WE COUNT, CALIFORNIA!

WE COUNT, CALIFORNIA! IMPROVING YOUTH INCLUSION

IN POINT-IN-TIME COUNTS NAEH – San Diego, CA – Feb. 20, 2015

Colette (Coco) Auerswald, MD, MS; Shahera Hyatt, MSW;

Jess Lin, MPH; Laura Petry, MSW; Brynn Jones, MSW

2013 PIT assessment

Current approaches to

counting unaccompanied

minors and TAY in the PIT

count

Best practices and

innovations in California

Barriers and

recommendations

http://cahomelessyouth.library.ca.gov

Hidden in Plain Sight

Number of CoCs Reporting n Unaccompanied,

Unsheltered Minors (2011 vs. 2013)

14 13

5

3

5

1

16

14

3 3

5

0

0 1-10 11-20 21-100 101-500 500+

2011

2013

Number of CoCs Reporting n Transition

Aged Youth, 18-24 (2011 vs. 2013)

30

0 1

2

6

1 1 0

3

7

17

9

3 2

Notreported

0 1-20 21-100 101-500 501-1000 1000+

2011

2013

We Count, California!—

Statewide Technical Assistance

PHASE I: Statewide Technical Assistance

Regional Convenings (April-July 2014

32 of California’s 41

CoCs participated

118 participants

across 7 convening

locations

Phase I-Regional Convenings

Team-building/promoting relationships between and within CoCs

CoC partners

RHY and other youth providers

McKinney-Vento liaisons

Tools and exercises for planning

Identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) to youth inclusive counting

Social Geography: Identifying partners, subgroups, and mapping

Count timeline and plan

Phase I-Evaluation: What was helpful?

Presenting a full spectrum of possibilities for

youth inclusion

Providing a space for networking and

collaboration within and between CoCs

Creating a space for dialogue/planning

about the upcoming count

Traveling to provide assistance in local

communities, particularly in rural areas

$2,000 seed grants to 23 communities piloting youth inclusive activities

Initiatives included:

Youth advisory boards

Stipends for youth enumerators

Reimbursing youth for participating in youth surveys

Social media campaigns to advertise counts to youth

Hosting events to draw youth to be counted

Sharing information back with the community

Phase I-Seed Grants

Phase I-Shared Materials

Google Group to share resources and questions as

they arise

Youth-friendly survey template for CoCs conducting

surveys as part of their counts

Brief

Youth specific

Inclusive of HUD, McKinney-Vento, and local definitions

To be aggregated and reported for CoCs across

California

Phase I – Youth Survey Template

HUD (PIT Count)

• An individual who “has a primary nighttime residence that is a private or public space not designed or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground”

Mc-Kinney Vento

• “Individuals who lack a fixed, adequate, and regular nighttime residence,” including… “Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason” or “are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations”

Runaway and Homeless Youth Act

• A youth “for whom it is not possible to live in a safe environment with a relative and who has no other safe alternative living arrangement”

HUD (Transitional Age Youth)

• Is under the age of 25; meets another existing federal statute definition of homelessness; has not had a lease, ownership interest, or occupancy agreement in the past 60 days; has moved two or more times in the past 60 days; and is expected to continue in this state due to disability, substance use, abuse history, chronic physical or mental conditions, or having 2 or more barriers to employment

Local Definitions

Conflicting Definitions of Homelessness

2875 11078

269663

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

Unsheltered PIT Count Sheltered PIT Count School Count

Homeless Minors in California, 2013

PHASE II: 1:1 Technical Assistance

1:1 Technical Assistance

2 communities chosen to receive:

$10,000 grant for dedicated staff time and count

activities

TA assistance from We Count, California!

Requests for:

Facilitating meetings with potential collaborators

Providing examples from other communities of youth-

inclusive count activities

Training guides and materials for volunteers

App-based survey tools

1:1 Technical Assistance: Yolo County

Yolo County

Mixed urban/suburban/rural community

Includes Davis (UC campus)

Challenges: Yolo/Sacramento crossover; unincorporated and rural land; few youth-specific providers

1:1 Technical Assistance: Yolo County

Collaboration with youth providers from non-

homeless sectors (library system, 211, Workforce

Investment Act)

Youth-specific survey conducted using iPads/tablets

Count activities:

Multi-day, survey-based count

Street outreach with youth and provider teams

Surveys at local service agencies

Surveys with students accessing food pantry at UC

Davis

1:1 Technical Assistance: Yolo County

Preliminary Impact:

Increased local awareness

Increased survey participation

Youth ambassadors and count

volunteers

Coalition-building with local

service providers

Partnership with local

McKinney Vento school liaison

and UC Davis school programs

1:1 Technical Assistance: Kings/Tulare

Kings/Tulare Counties

Over 7,000 square miles

Agricultural communities hard-hit by the drought

Challenges: limited reach/capacity; 66 school districts; few youth-specific providers

1:1 Technical Assistance: Kings/Tulare

Focus groups with migrant and CPS-involved youth

Social media campaign to promote count participation

Youth-specific survey conducted using iPads/laptops

Count activities:

Multi-day, survey-based count

Project Homeless Connect

Magnet events at local libraries

Street outreach with youth ambassadors

School district-led pilot count with migrant youth population

1:1 Technical Assistance: Kings/Tulare

Impact:

Increased local awareness

Partnership with local school district and pilot count of migrant youth

Increased survey participation

Social media profiles created

PHASE III: Structural Interventions

Phase III: Structural Change

Work with federal partners to:

Clarify HUD policies regarding the count

Advocate for a developmentally appropriate definition

of homeless youth

Work with local and state partners to:

Increase awareness of the scope of the problem

Employ numbers for advocacy and funding

Engage with media about the count and issues of youth

homelessness

Phase III: Structural Change

California-level reporting on counts by multiple

definitions: stop pitting numbers against each other

HUD PIT definition

McKinney-Vento numbers

Local numbers

Dissemination statewide and nationally

Engaging with local and national media outlets

regarding the count

Helping numbers better inform the conversation

Questions?

To access the Hidden in Plain Sight report, visit

http://cahomelessyouth.library.ca.gov/publications.html

To join our Google Group, visit:

tinyurl.com/WeCountCA

Email us at: WeCountCalifornia@gmail.com

coco.auerswald@berkeley.edu

Thank you!

Thanks especially to our California communities!