Youth Initiative

Remarks at the forum from Liz Hersh, Director, Office of Homeless Services

We are here today to listen to the Voices of Youth and to make sure that their voices count.

Being a teenager should be a time of self-exploration, fun, identity, sports, arts, music, social life. It shouldn’t be a life or death struggle to find a safe place to sleep, enough food to eat, a bathroom to sneak into to wash or change your clothes. They shouldn’t have to trade sex for a couch to sleep on or wonder where they can possibly do their homework because they have no home. In fact, one in 10 young people in America experience homelessness. We can and must do better. And the only way we can do that is to look unflinchingly at the facts. That’s what research is all about.

The Voices of Youth count is a truth-telling, it is information about the plight in which 1 in 10 young people in America find themselves. Philadelphia welcomes the facts this study brings and the insights of our caring community so we can help youth begin to rewrite their own future histories – because we can. We are here today to explore solutions. I am excited to hear what our panel has to say today. I am so proud of their work and I am proud to see the standing room only crowd here of caring people coming together to help.

I also want to take a moment to tell you a little about what we at the City are and have been doing already around youth homelessness. Because we are also focused on solutions, taking action.

In spring of 2016, thanks to our vocal and well-organized advocates, City Council held hearings around youth homelessness to bring attention and resources to the issue. The result was $500,000 in new funds for youth homelessness. Through a competitive process, five organizations came together to create a unique collaborative that created 25 emergency beds and 25 rapid rehousing units, and a continuum of supportive services including employment, reconnection to school, counseling all with a special sensitivity to the unique needs of LGBTQ youth.

This year we added a brand new community navigator position which Joseph Hill-Coles fills, a direct result of youth input about how to better reach young people who are struggling, alone and isolated.

Philadelphia was the first city in the country to launch a 100 Day Challenge to end youth homelessness, a strategy that the federal government then replicated. This work has continued and evolved into the Philly Homes 4 Youth Coalition with over 30 service providers working together to address youth homelessness. Their call to action is on your handouts because City government cannot solve this alone. It’s all hands on deck.

We established the Young Adult Leadership Committee—made up of youth ages 16-24 with lived experience – to make sure that they had a seat at the table and a voice in how to improve things. As you see today, involving youth as leaders is how we work.

We created the position of Youth System Coordinator, Jessica Sones, who many of you know, who is doing a phenomenal job.

The homeless system did not previously recognize the unique needs of youth. At age 18 you are an adult. So we are now working hard to make our services more youth-friendly and appropriate. To that end, we are establishing two new youth access points at Valley Youth House and Attic Youth Center to launch in January 2018. In the past 6 months have featured trainings on Positive Youth Development, resiliency and trauma-informed care with Dr. Ken Ginsburg and created a learning series for providers.

We are very proud of our proactive and inclusive approach to addressing youth homelessness, but we also know it is not enough. The information from the Voices of Youth count enables us to accelerate solutions by deepening our understanding – and yours – of how we can give every young person a chance for the future they deserve. Young people are resilient and hopeful. Our job is to help them achieve.

Thank you.