ALONE STREETS HIDDEN HOPE CUSTODY FEAR HIDDEN DETENTION STIGMA HOPE ALONE JAIL ALONE AT-RISK DIVORCE DISTRESS HUNGRY MINOR PARENTS ADOPTION TEACHER MINOR SHELTER JAIL TEXAS CONFLICT CUSTODY ABUSE COURT HURT DRUGS HOMELESS CONFLICT RISK ALONE RUNAWAY TEXAS DISTRESS EDUCATION NEGLECT COURT FOSTER INVISIBLE SHELTER PTSD SHELTER JAIL DISTRESS RISK PARENTS ABUSE SCHOOL STATUTORY HEALTH FOSTER ESCAPE TEACHER APPREHEND DISCRIMINATION TRAUMA STRUGGLE MOTEL MENTAL AT-RISK UNACCOMPANIED PARENTS HOMELESS FOSTER JAIL COURT ADOPTION FEAR HIDDEN SHELTER RESILIENT INVISIBLE JAIL HUNGRY HURT CARE VICTIM RUNAWAY MINOR STATUTORY BROKEN ABUSE DISCRIMINATION DRUGS INVISIBLE SHELTER STRONG CONFLICT DETENTION ESCAPE Policy Solutions to End Youth Homelessness in Texas in Homelessness Youth End to Solutions Policy Young, Alone, and Homeless Homeless and Alone, Young, in the Lone Star State Star Lone the in SHAME TRUANCY SYSTEM EDUCATION STATUTORY SUPPORT PARENTS TEXAS HURT STRUGGLE COURTLGBTQ GUARDIAN CARE ABUSE FEAR CARE DISCRIMINATION LGBTQ HUNGER COUCH NEGLECT ADOPTION GUILT RISK HELP SHELTER JAIL HURT HOPE SURF STRUGGLE NEGLECT STRUGGLE FEAR MENTAL HEALTH MENTAL PTSD STIGMA MINOR RESOURCEFUL YOUTH JAIL FOSTER TRUANCY CUSTODY TEXAS JAIL CARE STRONG STRUGGLE HOMELESS MINOR SHELTER DISTRESS STATUTORY DETENTION GUARDIAN CONFLICT DRUGS HOMELESS EDUCATION ALONE APPREHEND LGBTQ GUARDIAN TEACHER CUSTODY MOTEL JAIL PTSD COURT AT-RISK TEXAS SCHOOL DIVORCE STREETS ABUSE ALONE STREETS HIDDEN HOPE CUSTODY FEAR HIDDEN DETENTION STIGMA HOPE ALONE JAIL ALONE AT-RISK DIVORCE DISTRESS HUNGRY MINOR PARENTS ADOPTION TEACHER MINOR SHELTER JAIL TEXAS CONFLICT CUSTODY ABUSE COURT HURT DRUGS HOMELESS CONFLICT RISK ALONE RUNAWAY TEXAS DISTRESS EDUCATION NEGLECT COURT FOSTER INVISIBLE SHELTER PTSD SHELTER JAIL DISTRESS RISK PARENTS ABUSE SCHOOL STATUTORY HEALTH FOSTER ESCAPE TEACHER APPREHEND DISCRIMINATION TRAUMA STRUGGLE MOTEL MENTAL AT-RISK UNACCOMPANIED PARENTS HOMELESS FOSTER JAIL COURT ADOPTION FEAR HIDDEN SHELTER RESILIENT INVISIBLE JAIL HUNGRY HURT CARE VICTIM RUNAWAY MINOR STATUTORY BROKEN ABUSE DISCRIMINATION DRUGS INVISIBLE SHELTER STRONG CONFLICT DETENTION ESCAPE Policy Solutions to End Youth Homelessness in Texas in Homelessness Youth End to Solutions Policy Young, Alone, and Homeless Homeless and Alone, Young, in the Lone Star State Star Lone the in SHAME TRUANCY SYSTEM EDUCATION STATUTORY SUPPORT PARENTS TEXAS HURT STRUGGLE COURTLGBTQ GUARDIAN CARE ABUSE FEAR CARE DISCRIMINATION LGBTQ HUNGER COUCH NEGLECT ADOPTION GUILT RISK HELP SHELTER JAIL HURT HOPE SURF STRUGGLE NEGLECT STRUGGLE FEAR MENTAL HEALTH MENTAL PTSD STIGMA MINOR RESOURCEFUL YOUTH JAIL FOSTER TRUANCY CUSTODY TEXAS JAIL CARE STRONG STRUGGLE HOMELESS MINOR SHELTER DISTRESS STATUTORY DETENTION GUARDIAN CONFLICT DRUGS HOMELESS EDUCATION ALONE APPREHEND LGBTQ GUARDIAN TEACHER CUSTODY MOTEL JAIL PTSD COURT AT-RISK TEXAS SCHOOL DIVORCE STREETS ABUSE November 2017 Texas Appleseed Texas Network of Youth Services 1609 Shoal Creek Blvd., Suite 201 P.O. Box 26855 Austin, TX 78701 Austin, TX 78755 512-473-2800 512-815-3299 www.texasappleseed.org www.tnoys.org www.facebook.com/texasappleseed www.facebook.com/TNOYS1 @TexasAppleseed @TNOYS Report Team Report Team Deborah Fowler Christine Gendron Executive Director Executive Director Gabriella McDonald Lara O’Toole Pro Bono & New Projects Director Director of Training & Program Development Ellen Stone Jack Nowicki Director of Research Senior Program Development Specialist Kelli Johnson Communications Director Texas Network of Youth Services Mission Emily Eby Intern (Summer 2016) The mission of TNOYS is to strengthen, support, and protect critical services for Texas youth and Hailey Pulman their families in order to ensure their success. Intern (Summer 2017) Texas Appleseed Mission Texas Appleseed’s mission is to promote social and economic justice for all Texans by leveraging the skills and resources of volunteer lawyers and other professionals to identify practical solutions to difficult systemic problems. First Edition © 2017, Texas Appleseed & Texas Network of Youth Services. All rights reserved, except as follows: Free copies of this report may be made for personal use. Reproductions of more than five (5) copies for personal use and reproduction for commercial use are prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner. The work may be accessed for reproduction pursuant to these restrictions at www.texasappleseed.org or www.tnoys.org. Acknowledgements We are extremely grateful to our pro bono partner Vinson & Elkins LLP for the research and interviews they completed to support this report, including team leads Doug Bland and Ellyn Josef, as well as attorneys Mustafa Abdul-Jabbar, Lauren Anderson, Scott Breedlove, Chuck Cassidy, Art Cavazos, Rachel Comeskey, Stephen Gilstrap, Robert Landicho, Adam Law, Christine Mainguy, Nickou Oskoui, George Padis, Tara Porterfield, Kate Rainey, Alex