KEYS to a Future Without Youth Homelessness launched in 2018, making Cincinnati/Hamilton County a first-round recipient of the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. KEYS offers a unique approach to reducing the number of young adults (age 18-24) experiencing homelessness.
The KEYS program’s multi-pronged method includes creating a youth advisory council (comprising youth with lived experiences to lead and assist in implementing KEYS); convening a variety of stakeholders for implementation; and focusing on populations with other risks and needs, including racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, parenting youth, and youth with past foster care or juvenile justice system experience. Contracted agencies include Strategies to End Homelessness; Lighthouse Youth & Family Services; the Family Housing Partnership (comprising the Salvation Army, Bethany House, and Interfaith Hospitality Network); and Children’s Law Center.
Those facing homelessness are not only saddled with shelter and food insecurity, but often face a dizzying array of legal problems. One of KEYS’ unique offerings is direct access to an attorney through Children’s Law Center. I have the privilege of being that attorney and since KEYS launched and have provided counsel and advice or direct representation to over 200 youth facing a variety of legal barriers to housing and employment.
Expungement and eviction-related issues make up the bulk of legal needs for this project, but through this partnership, vulnerable young adults have received representation in underserved areas. Typically, those without means are often forced to proceed pro se or simply prevented access to the courts, because of filing fees and other barriers. Children’s Law Center does not duplicate efforts made by other agencies; rather, the goal is to fill in the gaps and allow case managers to provide youth with direct access to an attorney rather than simply giving them a phone number in a moment of crisis.
The partnership between KEYS and the Children’s Law Center has proven highly effective in removing legal barriers to housing and empowering homeless youth to assert control of their lives. Several “Expungement Blitz” sessions have been held at Lighthouse’s Sheakley Center for Youth, with the intention of filing as many expungement/sealing applications and addressing as many court costs and fines as possible. KEYS and the City of Cincinnati Department of Law and Building and Inspections partnered on multiple tenant rights sessions with the goal of empowering youth to advocate for themselves today and in the future, so they feel confident reminding a landlord of their obligations under the lease and Ohio law.
Regular input and leadership from a council of young adults with lived experiences of housing instability is an indispensable component of KEYS. This council is facilitated by a life-skills specialist at Lighthouse, but led by the young adults themselves. Many of them have experienced the juvenile justice and foster care systems.
Even in non-pandemic times, it is challenging to accommodate young adults who are often balancing multiple jobs, relying on public transit, and even parenting. Some simple things many of us take for granted (such as reliable cell phones, data plans, and autonomy over our schedules) are luxuries not afforded to many of these young adults. Yet they persist in prioritizing meetings, sharing some of their most vulnerable experiences in hopes of making better programming and policy, and supporting each other.
It is a powerful experience for a young adult to question a room full of professionals on what the true impact of a policy might be. In a recent discussion concerning expectations of youth in the program, a council member chimed in with, “It is ok to set high expectations.”
In every sense these young adults are the true experts, having personally navigated the systems so many of us try to improve (often with the best of intentions, but from an arm’s length). While it is never the responsibility of these members to speak for all homeless or system-engaged youth, their commitment to leveraging their experiences to shape policies ensures KEYS can fulfill its mission of drastically reducing youth experiencing homelessness.
To address populations with higher risks and special needs, Lighthouse, Strategies to End Homelessness, and Children’s Law Center, on behalf of KEYS, applied for and received technical assistance with Collaboration for Change (C4C) in the fall of 2019. This national initiative is led by the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) and the National League of Cities (NLC).
C4C has two objectives: 1) to decrease the likelihood that homeless youth experience the juvenile justice system, and 2) to prevent youth homelessness among justice-involved youth. C4C national partners include the CJJ and the NLC, with local representatives from the Lighthouse youth advisory council, the juvenile division of the Hamilton County Public Defender, Hamilton County Juvenile Court, Project Connect of Cincinnati Public Schools, Hamilton County Jobs & Family Services, All-In Cincinnati with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, the Cincinnati Police Department, Newtown Village Police Department, and many others.
It was challenging to collect data on the intersection of youth experiencing homelessness and juvenile justice system involved youth. Juvenile Court is unable to fully identify youth experiencing homelessness, as disclosing this information to the court can lead to unwanted intervention. In reviewing youth arrest citations over the last 5 years, there were some concerning regarding frequency of arrests, recurrent zip codes, and youth listing homeless shelters as addresses. In 2018, 65 out of 711 unstably housed youth self-reported justice system involvement as depicted in the graphs below. The data demonstrates bleak racial disparities.
Self-reported data is inherently incomplete and this data includes a broad spectrum of “juvenile justice system-involved youth,” which could encapsulate anything from a curfew violation to adjudication following detainment. The responses demonstrate a troublesome overlap of justice-involved and homeless youth groups and drastic overrepresentation of youth of color. While Juvenile Court has a stated policy of not detaining youth for curfew or other status offense violations, even a brief interaction with law enforcement is harmful.
The partners for C4C approach the gravity of this work with a sense of humility. Moving forward, focus groups with youth and families will help determine what alternatives are needed and which programs and resources are most helpful. It is imperative those with lived experiences continue to play a vital role in shaping its trajectory.
The most fruitful approach to addressing the critical intersection of these two vulnerable populations will require our community to build upon our existing strengths and infrastructure. Partnerships are actively sought to expand the diversion and housing work already being done by Lighthouse’s Mecum House. Through partnering with Hamilton County Juvenile Court’s new assessment center, there is the hope and expectation C4C will assist in facilitating additional services to youth and their families. Finally, C4C seeks further discussions with the City of Cincinnati about how the juvenile curfew law may contribute to harmful police-youth interactions.
Collaboration for Change meetings are open to the public and additional partnerships are essential. To participate, please email Sarah Henry at shenry@childrenslawky.org.
Henry is a staff attorney at Children’s Law Center. Formerly a public defender and legal aid attorney, she resides in Mt. Washington with her husband and daughter.