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Facts About Homeless
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Estimates Of Homeless Youth
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In 1999, there were 5,748 runaway offenses by juveniles (youth under 18) reported to law enforcement agencies in Arizona.
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Females make up 60% of the runaway reports compared to males 40%.
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182 homeless adults ages 18-21 (representing 7% of all homeless adults in shelters) were in Arizona homeless shelters at a given point in time in January 2000.
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1,747 youth were referred to the 15 county juvenile courts in Arizona for runaway offenses in 1999.
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1,838 youth were estimated to be homeless at a given point in time in 2000 by the three homeless Continuum of Care plans in Arizona.
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367 calls were received by the National Runaway Switchboard from youth in Arizona in 1999.
Demographics of youth served by homeless youth programs
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Those under 18 were more likely to be female (54%) than male (46%).
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Youth 18-21 were more likely to be male (55%) than female (45%).
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The ethnicity of youth under 18 was 51% White, 22% Hispanic, 14% American Indian, 7% African-American, 4% Other, and 1% Asian.
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63% of youth under 18 were reunited with their parents after discharge from a homeless youth program.
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About 52% of youth had previous runaway episodes.
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59% of youth under 18 were attending school regularly when they entered runaway or homeless youth programs.
Issues faced by homeless youth
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The most common issues for youth under 18 were school problems, parental abuse, family financial problems, parental alcoholism, and drug abuse.
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For youth 18-21 the most common issues were lack of financial support, drug abuse, alcoholism, absence of father, and economic problems.
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Many youth had multiple problems that caused their homelessness.
Education for Homeless Children and Youth in Arizona
A survey conducted by the Department of Education identified 11,914 homeless children, of which 30% were not in school.
Source
Homeless Youth Report 2000. (n.d.) Arizona Department of Economic
Security, Community Services Administration. Retrieved on August 9, 2001,
from http://www.de.state.az.us/links/csaweb/pdf/
CSA-HY-2000.pdf
