Youth homelessness is more common than many realize. Researchers have estimated that over 700,000 adolescent minors — about 1 in 30 youth aged 13 to 17 — have experienced homelessness in the U.S. That number rises sharply among young adults aged 18 to 25, with 3.5 million, or 1 in 10, having faced homelessness. The impact is not evenly distributed: LGBTQIA+ youth are more than twice as likely, and BIPOC youth nearly twice as likely, to experience homelessness compared to their peers.

Community Solutions, a nonprofit helping communities around the world end homelessness, is committed to finding coordinated, informed, and effective responses.

Who Is Community Solutions and Why This Report Matters

Community Solutions has worked since 2015 to support communities in addressing homelessness through Built for Zero (BFZ), a nationwide movement of more than 100 communities committed to measurable, lasting reductions in homelessness. The BFZ approach goes beyond support — it builds a framework for systems change. This includes coaching, tools, and shared learning that allow communities to coordinate efforts and track outcomes in real time.

To accelerate progress, Community Solutions lifts up promising strategies that can be scaled nationally. As part of this effort, they partnered with ORS Impact to conduct a broad assessment of the current state of youth homelessness responses across the field. The result is a report designed to inform both Community Solutions and the broader homelessness response sector, sharing effective practices and recommendations that can guide meaningful action.

What the Report Covers: Six Areas of Inquiry

The report is organized around six essential questions:

  1. Definitions of Youth Homelessness
    How the field defines youth homelessness—including age ranges and inclusion criteria—shapes everything from data collection to program eligibility. This section explores how definitions vary and what it means for service delivery. 
  2. Effective Youth Homelessness Interventions
    What is working across the field? This section highlights strategies and programs that have shown promising results in preventing or ending youth homelessness. 
  3. The Role of Adjacent System Partners
    No single system can end youth homelessness alone. This part of the report examines how collaboration across sectors—such as education, healthcare, foster care, and justice—is critical for long-term impact. 
  4. Strategic Approaches for Youth Subpopulations
    Not all youth face the same challenges. This section explores how strategies need to adapt based on identity factors like race, sexual orientation, and age, emphasizing the importance of tailored, equitable responses. 
  5. Implications for Adult Populations
    Lessons from youth-focused interventions may offer valuable insights for supporting adults. This section considers how learnings from youth homelessness strategies could inform broader system design. 
  6. Broader Implications for the Field
    Finally, the report reflects on what these findings mean for the sector as a whole—and for Community Solutions’ ongoing role in helping communities build coordinated, data-driven responses.

Each section includes a high-level summary of findings and a short list of recommendations to help guide future action.

A Resource for Those Ready to Make a Difference in Youth Homelessness

Whether you're a service provider, policymaker, advocate, or researcher, The Current State of Homelessness Approaches offers valuable insights into the landscape of youth homelessness response. By learning what works and understanding where gaps remain, we can move closer to a future where all young people have a safe, stable place to call home.

This article was written with the help of ChatGPT.