Robertson, Destinee Roman, Sydney Scott, and Jaren Taylor; and 2016 summer associates Ted Belden, Marco Chan, Jordan Fossee, Jackson Gayle, Keyavash Hemyari, Jesse Hollingsworth, Justin Lim, Jen Maul, Caroline McDonald, Lauren Rasch, Myles Reynolds, Ed Vaunder, Maggie Webber, Grace Ann Whiteside, and Janie Zilkha. We are very appreciative of Janis Monger for her contributions to the Executive Summary, as well as Patricia Hart and Lindsay Read for the research support each provided. We are also particularly thankful to the organizational stakeholders who were not only interviewed for this report, providing invaluable insight to the challenges and benefits of serving youth experiencing homelessness, but also to those stakeholders who helped to review the recommendations contained within this report and provided valuable feedback. Finally, we are incredibly appreciative of the more than 100 youth interviewed for this report. We cannot emphasize enough how honest, brave, and forthright these young people were in telling their stories. This report is generously supported byThe Brown Foundation, Inc., The Meadows Foundation, and The Simmons Foundation. Additional Publications If you find this publication of interest, please be sure to check out these additional publications: Texas Homeless Youth Handbook Understanding Youth Rights: Helping Providers Navigate the Laws and Policies http://homelessyouthtexas.bakermckenzie.com/ Affecting Unaccompanied Homeless Youth http://tnoys.org/wp-content/uploads/ Youth-Rights-Guide_New-Version-2.pdf Young, Alone, and Homeless in the Lone Star State Policy Solutions to End Youth Homelessness in Texas TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Available online at http://stories.texasappleseed.org/young-alone-homeless-texas-nov2017 INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER 1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS RELATED TO YOUTH HOMELESSNESS . 3 CHAPTER 2 EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR ACCOMPANIED & UNACCOMPANIED HOMELESS STUDENTS . 13 Policy Recommendations. 47 CHAPTER 3 INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN YOUTH HOMELESSNESS AND THE JUVENILE OR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS . 51 Policy Recommendations. 78 CHAPTER 4 YOUTH HOMELESSNESS AND THE TEXAS FOSTER CARE SYSTEM . 81 Policy Recommendations. 96 CHAPTER 5 PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEEDS AND ACCESS TO CARE FOR HOMELESS YOUTH . 100 Policy Recommendations. 128 CHAPTER 6 SERVICES AND SUPPORTS FOR YOUTH EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS . 135 Policy Recommendations. 172 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION AND CROSS-SYSTEM POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS . 175 METHODOLOGY . 178 “The mental struggle that kids like me endure is not cliché. It is not something you can be taught. People’s thought processes are exclusive to their struggle. Since you are not that person. Since you have not endured what they have endured, you will not be able to understand where they come from. Even if they explain themselves to you, you will never be able to fully understand where they are coming from. When they get in those situations or those fits of rage, fits of depression, when they feel like no one can help and they’re just out…All you have to do is be considerate to the possibility that this could happen to me...Once you open up that part of you, you are better received by us.” —C.F., Houston youth Introduction Texas Appleseed became interested in systemic problems that fuel youth homelessness as a result of its work on other child- and youth-focused projects. We frequently saw children and young people whose juvenile justice involvement or problems at school were the result of homelessness or housing instability. We met former foster youth who reported that they were inadequately prepared for adulthood when they aged out and, consequently, ended up on the streets for some period of time. And our fair housing work has revealed to us the difficulties that communities and families across the state struggle with caused by the lack of affordable and safe housing. Our interest led to a partnership with the Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS), an organization that also has a long history of advocating for young people in Texas. Their membership of service providers and partnership with the state on Youth Count Texas!, a statewide look at youth homelessness mandated by the 84th Texas Legislature, make them experts in the issue. 1 In the summer of 2016, Texas Appleseed and TNOYS began our research for this report, assisted by pro bono partners Vinson & Elkins LLP. Our research included: • Over 100 interviews with young people who had experienced or were experiencing homelessness in Texas. • More than 50 interviews conducted by Vinson & Elkins’ team of pro bono volunteers with school homeless