November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, where we acknowledge the children and teens who are experiencing homelessness across the United States. The most recent data from the Arizona Department of Education indicates that there are 7,400 homeless youth, ages 13-21, living in Arizona. Of those, 1,800 are unaccompanied, meaning they are on their own without the support or care of a parent or guardian. These youth face significant challenges and barriers to graduating high school, staying healthy, and accessing the basic items they need to care for themselves.

What causes homelessness among youth? Let’s boil it down to the Five D’s.

Downsizing: Economic instability resulting from a job loss can make a difference for a family trying to pay their rent. This can cause a family to lose their home or apartment, sometimes resulting in an episode of homelessness for the family.

Divorce: Sometimes, after a divorce, a parent will choose a new partner over their children. If new stepparents don’t like the youth, they may be asked to stay at a friend’s house week after week and eventually are kicked out.

Drugs: Alcohol and drug addictions among parents can lead to a number of issues including abuse, neglect, and unsafe living environments for youth. This can also cause economic instability, which sometimes leads to homelessness.

Disease: Severe sicknesses can cause the primary earner in a household to lose their job or become buried in medical bills. Without steady or sufficient income, families can miss rent payments and be evicted. Sometimes youth and their families must choose between paying rent and covering a car repair. Without a functioning car, getting to and from work becomes difficult or even impossible, and they could lose their job.

Death: Disease-related and sudden deaths (including from COVID-19) can cause high economic instability for families, especially if the deceased was the primary earner for the family. Particularly for children in single-parent homes, death leads to orphaned children that have no support.

While each HYC student’s situation is unique, our youth are always the victim of circumstances. Nationally, 75% of homeless youth will or already have dropped out of high school. Homelessness should not prevent a student from staying in school, graduating, and embarking on a path toward a successful future. At HYC, more than 90% of youth stay in school and graduate. HYC works hard every day to provide youth experiencing homelessness with the resources and support they need to overcome the barriers in their path and thrive.