Study Reveals Thousands of Youths Were Left Uncounted—and Unfunded—For Years, Costing the City Millions in Potential Support
Youth homelessness has reached crisis levels in the United States, yet many cities do not accurately count the number of children experiencing homelessness each year.
Denver, Colorado, is one city that has struggled to accurately count its youth homelessness rate. And those struggles may have cost the city millions in federal support for homelessness intervention programs.
A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics found that the number of youths experiencing homelessness in Denver ranged from 2,880 in 2017 to 7,084 in 2021. That’s compared to the city’s reported figure of 840 to 1040 youths over the same years. Overall, about 25% of youths in Denver aged 14 to 17 experienced homelessness.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus combined three data sets to measure the number of youths experiencing homelessness in the city. Those datasets included figures from the public school system, Colorado’s child protective services agency, and the Metro Denver Homelessness Initiative, the local Continuum of Care.
The researchers noted that their number is much higher than the city’s totals because their definition of youth homelessness is broader. The city’s official count—based on the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) method— only reported the number of youths sleeping on the streets or in shelters, whereas the study included those sleeping in cars, doubled-up with friends, and in motels.
“Homelessness is a public health crisis in the United States, yet homelessness prevalence, especially among children and youth, is not well understood,” the study reads in part.
Demographic Disparities
The study’s results were broken down by demographics, which revealed significant disparities in which youths were most likely to experience homelessness.
According to the study, 75% to 83% of youths experiencing homelessness in Denver identified as either Hispanic or Black/African American. For comparison, the traditional Point in Time Count routinely counted white/non-Hispanic people as those most likely to experience homelessness among all age groups.
“We can’t ignore the disparities,” Josh Barocas, one of the researchers, said. “Our study shows that current approaches are undercounting people at the population level, and they are also dramatically undercounting by race and ethnicity.”
Funding Considerations
Cities like Denver rely on federal funding to operate many programs in their homelessness response system. Funding for programs targeting youth homelessness comes from a variety of sources including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Education. Youth homelessness service providers are often asked to braid together funding from these sources to create their annual budgets.
However, the funding awarded for these programs is based on the number of people each program aims to serve. So, inaccurate counts of the number of youths experiencing homelessness invariably result in lower program funding levels or being overlooked for funding altogether.
Between 2017 and 2021, the federal government allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for youth homelessness programs. Denver received relatively few grant awards for these programs in part because the city was not accurately counting its number of homeless youths. This likely led to the city missing out on millions of dollars in funding that it could have received to improve its youth homelessness response system.
The researchers determined there is a sizable number of youths experiencing homelessness in Denver who do not receive services because they went uncounted. In 2017, there were roughly 3,000 youths who did not receive services. That number grew to 7,000 by 2021.
“This study demonstrates that working with community partners, government agencies, and across data systems has the potential to elucidate information necessary for transformational change,” Barocas said.
Solving the Problem
Matthew Westfall, another one of the study’s authors, says there are immediate steps Denver can take to begin solving its invisible youth homelessness crisis.
Part of the solution begins with collecting better data. Lawmakers from both Denver and the state of Colorado should pass legislation that ties the level of funding and homelessness support to more comprehensive estimates of the issue. Doing so would help close the gap between the number of people in need and the funding available to help them.
Westfall wrote in an op-ed for the Colorado Sun that he is calling this initiative “PIT+.”
” PIT has been the count of the past 20 years, now we need to build PIT+,” he wrote.
Second, Westfall called on residents to re-evaluate their attitudes toward youth homelessness. It’s too easy to push homeless youths aside and instead focus on more extreme forms of homelessness, like chronic and unsheltered homelessness. However, we need to remember that there are several youths who also do not have a stable place to call home. That lifestyle not only impacts them today but also robs them of a healthy and fulfilling future.
“We can sweep them under the rug, hide them from sight and mind. Or we can rise to the challenge,” he said.
The Pandemic Showed the Need for Long-Term Solutions
The pandemic forced us to rethink housing in the U.S. and made one thing clear: targeted aid programs work. When service agencies had enough funding and clear guidance, they kept countless individuals, families, and unaccompanied youths housed during the crisis. This success highlights the urgent need for similar long-term solutions.
You can help break the cycle of youth homelessness by calling on lawmakers to expand and sustain these vital support systems. Urge them to establish dedicated state offices that:
- Directly address youth homelessness
- Provide pathways to education for homeless youths
- Strengthen community ties to support vulnerable young people
These initiatives will ensure that young people don’t just survive but thrive, giving them the resources they need to rebuild their futures.
Contact your representatives today and advocate for policies prioritizing the needs of homeless youths. Ending youth homelessness is the key to a brighter future for millions of young people—and you can be part of the solution.
