Executive Summary
The Federal Government has long emphasized the importance of addressing the specific needs of homeless youth, encouraging communities to develop system responses to this unique subset of homelessness, through the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project. One specific expectation has been that communities take advantage of the lived experience of homeless youth, and develop youth action boards, and formally involve them in all aspects of solutions to youth homelessness.
Dallas’ youth action board, the Dallas-Area Youth for a Brighter Tomorrow (DAYBT), was developed by Dallas youth, with the guidance and assistance of the MDHA Continuum of Care (CoC) Youth Committee. They drew on lessons learned and resources developed by those involved in the formation and activity of the Austin’s youth action board, as well as discussions with youth action boards around the country.
The Unique Experience of Homeless Youth
The Federal Government has long emphasized the importance of addressing the specific needs of homeless youth. As the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) tells us in its February 2013 Framework to End Youth Homelessness: A Resource Text for Dialogue and Action, youth homelessness, “remains a persistent challenge for our nation. Every night, thousands of unaccompanied young people go to sleep without the safety, stability, and support of a family or a home. In contrast to common perceptions, homelessness is not just an adult phenomenon… Many of these youth have experienced significant trauma before and after becoming homeless. Often, they face struggles across multiple aspects of daily life that contribute to their vulnerability… youth experiencing homelessness often lack positive opportunities and supports… An effective strategy must account for the specific needs of adolescents and youth transitioning to adulthood and the role families can play in both the reasons for becoming homeless and the potential solutions. These considerations make an approach to ending homelessness for unaccompanied youth distinct from an approach to ending homelessness for adults.”
In response to both the unique needs of homeless youth, coupled with the recognition that as with homelessness, in general, only a systems approach will suffice, in FY2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) began awarding funds to select communities through the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP). This program is intended to help communities, “develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve a coordinated community response to prevent and end youth homelessness.”
MDHA and its partners answered the call and began working on meeting this program’s requirements and expectations. The idea was that even if our community was not chosen as one of the first 10 communities (in FY2016) to be awarded this funding, meeting the program’s requirements and expectations would help us better help our homeless youth end their homelessness. Indeed, though Dallas was not chosen in FY 2016 or FY2017, MDHA and its partners, primarily through the framework of the Continuum of Care Youth Committee, have made huge progress in building the systems and infrastructure necessary to systemically address youth homelessness. This, in turn, helped us submit a strong application in FY2018, when YHDP funds doubled, and HUD will award this funding to many more communities.
The Challenge – Without the Youth in the Room, We Will Miss the Mark
One of the mistakes non-profits make when creating programs to help those in need is not engaging those who are experiencing the problems we are attempting to solve. The Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) tells us, “Without youth engagement, programs risk missing the mark. (Emphasis ours.) With it, youth have the power to be real advocates for themselves and others like them. They can raise terrific and important questions. When programs answer those honestly and are open to change, they end up stronger, more effective, and more collaborative.” This is a two-way street, in fact, as the youth that are called on to lend their voice benefit greatly from such involvement.
TNOYS cites multiple studies that suggest that, “the opportunity to have a voice strengthen(s) outcomes for young people and make(s) services more effective.” Not only is this backed up by Karen Pittman, originator of the positive youth development approach; “Youth voice is a core component of Trauma-Informed Care… When youth who have experienced abuse have the opportunity to use their voice… they are given back the power they lost through the initial trauma.” The converse is true when they, “are not given the opportunity to weigh in on basic decisions about their lives. They may experience re-traumatization.”
Furthermore, TNOYS tells us that research demonstrates that, “empowerment and supportive relationships are two key factors… that foster resilience in youth… Empowerment occurs when youth are viewed as valuable resources and are given meaningful roles… Research also points to the need for youth… to be involved in policymaking… to ground policies in real world experiences and ensure the best outcomes…”
Indeed, HUD, in its YHDP fact sheet explicitly says that, “The most effective solutions to understanding and addressing youth homelessness are developed in partnership with youth with lived experience, where the youth are equal partners and recognized as experts. (Emphasis ours.) HUD added a number of questions that address how the community is integrating youth voice and youth leadership into its youth homeless response system.”
