Giving Compass' Take:

• To address youth homelessness from a systems perspective, organizations are forging partnerships with juvenile justice systems to disrupt the outcomes for young people. 

• How can funders help expand these partnerships?

• Read about the role of education in preventing youth homelessness. 

In order to prevent and end homelessness, we must reduce the risk of homelessness for people transitioning from public systems. In some communities across the country, one focus of activities is reducing the risk of homelessness among youth and young adults transitioning from the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

USICH recently spoke with staff leading this work at The Link in Minneapolis, MN, and both Larkin Street Youth Services and Collaborative Courts for Superior Courts in San Francisco, CA, who shared how they are leveraging partnerships between the homelessness services and justice systems to disrupt and end the cycle of homelessness among youth and young adults.

USICH: How are the homelessness services and justice systems in your community working to prevent and end homelessness?   

San Francisco, CA: In 2015, the San Francisco Superior Court’s Young Adult Court (YAC) partnered with Larkin Street Youth Services to ensure that shelter beds could be made available to young adults, ages 18-24, participating in the YAC program. YAC is a problem-solving court. Local justice partners, clinicians, and other providers help with case management when a young adult is referred to YAC.

Minneapolis, MN:  In our community, there is a partnership called the Juvenile Supervision Center (JSC) between the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Minneapolis Public Schools District, and The Link, a youth and adult led nonprofit that provides juvenile justice alternative programs, emergency shelter, and housing and supportive services for youth who are experiencing homelessness and/or sex trafficking.

Read the full article about youth homelessness services for partnerships from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.