Alliance Online News: LGBTQ Youth Overrepresented Among Homeless Youth

Alliance Online News View in browser www.endhomelessness.org Tuesday, June 16, 2015 spotlight on... Report: LGBTQ Youth Overrepresented Among Homeless Youth Homeless youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning made up nearly 30 percent of the youth served by 138 homeless youth service providers surveyed, according to a report released last week by the True Colors Fund. “Serving Our Youth 2015: The Needs and Experiences of LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Homelessness,” presents findings from the 2014 LGBTQ Homeless Youth Provider Survey, which collected responses from 138 homeless youth service providers surveyed in 2014, from March through June. Respondents reported to surveyors: That LGBQ youth were overrepresented among homeless youth accessing their services, with 20 percent identifying as gay or lesbian, 7 percent identifying as bisexual, and 2 percent identifying as questioning their sexuality. That 2 percent of the homeless youth they serve identified as transgender female, 1 percent identified as transgender male, and 1 percent identified as gender queer. That the most common reasons LGBTQ youth gave for their becoming homeless was being forced out of the home or running away from home because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. That youth of color were disproportionately represented among their LGBTQ clients, with 31 percent identifying as African American/Black, 14 percent Latino/Hispanic, 1 percent Native American, and 1 percent Asian/Pacific Islander. That the LGBTQ youth they served had experienced homelessness for longer periods and struggled with more mental and physical health issues than other homeless youth they served. Read the report » hill update House Passes Bill that Would Fund Homeless Assistance at $2.185 billion, Underfund Rental Assistance On Tuesday, June 9, the full House passed its fiscal year (FY) 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) spending bill for programs under its jurisdiction, including the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program and many other low-income housing programs. The bill, which passed by a six vote margin (216-210), would fund the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program at $2.185 billion and would provide insufficient funding to renew 28,000 housing choice vouchers. It also would underfund the renewal of project-based rental assistance, and cut various other programs. For more information, see our legislative update page, WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE HILL. Read the bill » alliance events Webinar: Identifying Housing and Supportive Services for Veterans and their Families Thursday, June 18, 1 to 2 p.m. EDT On Thursday, Jun 18, at 1 p.m. EDT, the Alliance will host a webinar covering steps two and four of the Alliance's "Five Steps for Ending Veteran Homelessness" resource. Presenters from the Alliance and UNITY of Greater New Orleans will discuss strategies for recruiting landlords, identifying housing stock and supportive services, and matching veterans with them to ensure that they are successfully and permanently housed. Register » alliance events Webinar: Tailoring Rapid Re-Housing for Single Adults Tuesday, June 23, 2 to 3:30 p.m. EDT On Tuesday, June 23, the Alliance will host a webinar about funding and tailoring rapid re-housing interventions to serve single adults. Rapid re-housing is a strategy designed to help most people who become homeless exit homelessness quickly through the provision of assistance identifying housing, temporary financial assistance, and case management and other services. Register » Conference Reminder: Information Table Deadline Approaching The deadline to purchase exhibitor information tables at the Alliance’s upcoming 2015 National Conference on Ending Homelessness is Monday, June 22. If you or your organization is interested in purchasing an information table, please contact the Alliance’s Meeting and Event Planner David Dirks at ddirks@naeh.org. Tables are available on a first come-first served basis.  More information » from the blog Ending Homelessness Today the official blog of the national alliance to end homelessness So Your Community Ended Veteran Homelessness. Now What? by Kate Seif Earlier this year, New Orleans, which once had one of the highest per-capita rates of veteran homelessness in the nation, created serious buzz by becoming the first major city to effectively end veteran homelessness. With Houston following suit earlier this month, and more cities poised to make similar announcements, it is worth taking a look at New Orleans “six months on” to get a sense of what happens after the press conferences and a visit from the First Lady. In other words: what happens after you reach zero? It is no secret that even after announcing an end to veteran homelessness, the work around re-housing homeless veterans and keeping veterans in housing never really ends. New Orleans is currently working very hard to sustain the progress that was made. The city, in partnership with UNITY, the lead agency for the homeless Continuum of Care, has set up a rapid response system to quickly locate and house homeless veterans, with the goal of housing them within 30 days. The rapid response system has been the cornerstone of maintaining a “functional zero.” Read more » comments » | LGBT Housing Discrimination is Real by Mindy Mitchell One of the most heart-breaking experiences I had as a case manager was with a lesbian client who was invited, with her biological children, to stay at the family shelter where I worked. But because the faith-based shelter’s rules excluded same-sex couples, her female partner was not allowed to join them, even though they were, undeniably, a family unit. That family, understandably, elected to continue living in their car rather than being broken up. June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride month, and we at the Alliance (and I personally, as a proud L) want to use our blog this month to highlight issues around LGBT housing and homelessness. A good place to start is the basics of the fight for fair housing: ensuring that everyone has equal access to housing opportunities, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Read more » comments » | Preparing for the Upcoming CoC NOFA? Here's What You Need to Know about Tiering Projects by Cynthia Nagendra Once again, NOFA season is just around the corner! One of the more anxiety-producing aspects of recent NOFAs is the requirement that CoCs rank projects in the CoC Priority Listing section of the application. As a refresher, in recent years, CoCs have had to prioritize new and renewal projects by dividing them into two tiers, which may jeopardize funding for lower-ranked projects. Though we don’t yet know exactly what Tier 1 and 2 will look like until this year’s NOFA comes out, we know that this “CoC Priority Listing” will be a requirement of the 2015 application and that reallocation is available. Read more » comments » | homelessness in the media UH Study: City's Recent Moves Aren't Curbing Homelessness Could Nevada Follow Utah's Lead To Fix Homelessness? What you'd need to earn in every state to rent a decent apartment