Researchers, policymakers and advocates agree that there is no good statewide estimate of the number of youth living on the streets, “couch surfing”, living in cars or in other unstable living conditions. This is significant because in order to make good program and policy decisions, we need to be able to:
- Establish benchmarks
- Measure change over time
- Size and scope the population in order to make critical funding decisions about the services and supports needed to address the problem
This toolkit aims to help communities count homeless youth through several resources including:
- Definition of Homeless Youth
- Principles and Practices for Finding and Counting Homeless Youth
- The Nuts & Bolts of Conducting a Successful Homeless Youth Count, by Mark Silverbush
- Youth Count Tally Sheet
- Sample Participation Agreement for Collaborating Agencies
- “Street Youth Count” Volunteer Training
- Team Van Leader’s Tracking Sheet
Population of focus: Homeless youth in LA county, California.
Link to resource: http://cahomelessyouth.library.ca.gov/docs/pdf/Toolkit_for_Counting_Homeless_Youth.pdf
Organization: The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and The California Homeless Youth Project
Date: 2012