NEW YORK - Youth homelessness around the state, and especially on Long Island, is a problem being worsened by the recession and funding cutbacks. Those who help to shelter and counsel runaways estimate that 3,000 to 4,000 teens a year are in non-permanent living situations, ranging from couch-surfing to living on the streets of Long Island.

Bill Best, who steers homeless teens to the only shelter in Nassau County, says the situation is dire. He welcomes fundraising efforts, like a new CD by emerging young musicians, that raise money - and concern - for the cause.

"This effort is great for awareness. Most people think most runaways go to New York City, but it's not true. We have them everywhere."

Singer-songwriter Rachel Sage says homeless teens are something most touring musicians can't avoid seeing, and their number seems to be growing. She is donating proceeds from a compilation CD called "New Arrivals, Volume Four" to the National Network for Youth.

Sage, who grew up in Westchester County, identifies herself as bisexual. She says she's fortunate her parents were understanding.

LGBT teens, says Teresa Buhse of the Long Island Crisis Center, make up a large percentage of runaways.

"They identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and their parents can't accept that. They either ask them to leave or make life at home so unbearable by their reactions that the kids just feel like they need to get out of there because it's not a good place for them to be."

Best says the runaway shelter he directs in Nassau County has not had a boost in support since 1985 and lost half its funding in the state's newest budget.

"It's upsetting and it's upsetting for the staff here. We're the last ones left in Nassau county - and essentially, Long Island. We're it. From Montauk to Manhattan, we're the only emergency shelter and independent living program for those age groups we serve."

Sage produced her fundraising CD on her own record label. She says she chose to give the proceeds to the National Network for Youth because of her experiences on the road.

"As a touring artist, unfortunately, I've really seen a lot of homeless youth - and seemingly an increase - in all of the places where I've been touring, all over the United States. The peers on my label have talked about the same things they've witnessed, as well."

The CD, "New Arrivals, Volume Four," will be available June 7 through online music sites.



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INDIANAPOLIS -- As the holiday season draws near, groups are spotlighting ways to support young people transitioning to adulthood after spending time in foster care.

During the pandemic, increased federal funding was allocated for teens and young adults who had experienced the foster system to address the challenges they disproportionately face.

Maggie Stevens, president and CEO of Foster Success in Indiana, noted most of the funding has expired, or will soon. She said what brings a young person into the system, and sometimes the foster care experience itself, can be traumatic.

"On top of just trying to make sense of all the things that every teenager and 20-year-old in our communities are dealing with, they are also working with these added layers of trauma," Stevens observed. "And they don't always have a consistent adult in their lives to support them through these processes."

She pointed out her organization works to support these young people in achieving their goals, whether it be getting a first job or apartment; applying for college and financial aid programs; or connecting them with job training, certifications, financial literacy and other skills.

The U.S. House last month passed a bill to extend financial to support to older youth aged or aging out of foster care.

Stevens added many of the issues they deal with existed long before the pandemic, from eviction risks to job losses, compounded by the lack of a support system. She hopes to see more permanent supports.

"Teens and young adults leaving foster care, they don't always have somebody to cosign on that first loan," Stevens explained. "They don't have somebody to take them in when their residence halls closed due to COVID, or they lose a job for some reason."

She emphasized at least 24,000 Hoosiers between ages 14 and 26 have spent some time in foster care as a teen. And according to the National Foster Youth Institute, 26,000 young people age out of the system every year.

BEMIDJI, Minn. -- November is National Homeless Children and Youth Awareness Month.

Compared with other Midwestern states, Minnesota has some of the highest numbers for those 25 and younger. In the northwestern region, efforts are taking shape to prevent teens and young adults from a lifetime of housing instability.

One statewide study showed children and unaccompanied youths age 24 and younger make up nearly half of those experiencing homelessness.

Cory Boushee, community impact program officer for the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, which works with stakeholders in a 12-county region to address the issue, said roughly a quarter of those served by response programs are in the youth demographic, underscoring the need for more prevention work.

"All of that trauma leads to increases of adult homelessness," Boushee observed. "So, if we can cut down this number of 25% of the people we're serving having to be in that age group, we're really gonna be better off in the long run."

He pointed out one of their latest efforts to reduce the numbers is a new web app called My Path. It connects at-risk youth with a variety of resources, including housing, to help them gain more stability in their life. Project leaders hope it allows more teens and young adults to feel a sense of anonymity in reaching out, as opposed to walking into help centers and asking in person.

Research at the national level shows a variety of factors driving youth homelessness, including aging out of foster care and encounters with the juvenile-justice system.

Boushee noted when you combine that with a lack of a financial history, it is hard to get approved for housing.

"Landlords just won't look at 'em," Boushee explained. "So now they can't get into anywhere and that just keeps that cycle repeating of having to find a friend's house to sleep on and then another friend's house to sleep on."

He said without a permanent address, teens and young adults then encounter problems in landing a steady job, adding to their barriers in finding stability. Researchers have said more data collection is important to guide programs, and Boushee said this fall, the coalition in his region launched a separate effort to measure the effectiveness of all their responses.

BOISE, Idaho - The holidays can be a hard time for foster care youth, especially young people who have recently aged out of the system. Ivy Smith, who is chair of the Idaho Foster Youth Advisory Board, was herself part of the foster care system.

"It's a very emotionally taxing time of year," said Smith, "especially when you've just aged out of the foster care system. It can feel very lonely. It's almost like you start feeling like it's you against the world."

Smith said aging out of the system at any time brings challenges that many don't anticipate. She said while most people look forward to the day, they also have to figure out ways to build adult skills.

"Meaning like how to file my taxes and taking care of myself, basically," said Smith, "Those are all those kinds of skills that I wish I had help with before I had turned 18, but I was pretty much kind of thrown into the deep end and was told sink or swim."

Smith, who graduated high school at age 17 to enroll at Boise State University, said having a job was important once she was out of the system. She's now an administrative specialist for the City of Boise mayor's office.

This year, Idaho lawmakers passed a bill that extends support for foster care youth from age 18 to 21. Smith said this is an important adjustment, especially with many young people aging out of the system without ever having had a job before.

She said it can be a struggle to find an affordable place to live.

"I know that across the nation many cities are experiencing a housing crisis," said Smith, "but this is especially true for foster youth."

Smith said the bar shouldn't be set so low for young people who are in, or have been in, foster care.

"They have so many trials and tribulations that they're going through," said Smith, "but to only believe in them to hit a certain point and not wish that they could go further is, in my mind, just such a disservice."

There are about 450,000 children in foster care nationwide, including about 2,000 in Idaho.