YOUTH COUNT! PROCESS STUDY Michael Pergamit Mary Cunningham Martha Burt Pamela Lee Brent Howell Kassie Bertumen July 2013 Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................... iv Glossary of Terms...................................................................................................................................... v Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction and Background ................................................................................................. 4 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Homelessness among Unaccompanied Youth ...................................................................................... 4 Importance of Counting Homeless Youth ............................................................................................. 7 Policy Context ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Youth Count! Initiative .......................................................................................................................... 8 Youth Count! Cross-Site Process Study ................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 2: Youth Count! Pilot Sites ........................................................................................................ 11 Boston, Massachusetts ....................................................................................................................... 11 Cleveland, Ohio ................................................................................................................................... 12 Hennepin County, Minnesota ............................................................................................................. 12 Houston, Texas .................................................................................................................................... 13 King County/Seattle, Washington ....................................................................................................... 14 Los Angeles, California ........................................................................................................................ 14 New York City, New York .................................................................................................................... 15 Washington State (focus on Whatcom County) ................................................................................. 16 Winston-Salem, North Carolina .......................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 3: Planning ................................................................................................................................. 18 Planning Period ................................................................................................................................... 18 Participants Involved in Planning ........................................................................................................ 18 Planning Roles ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Planning Resources ............................................................................................................................. 19 Planning the Date ................................................................................................................................ 19 Planning Challenges ............................................................................................................................ 20 Chapter 4: Involving Youth in the Count ................................................................................................. 21 Providing Design Advice and Cultural Competency ............................................................................ 21 Testing the Survey Instrument ............................................................................................................ 22 Raising Awareness............................................................................................................................... 22 i Identifying Hot Spots and Known Locations ....................................................................................... 22 Street or Encampment Outreach ........................................................................................................ 23 Counting or Surveying Homeless Youth .............................................................................................. 23 Chapter 5: Defining the Population ........................................................................................................ 24 Federal Definitions of Homeless ......................................................................................................... 24 Definition of “Homeless” .................................................................................................................... 26 Definition of “Youth” .......................................................................................................................... 26 Definition of “Unaccompanied” .......................................................................................................... 26 Target Populations .............................................................................................................................. 28 LGBTQ Youth ....................................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 6: Youth Count! Surveys ............................................................................................................ 30 Survey Design ...................................................................................................................................... 30 Survey Questions ................................................................................................................................ 33 Use of Incentives ................................................................................................................................. 38 Survey Challenges ............................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 7: Sampling Strategies and Coverage ........................................................................................ 40 Shelter Counts ..................................................................................................................................... 40 Nonshelter counts ............................................................................................................................... 41 Magnet events .................................................................................................................................... 44 Magnet event challenges .................................................................................................................... 45 School Counts...................................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 8: Implementation .................................................................................................................... 49 Volunteer Recruitment ....................................................................................................................... 49 Training ............................................................................................................................................... 50 Quality Control .................................................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 9: Assembling Data and Dissemination of Results .................................................................... 52 De-duplication ..................................................................................................................................... 52 De-duplication of Shelter and Street Surveys ..................................................................................... 53 De-duplication Involving Data from Schools ....................................................................................... 54 Reporting and Dissemination .............................................................................................................. 54 Media Coverage .................................................................................................................................. 54 ii Chapter 10: Promising Practices, Areas that Need Improvement, and Recommendations to Improve Counting Youth in PIT Counts ................................................................................................................. 56 Promising Practices ............................................................................................................................. 56 Areas that Need Improvement ..........................................................................................................