Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
SNAP: Clarification of Policies Barriers Facing Homeless Youth
This document clarifies eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to ensure that homeless youth, and other vulnerable populations, have access to the food they need.
USDA Living Science
This website describes food, agriculture, and natural resource careers at the US Department of Agriculture.
USDA Awards $200 Million for Skills Training to Help SNAP Recipients Get Jobs
USDA has awarded $200 million to fund and evaluate pilot projects in 10 states to help Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) participants find jobs and work toward self-sufficiency. The selected pilots will focus on target populations and represent a wide array of balanced approaches, including skills training, work-based learning, support services, and other job-driven strategies.
Resource: Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness
This clearinghouse helps providers identify, select, and implement evidence-based programs and practices to address wide-ranging family and mental health issues. The searchable database includes effective and promising intervention programs as well as resources and strategies to ensure the welfare of military families.
Ending Housing Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Individuals and Families
This HUD website maintains a list of states that enumerate sexual orientation and gender identity in their state fair housing laws. It also provides information and resources to report housing discrimination.
Neighborhood Networks
HUD created Neighborhood Networks in 1995 to encourage property owners to establish multiservice community learning centers in HUD insured and assisted properties. Neighborhood Networks was one of the first federal initiatives to promote self-sufficiency and help provide computer access to low-income housing communities. Neighborhood Networks centers are alike. With support from innovative public-private partnerships, Neighborhood Networks centers sponsor a range of services and programs. Nearly all centers offer job training and educational opportunities, and many also provide programs that include access to healthcare information and microenterprise development.
Resources: End Youth Homelessness
This website provides resources and information related to HUD programs, including newly added partnership-building resources for communities in their efforts to end youth homelessness. This blog post from the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth highlights some of the resources that are useful for advocates and service providers.
Resource: Ending Youth Homelessness
This guidebook series helps Continuum of Care stakeholders and practitioners engage partners in efforts to prevent and end youth homelessness. The series includes three guidebooks, including System Planning, Mainstream System Collaboration, and Promising Program Models.
Report: 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, Part I
This report (PDF, 98 pages) provides point-in time estimates of both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness on a single night, as well as estimates of the number of people experiencing homelessness within particular populations and demographics. The report shows that 549,928 people experienced homelessness on a single night in 2016, a decline of 14% since 2010.
Report: Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness: 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report
This annual report (PDF, 96 pages) provides a snapshot of homelessness, both sheltered and unsheltered, on a single night in late January in the U.S., including estimates for particular populations such as youth. The data show 35,686 unaccompanied homeless youth were counted. Eighty nine percent were between the ages of 18 and 24, and 11% were under the age of 18. There were 9,800 parenting young adults between 18 and 24 years of age, and 92 parents under the age of 18.
Resource: Criteria and Benchmarks for Achieving the Goal of Ending Youth Homelessness
This resource provides specific criteria and benchmarks for ending unaccompanied youth homelessness. Communities can use this resource to reduce the number of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness and build lasting solutions to respond to future needs.
Resources: Ending Youth Homelessness
These resources provide information and tools on topics related to ending youth homelessness:
- Coordinated Entry for Youth Brief — Provides an overview of the four core elements of coordinated entry for youth: access, assessment, prioritization, and referral.
- Engaging Youth in Decision Making — Provides guidance on how to engage youth in project development and governance.
- Using a Housing First Philosophy When Serving Youth — Provides an overview of housing first philosophy and how it applies to youth-serving projects.
- Rapid Re-Housing for Youth — Provides a suite of tools and products on rapid re-housing for youth, including a Jump Start Tool, set of frequently asked questions, and a checklist.
Help Youth Connect to Internships!
Internships promote positive youth development and are a great way for youth to get involved in the federal government. Youth can visit the Internship pages on Youth Engaged 4 Change to learn about the skills needed to compete for internships in public service, access current internship opportunities, and get advice from peers and professionals with experience in the federal government.
National Academies Board on Children, Youth, and Families
The Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) addresses a variety of policy-relevant issues related to the health and development of children, youth, and families. It does so by convening experts to weigh in on matters from the perspective of the behavioral, social, and health sciences.
Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People
Mental health and substance use disorders among children, youth, and young adults are major threats to the health and well-being of younger populations which often carryover into adulthood. The costs of treatment for mental health and addictive disorders, which create an enormous burden on the affected individuals, their families, and society, have stimulated increasing interest in prevention practices that can impede the onset or reduce the severity of the disorders. Prevention practices have emerged in a variety of settings, including programs for selected at-risk populations (such as children and youth in the child welfare system), school-based interventions, interventions in primary care settings, and community services designed to address a broad array of mental health needs and populations. Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People updates a 1994 Institute of Medicine book, Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders, focusing special attention on the research base and program experience with younger populations that have emerged since that time.
Recording Available — Non-Time-Limited Housing for Youth
USICH hosted a webinar, “Non-Time-Limited Housing for Youth,” on August 13, 2015, which highlighted two models of non-time-limited housing for youth, explaining how those programs were developed and financed, what the programs offer to youth, as well as outcomes and challenges.
Key Strategies for Connecting People Experiencing Homelessness to Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits
This document aims to improve practices and collaboration among SSA field offices, VA Medical Center staff, organizations and agencies that provide services to people experiencing homelessness, and other community-based partners. The strategies focus on assisting individuals experiencing homelessness with the initial disability application and medical determination process.
Archived Webinar: Non-Time-Limited Housing for Youth
USICH hosted a webinar that highlighted two models of non-time-limited housing for youth, explaining how those programs were developed and financed, what the programs offer to youth, as well as outcomes and challenges.
Share with Youth: Country Girl Tackles Homelessness and the DC Metro as USICH Intern
This blog post, written by a USICH intern, describes how she found the position and highlights her experiences working on the policy team at USICH.
Recent Event: Policy Briefing on Ending Youth Homelessness
This event brought together stakeholders from multiple sectors, as well as youth from diverse backgrounds, to assess progress toward the Opening Doors goal of ending youth homelessness by 2020.
Resource: Ending Family Homelessness, Improving Outcomes for Children
This fact sheet (PDF, 2 pages) describes the negative impact of family homelessness on children’s health, education, and well-being. It also illustrates current federal investments and initiatives that aim to end family homelessness by lifting households out of poverty and supporting early educational success.
Resource: Assessing Whether Your Community Has Achieved the Goal of Ending Youth Homelessness
This resource (PDF, 4 pages) includes questions that can help communities assess their progress toward USICH’s benchmarks for reaching the goal of ending youth homelessness.