The State Index scores each jurisdiction’s steps towards preventing and ending youth homelessness by tracking relevant metrics across the following categories: Right to Housing, Shifting Power in Housing, Maintaining Housing, Accessibility of Housing, Habitability of Housing, Autonomy, Income, Health, Education, Anti-Oppression, Priority Level, and Homelessness Services (coming soon). It also pulls in data around child welfare systems, juvenile and criminal legal systems, election laws and policies, revenue and progressive taxation, and immigration policy.
This year, we focused on transforming and updating the Index to re-center it on the experiences, needs, and policy demands of unhoused youth & young adults (YYA) as they navigate the webs of systems and laws that currently affect their lives. Because we have shifted the State Index’s focus from harm reduction to transformative change, some jurisdictions will have lower scores than years past. This is intended to encourage them. Jurisdictions should not be discouraged if they have a lower score, but instead be motivated by the opportunity to implement policies that will prevent and end youth homelessness.
Methodology
The first step in creating the new State Index was to take direction from YYA themselves. We organized seven focus groups with currently and formerly unhoused YYA. Each group focused on a different identity or interaction with an oppressive system. These focus groups included:
System-impacted youth & young adults
Inclusive of personal experiences with criminal, immigration, child welfare/protective services, and foster care systems and those who are impacted by these systems via a family member (for example, an incarcerated parent).
Black and brown youth & young adults
For youth & young adults of color who identify as black and/or brown.
Undocumented youth & young adults
For youth & young adults without legal immigration status.
Trans, nonbinary, & intersex youth & young adults
Inclusive of all non-cisgender identities and expressions; includes those who are intersex and/or have differences in sex development.
Youth & young adults with disabilities
Inclusive of all disabilities, including but not limited to physical and mental disabilities.
Parenting youth & young adults
For youth & young adults who are themselves parents; inclusive of those who do not have physical and/or legal custody of their children.
Youth who experience/have experienced domestic violence/abuse
Inclusive of all forms of domestic violence, including but not limited to physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual violence/abuse; inclusive of violence/abuse committed by any/all member(s) of the household, regardless of their familial relationship to the youth/young adult.
Twenty-six YYA participated in our focus groups. Regardless of which focus group they participated in, we emphasized the importance of intersectionality and asked YYA to show up as their full, authentic selves. Each focus group met via Zoom for 90 minutes and we compensated each participant $100. Each session started with the question, “What does housing liberation look and feel like to you?” We asked open-ended questions related to the theme of each focus group and took detailed notes on what participants experienced while navigating youth homelessness systems, including barriers and supports.
As a best practice for safety & confidentiality, we did not record the Zoom calls . We instead quoted or paraphrased as exactly as possible. Aleya and Erika then followed up to confirm each participant’s consent for attribution, receive edits and approval for the paraphrased quotes, and confirm consent for use of the quotes throughout the Index website and relaunch.
After finishing all of the focus groups, we went through our notes from each focus group and created metric categories based on common themes. Accessing and maintaining safe and habitable housing was a thread that ran through all the groups, as was experiencing discrimination in housing and services. The detrimental effect of homelessness and poverty on mental health, and the additional trauma of navigating non-profit and government systems were also common themes.
We used direct/paraphrased quotes from YYA to inform our understanding of what reform and transformation could look like in each category. From there, Katie and Jeremy began the process of drafting new metrics: taking each issue raised by the YYA and converting it into policies, legal rights, and legal protections. Once the draft metrics were written, Aleya and Yuderis reviewed and gave general feedback, noting additional perspectives, ideas, and metrics to include. After the metrics were complete, a team of pro bono attorneys from Baker Donelson researched the relevant statutes, regulations, and policies across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Following the first round of research, initial findings were reviewed for accuracy by Katie and Jeremy, and then scored.
We use the phrase “youth and young adults” because it includes both minors, who have to navigate systems differently (and often different systems) than legal adults, as well as young adults, who experience ‘youth’ homelessness despite crossing arbitrary legal ages of majority. We define “young adults” as those who are older than the age of majority and younger than 30.
We are also working with the National Indigenous Women Resource Center (NIWRC) to organize focus groups with Indigenous YYA. Many of our current metrics will be relevant to Indigenous YYA who are navigating state & territorial systems. But we want to 1. create State Index metrics after taking direction from Indigenous YYA and 2. work with NIWRC to create a Tribal Index for YYA who are navigating tribal systems.
Direct Quotes
Authentic Youth Engagement
This year’s Index is the first to include the insights and guidance of directly impacted youth and young adults. Their contributions in the creation of the improved Index cannot be overstated.