The Solution – a Homeless Youth Action Board
Lessons from the Austin Youth Collective
This is why when the YHDP fact sheet lists five expectations it has of communities applying for the YHDP, it lists first, “Develop a Youth Action Board”. Though this idea may be new to some of us, in their study of Austin’s youth action board, the Austin Youth Collective to End Youth Homelessness (AYC), Schoenfeld, Bennett, Manganella & Kemp remind us that youth advisory boards across multiple levels of government are nothing new, and have been part of the policy making landscape in the United States, since the 1980s.
One of the advantages of not winning a grant in the two first YHDP funding cycles is that our community has been able to learn great lessons from those who did, especially that very neighbor to the south, Austin, who was one of the first ten communities to win such funding. In building Dallas’ youth action board, the Dallas-Area Youth for a Brighter Tomorrow (DAYBT), Dallas youth drew on lessons learned and resources developed by those involved in the formation and activity of the AYC, as well as discussions with youth action boards around the country. These discussions were facilitated by the CoC Youth Committee. This is well evident from the DAYBT by laws, written by the youth and approved by the committee, which follow many of the recommendations of the AYC study.
Schoenfeld et al highlight six specific recommendations:
- Clarity of Purpose – “The sponsoring organization needs to have clear objectives, and youth need to be empowered to develop their own mission and rules of engagement.” The Austin YHDP team and the AYC developed a clarity of purpose, the latter through a facilitated visioning process. This helped the AYC articulate a mission, as well as form specific structures, positions and subcommittees to address different aspects of youth homelessness.
- Provide trainings to the youth.
- Provide an adult facilitator.
- Formalize youth’s roles – The youth are given written job descriptions, are reimbursed for transportation costs, provided lunch at every meeting, and are compensated for their time.
- Be consistent – Minimize staff turnover, meet regularly at set times, and do not assume that youth do not have other demands on their time.
- Be flexible – Adjust “typical” ways of doing business to accommodate youth.
One of the unique aspects of the study of the AYC cited above, is that it included not only academics, but also Gage Kemp (pictured courtesy of the Texas Tribune), an actual member of the AYC.
Dallas-Area Youth for a Brighter Tomorrow (DAYBT)
The following language is taken directly from the DAYBT by laws:
“The DAYBT serves the community of Dallas’ Continuum of Care (COC) and partnering agencies in the community by providing the perspective and expertise of young people who have experienced homelessness and unstable housing… The DAYBT holds a two-hour meeting biweekly and hosts additional projects and events as needed…
The DAYBT is led by four Board Members and two Board Co-chairs… A Staff Facilitator and Co-Staff Facilitator assist the DAYBT Board by offering guidance and serving as a liaison to Board Members and Co-chairs so they may effectively lead the DAYBT…
Board Members are required to attend at least nine of the twelve DAYBT meetings in each term… In addition to scheduled meetings, Board Members commit to six hours of work for the DAYBT each month…
Board Members will be compensated… $150… per month and provided bus passes for transportation to and from meetings and events, as needed. Each Board Member will be appointed as the Lead on one of the following four Focusses: Communication and Marketing; Fundraising and Event Planning; Personal and Professional Development; and Policy Change…
Two Co-chairs are appointed to lead the Board and the rest of the DAYBT. The Co-chairs work closely together as partners to facilitate DAYBT meetings, coordinate the DAYBT’s variety of efforts (with the Board Member Leads), and guide other Board Members in their work with the DAYBT.
The Co-chairs are required to attend at least nine of the twelve DAYBT meetings each term… Additionally, each Co-chair is required to attend the Continuum of Care Meeting or the Youth Committee Meeting each month. The Co-chairs commit to ten hours of work each month, in addition to the required meetings. The Board Co-chairs are compensated $300 each month…”
A Smart Investment
Investing in ending youth homelessness is one of the smartest investments a community can make. Study after study shows that ending a person’s homelessness, quickly and permanently, is not just the right thing to do; it is the most cost effective. If we can end a person’s homelessness in their youth, rather than waiting for their homelessness to continue into their adulthood, we can arrest some of the high costs associated with homelessness, before they even occur.
Help Us Help Them
We see ourselves as tremendously lucky to have the opportunity to be part of something so inspiring. We invite you to be part of this too. If you wish to make a contribution to the operation of the DAYBT, just click here, or send a check to MDHA, Attn. David Gruber, 2816 Swiss Ave., Dallas, TX 75204. In both cases add “DAYBT” in the note or memo section.
