Twenty-year-old Mikayla Foreman has experienced homelessness since she was 18 and is currently living in a shelter while pursuing a nursing degree. Foreman believes that earlier intervention could have prevented her from becoming homeless. “If someone in school had understood what I was going through, things could’ve been very different,” she told Stateline.
Recent research based on more than 400 interviews and survey responses with young people across the United States highlights the need for earlier guidance and intervention to prevent youth homelessness. The report, conducted by Covenant House and the University of California, Berkeley, indicates that the causes of youth homelessness differ from those affecting adults. Factors such as family conflict after coming out, pregnancy, or untreated trauma can lead to homelessness among young people, but these issues are often not captured in current data.
The study suggests that schools and social service agencies have opportunities to intervene before young people lose their housing. Advocates point to multiple potential intervention points, including within schools, child welfare organizations, and family dynamics. Several states—California, Florida, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington—have implemented policies targeting these areas. These include guaranteed income pilot programs for youth, rental assistance specific to young people, campus housing protections for homeless students, permanent crisis-diversion programs in Hawaii, expanded rental assistance in Oregon and Washington, and prioritization of college housing for homeless or foster students in Florida.
David Howard, former senior vice president for Covenant House and co-author of the research report, said: “With young people, we have opportunities to intervene much further upstream – in schools, in families, in child welfare – before anyone has to spend a single night on the streets. That’s simply not the case with older adults.” He added: “Even at 18, 20 or 24 [years old], young people are still developing. Their vulnerabilities look very different from middle-aged adults, and the support systems they need are different too.”
Public schools nationwide have reported an increase in homeless students since the COVID-19 pandemic. Regional factors also play a role; for example, more than 5,100 students became homeless due to hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Foreman emphasized that “homelessness is multifaceted and lots of us slip through the cracks because the system isn’t designed for our reality.” Her experience contributed to findings that youth homelessness often begins with being kicked out of home or leaving unsafe situations rather than eviction or job loss—common causes among adults. Other reasons cited included inability to afford housing or aging out of foster care.
Survey respondents suggested several ways governments and communities could help prevent youth homelessness: providing youth-specific housing options; identifying at-risk youth through health care settings; offering direct cash assistance; supporting family conflict resolution; and creating lasting connections with non-parental adults such as mentors or teachers.
“Strong relationships with non-parental adults, including mentors, teachers, service providers, and elders were identified as especially important when family connections were strained or absent,” according to the report.
Benjamin Parry—a lead researcher on the project—explained during a webinar hosted by Point Source Youth that mental health care tailored to personal experiences is a priority for many affected youths. Parry noted that distinct groups such as Indigenous youth face challenges like intergenerational trauma while pregnant or parenting youth worry about financial stability and support networks.
“They are like: ‘I don’t know where my next paycheck’s going to come from; I don’t know how to put food in my baby’s stomach; I don’t have a support network or someone to go to for this advice,'” Parry said. “That specificity is exactly why we need to understand this better and do better to tailor our approaches and responses.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 7:53 PM by Tribune National.
