Project Background

In 2021, Rhode Island received $3.5 million in grant funds through the Youth Homeless Demonstration Project (YHDP)--a grant program sponsored by HUD that funds cities across the nation in the mission to end youth homelessness. In the United States about 1 in 30 youth aged 13-17, and 1 in 10 young adults aged 18-24 experience homelessness–this means there are likely 13,000 youth and young adults (YYA) who reside within Rhode Island experiencing some form of homelessness. Through the YHDP funding, Rhode Island established a Youth Action Board (YAB), a coalition of YYA with lived experience of homelessness who advocate to end youth homelessness through policy and program formation. It is our role to work with YHDP staff, the YAB, and HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) to bolster data collection and synthesis, and structure legal policy to advocate for an end to youth homelessness in Rhode Island.

Summer Objectives and Mission

Because our time on this project is limited to the summer, it is our mission to aid the YHDP and YAB in a timely and concise manner, doing the most we can with the time and resources we have. This means much of our work will materialize in the form of outlines and system structures that we can then pass on to these groups to implement as they move forward. These will include:

1. Creating the basis for a data management and collection system that quantifies youth homelessness in Rhode Island, as well as the institutional structures that exist in response.
2. Synthesizing a collection of resources for YYA to easily access for housing as well as milieu services.
3. Researching and presenting policy recommendations outlined by the CCP (Community Coordinated Plan) that aim to build a greater legislative infrastructure around preventing youth homelessness.