Opening the door for local homeless youth

The most important door to open for homeless youth is providing stable housing so they may have an opportunity for a better future. Unfortunately, due to very serious reasons, many youth are hopeless, depressed and deprived of that opportunity. In addition to the many challenges homeless youth face, there is no housing program in the Mat-Su for those seeking a safe harbor and support for a healthy and productive lifestyle.

A safe harbor or stable housing is a basic need and should not be denied to anyone, especially children. They are the most vulnerable to the dark abyss of the streets. No one can survive the streets for long, without lifelong challenges. A housing program modeled after Housing First, used by nonprofit agencies throughout America since the early 1990s, is based on the primary need for stable housing, first and foremost. Then, other issues can be addressed once housing is obtained. This is in contrast to models that require homeless people to abstain from alcohol and drugs where they must seek treatment in exchange for housing.

Currently, only 35 percent of runaway youth were living with parents before becoming homeless. Another 50 percent were living with a relative or another adult. That living condition, especially with another adult, could come with a high price, especially if female. In fact, 50 percent of all runaway girls have been sexually abused, and 15 percent of those girls are pregnant and/or with a child. Sexual abuse is not limited only to girls. Boys have a 10 percent rate of sexual abuse. Finally, 15 percent of runaways and a higher percentage for older teens have been in jail, the hospital, treatment centers or have been living on the streets long enough for that to be their way of life.

With those facts in mind, one must realize that the life of being a runaway is a dead-end road. Forty percent of all runaways have mental health issues that have been identified. An alarming 80 percent have abused alcohol or other substances. The downhill spiral continues for runaways. They have dropped out in more ways than one. Seventy percent of those runaways do not have a high school diploma. The windows of opportunities quickly shut down without the necessary skills to have a future at all.

As a community without a housing program, we will continue to incur the use and cost of emergency services and increased health costs. Those health costs are hospitals, treatment centers and jail. It costs $235 a day to house one youth for one day at our local detention facility. A day in court runs into the thousands.

Once a homeless youth has stepped into a stable housing program and is not denied for whatever reason, their other issues can be addressed. Some believe runaway youth must deal with those issues that may have lead to the episode of homelessness prior to entering housing. However, the facts paint a different conclusion.

The evidence and outcomes of Housing First models that treat housing as a basic human right report significant and favorable cost savings. Those savings in reduction of services were 35 percent saved in emergency room visits, 66 percent saved in inpatient costs and 76 percent savings for days of incarceration, and the longer the stay in housing, the greater the savings.

The vast majority of emergency room visits and incarceration of youth is due to abusing alcohol and other substances. Stable housing has shown a significant reduction of drinking and using drugs among homeless. With 80 percent of homeless youth having that issue, stable housing would open the door to creating less harm to themselves and others. Housing First focuses on recovery in all areas of one’s life. This Housing First model is the best-practice approach to fighting and ending the chronic homelessness issues.

The outcome of any assistance for homeless youth, whether it be clothing, food or housing, is to ensure their continued education to be successful, productive and mature adults. If you are interested in joining the good fight, please consider attending the MYHOUSE taskforce meeting at 10 a.m., the first Thursday of every month at Wasilla Bible Church.

Michelle Overstreet and Michael P. Carson are co-chairs of MYHOUSE.