Without A Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey
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Our findings indicate that<br />
those who left home for the<br />
first time before they were<br />
16 were much more likely to<br />
experience multiple episodes of<br />
homelessness, with just 13.7%<br />
reporting only one experience of<br />
homelessness.<br />
Of those with multiple experiences (86.7%),<br />
a shocking 50% (49.8%) reported five or<br />
more episodes. 4 Other priority populations<br />
reporting higher rates of multiple<br />
experiences included transgender and<br />
gender non-binary youth (82.8%), LGBTQ2S<br />
youth (80.2%), and Indigenous youth<br />
(80.4%), while newcomer youth were less<br />
likely to report multiple experiences (64.3%).<br />
For youth experiencing high levels of housing instability, their pathways into homelessness<br />
were likely characterized by considerable movement between home and couch surfing<br />
(staying with friends, family members, or other community members) before they accessed<br />
emergency services for homeless youth. Again, there were likely adults in their lives<br />
who knew something was wrong but were unsure of what to do. During this time, local<br />
community services and supports may have been unavailable, inappropriate, or inadequate.<br />
Involvement in child protection services<br />
A high percentage of young people in our<br />
sample (63.1%) experienced childhood<br />
trauma and abuse. Within the sample,<br />
51.1% reported experiencing physical abuse<br />
as a child or adolescent, 24% reported<br />
experiencing sexual abuse, and 47.5%<br />
reported experiencing other forms of<br />
violence and abuse. Given this, it shouldn’t<br />
be a surprise that many of the youth in our<br />
survey were involved in child protection<br />
services. However, it should also be noted<br />
that only 63.8% of youth with a history of<br />
childhood trauma and abuse were involved<br />
in the child protection system.<br />
63.1%<br />
experienced childhood<br />
trauma and abuse<br />
however, only<br />
63.8%<br />
of youth with a history of<br />
childhood trauma and abuse<br />
were involved in the child<br />
protection system<br />
4. This latter figure includes only those with more than one experience of homelessness.<br />
WITHOUT A HOME: THE NATIONAL YOUTH HOMELESSNESS SURVEY<br />
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