Missing More Than A Home
Youth are at great risk of suffering long-term negative consequences from instability that accompanies early experiences with homelessness.
Homeless youth typically do not have an adult who they trust in their life to show them how to be an adult which means they may not pick up basic life skills and lack trust in traditional support systems. While they should be our most valued and protected neighbors, it appears that many are slipping through the cracks.
Oklahoma City Public Schools report that more than 2,000 students are homeless annually. According to the Oklahoma School Report Card, more than 20,000 students were homeless across the state during the 2024 to 2025 school year. Unhoused youth are more likely to be chronically absent from school than housed youth, leading to lower educational attainment and worse outcomes.
Progress toward ending homelessness, however small, requires an incredible amount of time and dedication from social organizations, local governments, medical professionals, and many more. Oklahoma City recently announced a 1% decrease in overall homelessness, according to data from the 2026 Point-In-Time (PIT) count. Veterans experiencing homelessness dropped by 16%. The report also indicated that homelessness for youth who identify as the parent or legal guardian of one or more children dropped by 29%. All of this during a time when OKC’s population continues to increase. Every win in this space should be celebrated.
Unfortunately, the PIT count highlighted a concerning trend that has grown over the last 10 years. Unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness increased in Oklahoma City by 11% over the previous year and has steadily increased over the last decade.
It’s also likely that a number of these individuals are uncounted in annual PIT counts. Youth often try to avoid being located due to concerns about being required to return to parents or guardians and perceived rules for accessing services. They are more likely to be couch surfing or doubling up with friends or neighbors and often don’t know that services tailored for them exist.
Oklahoma’s Commission on Children and Youth defines homeless youth as individuals aged 21 years or younger who:
Lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
Are staying in emergency or transitional shelters
Are living temporarily with others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or other similar reasons
Are residing in place not ordinarily used for human habitation
Unaccompanied youth are defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as an individual aged 24 or younger who is experiencing homelessness without a parent or legal guardian present and who is not part of a parenting family unit.
Homelessness is a complex issue. The reasons people become unhoused are varied and can be attributed to any number of factors. For homeless youth, some may have been asked or forced to leave home by their parents or caregivers. Some may have aged out of foster care or exited the juvenile justice system without support.
“Young people rarely become homeless for a single reason,” said Rachel Bradley, executive director of Sisu Youth Services, a low-barrier shelter for unhoused youth. “Family breakdown is a common thread, and more than two-thirds of unhoused youth cite it as a key factor. Many have been in foster care and lack a permanent family to rely on as adults. Others face abuse or neglect at home, family rejection due to sexual orientation or gender identity, or generational poverty. Mental health and substance use issues often add another layer of difficulty. What's important to understand is that homelessness is almost never a choice or a moral failure. It's usually a combination of circumstances beyond a young person’s control.”
Once on the street, it can be difficult for anyone to attain housing, but these difficulties multiply for youth. Before they worry about rising housing costs and stagnant wages, it’s the lack of essential documents that often creates a difficult first challenge for youth facing homelessness.
According to a statement from Pivot, another shelter focused on supporting youth between the ages of 12 and 17, “One of the largest, unexpected barriers we see is a lack of essential documents such as a photo ID, Social Security Card, and Birth Certificate. The time frame it takes for the youth to obtain these can range from 4 weeks to 2 years.”
These documents are essential to obtain legal employment and access to most state services. Without identification, the path to gaining the financial means to obtain housing is almost insurmountable. Not to mention that having and maintaining reliable transportation is often a prerequisite for employment and can create an extra hurdle.
Pivot said in another statement, “Another huge barrier is the lack of a driver's license, and ability to afford driver’s ed. Once the license is obtained, it then becomes the ability to obtain a car, sustain payments, insurance, upkeep, and gas. These are all barriers that can prevent a youth from taking steps toward stability, such as gaining employment or the ability to lease an apartment.”
When unaccompanied youth have financial resources for housing, many struggle to attain it through traditional means. Most landlords require a credit check or a rental history to assess risk before approving someone for a lease, and without parental support, unaccompanied youth typically cannot show a financial track record. The same is true for many college-aged youth despite housing or financial circumstances. For many, this barrier is bypassed with a parent or guardian co-signing a lease. Without parental support and guidance, unaccompanied youth must figure it out themselves.
