Preventing and Addressing Housing Instability and Homelessness for Justice-Involved Youth

• In Event: Vulnerabilities and Risks Among Justice-Involved Youth

Abstract

More than 80% of homeless youth will have contact with the justice system and efforts to eliminate youth homelessness have increasingly turned to juvenile courts as partners. Youth involved in the justice system have disproportionate rates of housing instability compared to youth in the general population. However, the mechanisms of how the justice system interacts with homelessness, and what to do about it, are only generally understood and lack the specificity needed for courts to undertake policy and practice reforms. This mixed method study uses qualitative data from community coalition workgroups, juvenile court file review and state level data to identify associations between youth psychosocial indicators of risk and homelessness. This paper will present the findings of a study to examine the prevalence of housing instability in a justice-referred sample in Washington State (n > 2,000). The study applied latent class analysis and and predictive modeling to validate a practical risk tool for identifying youth at high risk of housing instability. Findings shed light on practical efforts courts can take to improve connections for supporting youth housing, include screening/assessment at key decision points and strengthening community connections.

Authors

• Sarah Walker, University of Washington

• Asia Bishop, University of Washington

• Elizabeth Parker, University of Washington

• Esteban Valencia, University of Washington

• Andrew Peterson, Washington State Center for Court

• Carl McCurley, Washington State Center for Court Research