Voices of Youth Count is designed to generate a more complete understanding of youth homelessness in America by combining a unique blend of scientific research and policy expertise while partnering with youth who have experiences with homelessness and with local community stakeholders from across the country.
VoYC is integrating findings from multiple research activities: youth counts; youth, provider and household surveys; in-depth youth interviews; analysis of existing data; review of the policy and fiscal landscape; and a review of the evidence base for programs that serve runaway, homeless and at-risk youth.
Each research activity can be explored through this graphic. VoYC is integrating data, analysis and results into final recommendations for a diverse array of stakeholders with the goal of compelling action to prevent and end youth homelessness.
COUNTS
Youth Counts
By adopting and improving on best practices for counting homeless youth, Voices of Youth Count developed and consistently applied a youth-centered count methodology across 22 partner communities during the summer of 2016. VoYC Youth Counts enumerated homeless and unstably housed youth between the ages of 13 and 25 years old. Current and formerly homeless youth were employed to plan and conduct the count, ensuring their insights were brought to bear on the strategy that VoYC used to enumerate youth on the day and night of the count.
Youth Count and Brief Youth Survey data are being integrated with data from other sources to establish the foundation for national incidence and prevalence estimates of runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youth using different federal definitions.
INTERVIEWS
In-Depth Youth Interviews
Voices of Youth Count will interview approximately 200 youth and young adults across a wide spectrum of social identities and backgrounds to capture the diversity of experience among this population of young people (e.g., former foster youth, LGBTQ youth, youth with juvenile justice involvement, racial-ethnic minority youth). The in-depth interviews, combined with a survey, will produce knowledge about the life course of their housing instability experiences, identify the social context and critical conditions of those experiences, and reveal how youth navigate housing instability and seek supports within their environment. Through the use of novel methodology, these interviews are designed to create trajectories of housing instability and recommend actionable targets for change beyond services for runaway and unaccompanied homeless young people.
The In-Depth Youth Interviews are occurring in five of the 22 VoYC communities: Cook County, IL; Philadelphia County, PA; San Diego County, CA; Travis County, TX; and Walla Walla County.
SURVEYS
Brief Youth Survey
The VoYC Brief Youth Survey was administered during the 22 VoYC Youth Counts and asked youth about where they stayed the night before the count, involvement with the child welfare and justice systems, education and employment, sexual orientation and gender identity, and pregnancy and parenthood status. The VoYC Brief Youth Survey generally took less than five minutes to complete and was easily administered on the street, in shelters, drop-in centers and in other service provider locations.
Brief Youth Survey and Youth Count data are being integrated with data from other sources to establish the foundation for national incidence and prevalence estimates of runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youth.
National Household Survey
Voices of Youth Count is partnering with Gallup, an internationally recognized and respected research organization, to survey an estimated 30,000 adults about 13 to 25 year olds in their households who have run away, couch-surfed or experienced homeless during the past year.
Results from the VoYC National Household Survey will form the basis for VoYC’s national incidence and prevalence estimates of the number of runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youth.
Provider Survey
To illuminate what services are available to runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youth, Voices of Youth Count surveyed local providers in the 22 VoYC partner communities. The net was cast broadly to include providers whose primary focus is serving runaway and homeless youth, providers who serve a broader youth population (e.g., health or mental health clinics), and providers who serve homeless adults and families.
Information gathered from the VoYC Provider Survey will increase our knowledge about the landscape of resources and supports available to runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youth in communities across the country.
REVIEWS
Evidence Review
Through a systematic review of prevention and intervention research, Voices of Youth Count will examine what is known about what works and promising programs and strategies when it comes to preventing youth from running away or becoming homeless and intervening in the lives of runaway and homeless youth.
The Evidence Review will also identify gaps in the evidence base and find ways to put the evidence in the hands of those who are able to put it into action to address the needs and improve the lives of youth who are or who are at risk of becoming runaways or homeless.
Existing Data
Voices of Youth Count will analyze existing data from a diverse array of other sources to further our understanding of the scale and scope of youth homelessness in America. These other data sources include: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Management Information System; Chapin Hall’s State Foster Care Data Archive; and U.S. Department of Education’s McKinney-Vento Data.
Data from these sources will lead to a better understanding about the scale of youth homelessness, characteristics of the overall population and subpopulations, intersections between youth and systems, and opportunities to prevent and end youth homelessness.
Policy and Fiscal Review
With the goal of understanding how policies shape the landscape of services available within communities, Voices of Youth Count is conducting interviews with our partners who are experts in the local, state and federal policy landscape that affects runaway and unaccompanied homeless youth. We are also gathering information on how policies shape the ways in which programs for runaway and unaccompanied homeless youth are funded and sustained.
VoYC will connect the findings from the policy and fiscal review to what we are learning from the Provider Survey, Brief Youth Survey and In-Depth Youth Interviews to make policy recommendations that will lead to more runaway and unaccompanied homeless youth receiving the services they need.