Health Outcomes for Youth Experiencing Homelessness

Maintaining good health can be difficult under stressful circumstances. Some of the most stressful situations can stem from housing instability and challenges that arise due to the lack of a stable and secure home. Research from the Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness indicates just how drastically these circumstances affect the health of high schoolers, comparing homeless teens with their housed peers. This study demonstrates that youth who experience homelessness have unequivocally worse health outcomes than housed youth.[1] These health outcomes directly threaten the lives of these youth and impede their ability to complete their education and transition to a stable future without chronic homelessness.

Some of the most dire findings from this study include:

  • More than 40% of homeless teens struggle with depression, a rate 12 percentage points higher than their housed peers (29%).Homeless teens consider suicide more often and are three times more likely to attempt suicide than housed teens (20% versus 6%).
  • Nearly one in four homeless teens has been forced into unwanted sexual activity by someone they are dating, three times higher than the rate for housed teens (23% versus 8%).
  • Homeless teens are three times more likely than their housed peers to have been deliberately hurt by someone they are dating (25% versus 8%).
  • Homeless high school students are more than twice as likely than their housed peers to go to school hungry. In the past seven days, 33% of homeless students did not have breakfast compared to just 14% of housed students.[2]

This data includes youth who are staying with others temporarily, doubled up, in long-stay motels, and in homeless shelters. This illustrates that youth experiencing different types of homelessness are all greatly affected and susceptible to poorer health outcomes than that of their housed peers.

Agencies and services like HYC are critical to identifying these youth and providing them with the support they need to prevent these health outcomes from coming to fruition. HYC’s personalized approach, trauma-informed philosophy, and evidence-based methods help to meet youth experiencing homelessness where they are at and provide any assistance needed to help them secure a successful, safe, and stable present and future.

[1] “New Report on the Health and Well-being of Homeless Teens.” SchoolHouse Connection. March 13, 2017. https://schoolhouseconnection.org/new-report-on-the-health-and-well-being-of-homeless-teens/

[2] “More Than a Place to Sleep: Understanding the Health and Well-Being of Homeless High School Students.” Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness. March 13, 2017. https://www.icphusa.org/reports/homelessstudenthealth/#policy-considerations