The Maryland Tuition Waiver for Homeless Youth is available to students enrolled in an associate or vocational certificate, who experience homelessness or being at risk of homelessness, as defined by the Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, at any time during the 24 months immediately preceding the student’s enrollment in a public institution of higher education or while the student is enrolled in a public institution of higher education.

Learn more here.

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“In mid-December, the Coalition to End Youth Homelessness in Maryland and the University of Maryland – College Park’s Fostering Terp Success Program hosted a virtual convening for Maryland higher education institutions and community organizers to discuss new research and best practices for students experiencing homelessness. Over 40 participants from various Maryland higher education institutions joined. 

The first speaker was Daejanae Day, a youth advocate and co-chair of the Youth Action Board of SHIP Frederick County. Daejanae shared her personal experience pursuing a higher education while also experiencing homelessness. She had a strong support system of mentors who connected her with resources. For example, Daejanae needed help with her financial aid and tuition fee waiver and was able to reach out to people who helped expedite this process. Daejanae recognizes that while she’s lucky to have these individuals in her life, there are many other students just like her who don’t have any help and COVID has made helping harder. She was happy to share her story and work amongst people who care about addressing youth homelessness in Maryland. Daejanae’s story was the perfect opening to the convening because she reminded practitioners why we do this work and that we have so much more work to do. 

We continued to hear student insights conducted from a basic needs student focus group. About 18% of students in the focus group experienced homelessness in the past 12 months, similar to national statistics from The Hope Center. Many of these students also utilized food insecurity resources and public benefits. Most students knew where to go to find these resources, but accessibility and experiences varied greatly. It’s important to provide students with resources that are easily accessible, safe, and not stigmatized.

Next, we turned to what institutions are doing to support youth experiencing homelessness. Jillian Sitjar, Higher Education Program Manager at SHC, shared general best practices from colleges and universities to support students experiencing homelessness. Topics included the transition from high school to college, financial aid, identification, housing support, other resources, and advocacy. Jillian provided institutional examples and COVID considerations and encouraged folks to share what they’re doing at their institutions in the chatbox. To see all of SHC’s higher education best practice tip sheets, see here. 

Some Maryland institutions had already been implementing best practices. In Oct. – Nov. 2020 the Coalition to End Youth Homelessness in Maryland conducted a basic needs security survey to Maryland institutions asking, “how do higher education institutions across Maryland address their students’ basic needs?” The survey yielded 17 responses out of 30 public colleges and universities. The survey focused on outreach to students, institutional contacts, basic needs services including food, housing, and financial aid. Only eight institutions responded to the questions about the tuition waiver for unaccompanied homeless youth and foster care. Many institutions were unaware that the tuition waiver exists, which demonstrates the need for more implementation training. Currently, the Homeless Persons Representation Project is working to amend this policy and if you have any questions or would like to get involved, please contact Ingrid Lofgren. 

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Youth experiencing homelessness are frequently described as hidden or invisible. The thought is that they are challenging to identify as they do not tend to make themselves known by seeking out assistance from service providers and systems. 

However, it has become increasingly apparent over the past decade as we have come to better understand youth homelessness that this is largely due to inadvertent blindness of our public serving systems. We simply have not been asking the right questions within our systems to allow youth to share their housing needs. Youth homelessness should be visible, but it requires the commitment of and collaboration among all public serving systems to make it so.

Youth experiencing homelessness come into contact with all the public systems serving children, youth and families. This has been made clear in Maryland, where most of the continuums of care (CoCs) across the state come together as part of a state-funded project, Youth REACH MD, to conduct a survey and census of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. That helps communities and policymakers better understand their experiences so they can better tackle the issue of youth homelessness in Maryland. 

Each CoC brings local partners together with youth to develop and implement an outreach and surveying strategy to reach as many youth as possible within the community who are under the age of 25, not in the physical care or custody of a parent or legal guardian, and lacking a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. Every year the Youth REACH Youth Count has been conducted, youth experiencing homelessness have reported high levels of system involvement, particularly within the juvenile and adult justice systems. 

