Joint Hearings on Youth Homelessness: Testimony of Carolyn Crouch-Robinson

On Thursday, April 28, public hearings were held in City Council to discuss the issue of youth homelessness in Philadelphia. Carolyn Crouch-Robinson, Project HOME's director of residential services, delivered the testimony below at the hearing. 

Thank you for the opportunity to offer remarks here today, on behalf of the Project HOME community, addressing the need to end and prevent homelessness among young adults in Philadelphia.  My name is Carolyn Crouch-Robinson, and I am the Director of Residential Services at Project HOME, and I am presenting on behalf of Sister Mary Scullion who is unable to be here today.  I am joined here by members of the Project HOME community – including young people who have themselves experienced homelessness – who are interested in being a part of this conversation.

As you may know, Project HOME operates 39 units of supportive housing for families, including as many as 100 formerly homeless children at any given time.  We also serve youth in our Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs and our Stephen Klein Wellness Center.  However, I am here today to talk about the needs among young adults experiencing homelessness – sadly, one of the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population, and one which we see much too often in the City-sponsored Homeless Death Review Team. 

In 2013, Project HOME initiated a pilot permanent supportive housing for homeless and at-risk young adults (including those who are sexual and gender minorities), ages 18-24.  This pilot has now grown to include 20 designated units and as many as 20 additional young adults throughout Project HOME.  We are expanding partnerships with organizations such as Covenant House, the Mazzoni Center, and the Attic Youth Center to meet the needs and to learn together how to best serve these young adults. 

The Scope of Homelessness Among Young Adults
The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that during a one-year period there are 550,000 unaccompanied youth and young adults, up to the age of 24, who experience homelessness for more than a weeki.  Further, a 2012 survey of over 350 youth housing organizations nationwide, the Williams Institute found that 40 percent of youth clients identified as LGBTQ.

On a local level, 4,689 students were identified as homeless by the School District of Philadelphia during the 2009-2010 school yeariii. Additionally, 36 percent of homeless youth surveyed by Philadelphia Safe and Sound and The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition identified as LGBTQ. Together, this is 1,688 LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness in Philly, with many LGBTQ youth who are homeless also going unreported.

It is clear that many of the issues leading to youth homelessness, such as family conflict, poverty, neglect, abandonment, physical violence and sexual abuse exist for both LGBTQ and non LGBTQ youth alike. However, according to the Williams Institute study, nearly seven in 10 providers report family rejection as a major factor in LGBTQ youth homelessness, meaning a significant number of LGBTQ youth are coming into shelters and/or foster care agencies as a result of involuntary separation from their families. Other LGBTQ youth may enter the system via conflict such as truancy or criminal charges. LGBTQ youth are also twice as likely to drop out of high school in response to unsafe learning environments. For some LGBTQ youth, rejection and discrimination at home does not directly lead to an ejection from their house, but instead may result in social and emotional difficulties that can cause family relationships to become severed. As a direct result, youth may end up in the foster care system or homeless. Once homeless, LGBTQ youth are particularly vulnerable. Research indicates that LGBTQ youth are at greater risk for physical and sexual assault, unsafe sexual behaviors and a have a higher incidence of mental health problems than non-LGBTQ homeless youth. Additionally, homeless LGBTQ youth are also twice as likely (62 percent) to attempt suicide than non-LGBTQ homeless youth (29 percent).

Unfortunately, best practices for working with and supporting LGBTQ youth has not been the norm for child welfare agencies and housing programs. LGBTQ youth may have experiences of abuse, trauma, and rejection specifically related to their sexual orientation or gender identity that often go unaddressed and/or are exacerbated. Many LGBTQ youth report feeling safer, and prefer the streets, to the persistent harassment, discrimination, and neglect they encounter by staff, peers, and foster families. Transgender youth tend to face even more difficultly when seeking shelter, as they are often placed without regard to their gender identity, which may lead to isolation and a lack of safety. The following data indicates that the current child welfare system is failing LGBTQ youth:

• 88 percent of professional staff working in out-of-home placements stated that gay and transgender youth were not safe in group-home environments
• 78 percent of LGBTQ youth were removed or ran away from their foster placements as a result of hostility toward their sexual orientation or gender identity
• 56 percent of youth interviewed in a New York City study of LGBTQ youth in foster care spent time living on the streets because they felt "safer" there than they did living in their group or foster home

As a result of these conditions, many LGBTQ youth age out of the child welfare system and become homeless young adults. Project HOME plans to designate, over time, as many as 100 units specifically for homeless young adults who need access to safe, inclusive, affirming and culturally sensitive housing opportunities and supportive services.

Young Adult Housing and Services
In 2013, Project HOME launched a young adult pilot program at JBJ Soul Homes for eight transition age (18-24) young adults experiencing homelessness, aging out of foster care, or coming from other institutional settings, and expanded the pilot to 20 units just a few months ago. Project HOME provides permanent housing and supportive services as a base for residents to achieve their long-term goals for housing, education, and employment.

In March, Project HOME expanded its inventory for young adults with the opening of Francis House of Peace at 810 Arch Street, which includes 12 units specifically designated for young adults.

• Eligible residents for the program are unaccompanied young adults who have been in the foster care system, are exiting a transitional housing program within a year without a clear place to go, and/or are street or shelter homeless and meet the criteria for Public Housing Authority subsidy.
• Participants must work at least part-time and demonstrate an ability to live in housing with minimal supports, an ability to pay rent, a commitment to employment and/or education, and a commitment to recovery (if applicable). Participants generally have already received crisis services needed to recover from living on the streets, yet will still need support to establish stable housing.
• Young adults in the program access specialized services centered on employment, education, life skills, mental health, and health care.

Project HOME provides primary on-site case management/resource coordination and supportive services including employment services, internships, educational programs, and healthcare. Residents work with Project HOME’s Young Adult Residential Services Coordinator and the onsite Residential Services staff. Participants have access to all Project HOME services and are encouraged to participate in leadership programming.

Currently, young adults living at Project HOME hold employment such as security guard, grocery store clerk, health aide, community health worker, maintenance worker, and administrative assistant - while most are attending college, as well.

As you probably know, primarily through collaboration and strategic use of resources, Philadelphia has made tremendous strides in supporting our most vulnerable citizens.  We have functionally ended homelessness for veterans.  People with a serious mental illness can find their way to housing. We have the lowest per-capita rate of street homelessness among major cities, despite high poverty. As a city, we have prioritized providing permanent housing – the most effective tool for both addressing and preventing homelessness – throughout our communities.  Our work at Project HOME and at providers across the city is focused on an overall strategy consistent with the Federal plan to end homelessness: ending veteran homelessness by 2015, chronic homelessness by 2016, and homelessness among children, families, and youth by 2020. It is our hope that this Council will join us on the journey to achieve these goals, because none of us are home until all of us are home.

We hope to help Philadelphia create policies that improve life not for the most vulnerable Philadelphians, but for our whole community, because none of us are home until all of us are home.