Youth who can attain housing are also faced with unprecedented pressure to keep a roof over their head. At Oklahoma’s minimum wage of $7.25, someone would have to work 93 hours a week to afford a modest 1-bedroom rental home at fair market rent. Working that many hours would make finding the time or money to pursue higher education difficult. Finding and being able to afford childcare would add to the financial strain. Any illness or emergency would be almost impossible to overcome without putting their job or housing at risk.
Without guidance and support, some youth could choose a path that seems easier in the short term but has long term consequences. Their vulnerability and instability make some easy victims of crime and often leads to impulsive decisions that lands others in jail or prison.
As living situations become less secure, substance use among youth increases. Unaccompanied youth are much more likely to use harmful substances to cope with the stress of unstable living conditions than the rest of the youth population. These desperate situations can also lead to more involvement with criminal activity.
For example, an unaccompanied youth seeking shelter may enter an abandoned building or sleep on undeveloped private land, resulting in a trespassing charge. They may even turn to selling drugs or prostitution to generate income. Getting arrested often doesn’t help them get back on track. Entering the criminal legal system often only makes matters worse. Without support, they lack the tools to navigate the system to achieve better outcomes, leading many to accept the unknown and sometimes life-changing consequences of accepting a plea to avoid sitting in jail throughout a lengthy trial process. Organizations that provide alternative approaches are seeing dwindling financial support at federal, state and philanthropic levels, leaving youth to fend for themselves.
While the criminal legal system may ensnare some, research indicates that homeless youth are much more likely to be victims of a crime rather than perpetrators and are much more likely than their peers to be victims of physical trauma and sexual violence. There are also health-related consequences to adolescent homelessness that carry over into adulthood.
“The chronic stress and trauma of homelessness take a real toll on the developing brain and body. Youth experiencing homelessness face higher rates of substance use, chronic illness, violence and mental health challenges,” said Bradley. “More than 80% report symptoms of depression and anxiety. These symptoms rarely resolve on their own. They follow a person into adulthood, where they can shape whether someone holds a job, finishes their education or keeps stable housing. That is a big part of why homelessness is such a hard cycle to break, and why the earlier we interrupt it, the more of that long-term damage we can prevent.” Ways to Help
These issues take incredible amounts of time and effort to improve, but there are ways to help that are low cost and effort but have high impact.
Donations of any amount are also highly impactful. They help organizations to remove barriers to transportation by allowing them to purchase things like bikes, bus passes, and Uber vouchers. Small donations can also help cover the costs for a new ID or utility deposit that stands between youth and stable housing. Even everyday essentials like cleaning supplies, laundry detergent and kitchen items can go a long way.
Employers could hire youth who use a shelter as an address. These youth are typically eager and able to work, but opportunity has passed them by because of their housing situation which is not an indicator of someone's work ethic. Some support organizations may also provide reliable transportation for youth who need it.
Landlords can take a chance on a youth using a housing voucher. A nonexistent credit score or rental history are valid areas of concern when assessing risk, but we can reframe the scenario by understanding that these may be true simply the opportunity was not possible considering their housing circumstances. Youth using housing vouchers are likely required to have stable employment before accessing financial support. In the case that a youth comes up short on rent, there are several programs and organizations, like NSO’s Stay Housed Tenant Advocacy Center and Catholic Charities, that can provide rent assistance to cover the difference in financial emergencies.
As youth continue to fall through the cracks of traditional support systems, it is important as a community to wrap our arms around our most vulnerable neighbors. Earlier interventions could not only be life changing, but could prevent costlier consequences down the road in the form of incarceration and medical costs.
Supporting youth who may be deprived of some of the same opportunities as their peers can take many forms. By spreading the word and donating to organizations who can help you might be the missing link that connects them to the support they need most. By participating civically and advocating for youth who are unhoused, you could help change policies and ensure resources are allocated to address this issue.
Safeguarding the wellbeing of young people is a worthwhile investment for the future of our community’s health, safety, and prosperity.