In 2018, 38% reported being currently enrolled in school (over half of them were enrolled in high school), 27% reported having stayed in a shelter or motel in the last two months, 20% reported having spent time in foster care, 28% reported having spent at least one night in juvenile detention and 38% reported having spent at least one night in jail.

Click here to read the full article from the Youth Today >>

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Nearly 3,000 youth and young adults were identified as under the age of 25, not in the care of a parent or guardian, and lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, according to Youth REACH MD’s most recent survey on youth homelessness and housing instability conducted across 19 Maryland counties and Baltimore City.

The survey took place in the spring of 2018, through a combination of local surveying efforts and review of annual homeless services administrative data. Results indicate that 2,957 youths and young adults struggle with homelessness or other housing issues. 

Youth REACH MD is an ongoing effort, funded by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development with the support of the Maryland General Assembly and coordinated by The Institute for Innovation and Implementation at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, to conduct a regular survey and census of youth who are experiencing homelessness. The goal is to better understand how many youth are experiencing homelessness, who they are, and their experiences, so that state and local agencies and service providers can understand the policies, services, and interventions that will meet their needs and focus resources to end and prevent youth homelessness in Maryland. 

“Youth experiencing homelessness are a critically under-noticed and underserved demographic of a population that is already marginalized, so, under Governor Larry Hogan’s leadership, we have increased our efforts to address their unique needs,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Kenneth C. Holt. “The Youth REACH survey provides valuable insight that can help our agency and our partners develop innovative and effective solutions to prevent youth homelessness, and it has the potential to serve as a national model.”

Youth REACH MD provides a way for youth to share their experiences and their needs. Of those surveyed, 68 percent of youth reported having to move multiple times within the past two months, often moving between a friend’s house, a shelter or motel room, another family member’s house, and outside in a park or on the street. Youth reported that this was often because of fighting or violence at home. This makes it challenging for youth to stay in school or hold down a job, and puts them at greater risk for other negative outcomes. They also reported needing supports beyond just housing, including food (38 percent), job training (36 percent), transportation (27 percent), educational support (24 percent), and healthcare (22 percent), among others.

Researchers believe these numbers are still an undercount, and that even more youth and young adults in Maryland are on their own and struggling to find a safe, stable, and adequate place to sleep each night. Even still, the numbers show a high level of need for housing, employment, education, and other supports for youth experiencing homelessness, and the need for communities across Maryland to work together to meet these needs. 

“Having the data is first step towards addressing the problem of youth homelessness,” explained Amanda Miller, MSW, Youth REACH MD project director with The Institute for Innovation and Implementation. “It has been really inspiring to see people and organizations coming together to collect this data in communities across the state, which has helped build the coalitions that are needed to take action. We are seeing local communities as well as the state legislature and state agencies take steps towards addressing youth homelessness as a result of this data and developing more supports for youth in Maryland, and that’s what this work is all about.”

___________________________________________

The Institute for Innovation and Implementation, in the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Social Work, is committed to building research-based, sustainable, and transformative child-and family-serving systems and services. We work in partnership with government agencies; provider, community, and family- and youth-run organizations; and other leaders and stakeholders to integrate systems and improve outcomes for and with children, youth, young adults, and families.

Founded in 1807, the University of Maryland, Baltimore is Maryland’s only public health, law, and human services university, dedicated to excellence in education, research, clinical care, and public service. UMB enrolls 6,500 students in six nationally ranked professional schools — medicine, law, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, and social work — and an interdisciplinary Graduate School. The university provides more than $40 million each year in uncompensated care to Maryland citizens, and receives more than $500 million in extramural research funding annually. For more information about the University of Maryland, Baltimore, visit www.umaryland.edu.

Contact: Mary Phelan  
Phone: 410-706-3803  
Email: MaryPhelan@umaryland.edu

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“They call themselves an invisible population because they look like everyone else,” said Deborah Harburger, a clinical instructor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. “They blend right in, and yet they’re having to find a place to lay their head at night.

“They’re living with their friend, and then in two weeks they’re going to go to their cousin’s. They’re holding down a job and they’re trying to go to the community college. Maybe they have a kid with them. They don’t have stable housing, but they’re working paycheck to paycheck. They’re scraping by.”

