 2.5 to 4 years after existing
foster care. (Cook)
TRANSITIONS FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE
SYSTEM
• Approximately 200,000 juveniles and young
adults ages 10 to 24 years are released
• A majority of homeless youth studied in 1996 and
1989 reported stays in juvenile detention facilities
- most had multiple detentions.
• More than 1/4 homeless youth had history of
foster care, group homes, or juvenile detention
became homeless upon their most recent
separation. (Clark)
•Forty-seven jurisdictions explicitly allow police to
take runaway youth into custody without a court
order or the youth’s permission.
•Another study found that youth involved with the
correctional system were more likely to be
homeless or precariously housed. (Feldman)
FOCUS OF FUTURE RESEARCH
While further research may establish
additional evidence of the disproportionate
impact of homelessness on American
Indian and African American youth, we
would suggest that future research focus
on the interventions that may offer insights
into preventing and ending homelessness
for youth of color.