Advocates in D.C. are demanding the city create a new plan to fight youth homelessness, as pre-COVID-19 structures begin to fall through, leaving vulnerable youth left behind.
In February, the Youth Economic Justice Coalition (YEJC) issued an open letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser demanding the District improve its approach to solving youth homelessness. According to the letter, current policies offer aid but don’t seek to end the problem, which affects more than 1,000 youth aged 18-24 across the District each year.
According to data shared at a March 18 meeting of D.C.’s Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), 1,114 youth in the District were either homeless or housing insecure in 2024, a 7% increase from 2023. Nearly three-quarters of youth experiencing homelessness are Black, and the majority are male. The report also showed youth who had experienced or are experiencing homelessness are more likely to struggle with mental health and substance abuse. These experiences could turn into cycles, as those who experience homelessness as youth are more likely to experience homelessness again in adulthood.
Rachel White, deputy director of youth advocacy at DC Action, which partnered with YEJC to write the letter, said that although the District launched a plan to end homelessness in 2017 called Solid Foundations, little has been done to combat youth homelessness at the city level since. The annual Point-in-Time Count, one way the city measures progress towards ending homelessness, counted 238 unaccompanied youth aged 18-24 experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2016, and 410 in 2024.
“Despite initial progress under Solid Foundations, system-wide coordination funding for the youth homelessness system and strategic planning have stagnated,” White said, “It’s also worth noting that the latest data shows a dangerous rise in youth homelessness in the District, nearly doubling from 537 youth experiencing homelessness or housing instability in 2016 to over 1,000 in 2023.”
Now, the city is poised to make a new plan to address youth homelessness. With the city’s general plan to end homelessness, Homeward D.C. 2.0, expiring this year and Solid Foundations having expired in 2022, the ICH has been reviewing the plans and will draft a new version to go into effect by the end of the year. But it’s unclear if youth will have their own plan again, something the letter advocates for.
The first step the letter suggests is developing a new youth-specific plan, as youth face unique challenges when securing housing, according to White. Theresa Silla, the executive director of ICH, says the organization is taking these challenges into account.
“Youth homelessness often manifests differently than it does for adults. Because of stigma, a lack of developmentally appropriate and culturally competent programming, and other policy and institutional barriers, youth experiencing homelessness often remain hidden from the public eye,” Silla wrote in a statement to Street Sense.
The original plan, created in 2017, does not account for family dynamic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to an overall increase in youth homelessness during the pandemic, according to the National Institutes of Health.
D.C.’s Youth Homeless Services Division currently handles homeless prevention services, such as diversion shelters and drop-in centers, as well as shelters and transitional and permanent housing.
“As we build this infrastructure, we are learning that we can more accurately count the number of youth and transitional-aged youth experiencing homelessness as the portfolio of temporary housing expands to better meet their needs,” Silla wrote.
Deborah Shore, the founder and executive director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, said the systems of care Sasha Bruce has set up can help the District model and invest in their own plans, particularly those that aim to prevent adult homelessness later on. Sasha Bruce provides a drop-in center for youth, independent living and workforce training, street outreach, mental health services, and more. Sasha Bruce also has a youth advisory board to help give youth a chance to build leadership skills and have a role in developing and implementing new policies.
“It’s not enough to just simply provide a place to stay and a roof and maybe some food. It’s really important to have the ability to develop these relationships through which change really happens,” Shore said.
The letter goes on to encourage the District to increase financial support and workforce opportunities for youth by partnering with housing services to deliver professional growth options and mentorships. The letter suggests the District model this approach after the state of Washington, which launched a program to provide youth stipends to help them learn how to manage money and work through homelessness. This program helped many to achieve and keep stable housing, as two-thirds of those receiving the stipends ended up renting housing independently three months into the program. Advocates who work with youth experiencing homelessness, including White, have long called on the city to expand employment support for youth experiencing homelessness.
Increasing financial support could have long-lasting impacts, according to White, because more stable housing could mean a more stable future.
“We are trying to basically show that without solving for youth homelessness, you’re going to exacerbate single adult homelessness and family homelessness because it is an intergenerational cycle,” White said.
To help disrupt this cycle, the letter also suggests the District take a “culturally competent” approach to systemic issues like poverty and inequality to ensure any policies it implements will work from the ground up to address youth homelessness.
The open letter also addresses mental health issues and suggests the District appoint trauma-informed counselors through the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health to youth shelters and drop-in sites. It also suggests implementing a “continuous care model” where counselors check on youth throughout their time at a shelter.
“We need to bring mental health resources to youth where they physically congregate, so either at a drop-in center or at a housing facility or shelter. We shouldn’t put the burden on youth to navigate the behavioral health system,” White said.
Shore said the structures D.C. needs to combat youth homelessness are present, but it is up to the city to invest in them. D.C. will soon enter its fiscal year 2026 budget process and will likely have to trim its spending, meaning it may be a challenge for advocates to get more money designated to end youth homelessness in the budget.
“I think we are a successful system that deserves to be invested in, not only because we’re making a difference in individual lives, but because of that, it has an impact on the future of homelessness,” Shore said.