Chapin Hall, an independent policy research center at the University of Chicago, reported this month that one in 10 unaccompanied young adults ages 18 to 25 experience homelessness at least once during a 12-month period. At least one in 30 youths aged 13 to 17 also face some form of homelessness without a parent or guardian.

The report, “Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America,” is part of the research center’s Voices of Youth Count initiative, regarded as the country’s most comprehensive research initiative on the subject. The findings, based on a national survey and in-depth interviews, show that youths in urban and rural areas experience homelessness at similar rates, and that minorities, LGBT youths and high school dropouts are at higher than average risk.

Researchers conducted a similar count throughout much of Maryland for the second Youth REACH MD report, also released this month. They identified more than 2,300 youth as unaccompanied and homeless based on surveys and the number of people younger than 25 who sought local homeless services.

Advocates say the number is an underrepresentation, but offers a starting point to better understand the scope of the problem and find policy solutions.

State researchers are looking for youths who are lacking a safe, stable and adequate nighttime residence. They included people who are couch surfing or sleeping in shelters, among other situations. The majority were in Baltimore.

“In many ways, this problem of youth homelessness is really a canary in the coal mine, warning us about a whole bunch of issues that we’re having in this country,” said George Jay Unick, the University of Maryland School of Social Work professor who was principal investigator for the local count. “Whether it’s affordable housing, the opioid epidemic, challenges to our foster care system, underinvestment in public transportation — who gets hurt are these vulnerable youth…”

Click here to read the full article from the Baltimore Sun >>

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Originally HUD’s Point-in-Time study showed 481 unaccompanied homeless youth in the entire state in 2015.

Amanda Miller, Program Manager for the Youth REACH MD survey, says this difference is based on two factors. The first, how each survey identified homeless youth.

The REACH survey looked at people under 25-years-old, who are not in physical custody of a parent or guardian, and lack fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence…

To view the broadcasts or read the full article from Channel 2 News, Click Here.

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Thanks to all who participated and who contributed to the report. Stay tuned for next steps!

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– Young people under the age of 25 who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian

– Homeless primarily due to family dysfunction and abuse, including rejection due to sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, or disability; exiting the foster care or juvenile justice systems without skills or resources needed to live independently; and/or economic hardship

– UHYYA may “double up” or “couch surf” with friends, family, or strangers, or live on the streets or in other places not meant for human habitation, such as cars or abandoned buildings. They are at disproportionately high risk of mental, physical, and behavioral health problems; school dropout; suicide; crime victimization; sexual exploitation; unplanned pregnancy; unemployment; and delinquency.

Help us to help them. If you know someone, encourage them to attend a Youth REACH Event during the week of September 28 – October 5.

Spread the word about Youth REACH MD. #icount

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Anne Arundel County
Organization: Anne Arundel County Coalition End Homelessness
Contact Name: Kathryn Philliben
Contact Phone: 410-519-5080
Contact Email: kphillib@cc-md.org

Baltimore City
Organization: The Journey Home
Contact Name: Adrienne Breidenstine
Contact Phone: 410-396-7543
Contact Email: a.breidenstine@baltimorecity.gov

Baltimore County
Organization: Baltimore County Communities for the Homeless
Contact Name: Sue DeSantis
Contact Phone: 443-791-8107
Contact Email: sadesantis@baltimorecountymd.gov

Hagerstown/Washington County
Organization: Washington County Community Action Council, Inc.
Contact Name: Cindy Hockenbury
Contact Phone: 301-797-4161, ext. 130
Contact Email: chockenbury@wccac.org

Prince George’s County
Organization: Community Crisis Services, Inc.
Contact Name: Tim Jansen
Contact Phone: 301-864-7095, ext. 421
Contact Email: timj@ccsimd.org

Somerset, Wicomico, & Worcester Counties
Organization: Somerset County Health Department
Contact Name: Shannon Frey
Contact Phone: 443-523-1815
Contact Email: shannon.frey@maryland.gov

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