A WAY HOME: WHY SUPPORTING YOUTH EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IS CRITICAL IN MICHIGAN - February 2022 - brief

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Angel

Examining Michigan’s homeless youth problem, this brief explains why supporting unaccompanied minors is critical to health and wellbeing. It estimates the total number and ages of high-school youth facing homelessness and highlights health risks, including suicide attempts, sexual assault exposure to violence, and human trafficking. Findings show high homelessness rates, low shelter access, and reduced primary care use among homeless youth compared with housed peers, based on Michigan education data and youth risk survey results.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Key Findings

Understanding Who Experiences Homelessness

Housing Stability and Homelessness Figures

A WAY HOME: WHY SUPPORTING YOUTH EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IS CRITICAL IN MICHIGAN By Jennifer Erb-Downward and Amanda Nothaft FEBRUARY 2022 1 INTRODUCTION Before the start of the pandemic, Michigan’s public schools identified 4,763 homeless youth living independent of parental support.1 These youth are homeless—living outside, in shelters, or bouncing from couch to couch. They are estranged from their parents, usually due to abuse, neglect, or parents’struggles with addiction, mental health problems, or extreme poverty. Homeless youth experience multiple negative physical, mental, and behavioral health outcomes .2 Early intervention is imperative since the length of homelessness compounds and increases the risks of poor health outcomes, such as suicide attempts, sexual assault, exposure to violence, and human trafficking.3 One critical intervention that enables unaccompanied minors to connect to services and caring adults is safe and accessible shelter. Unfortunately, only a small proportion of unaccompanied minors in Michigan are accessing emergency shelter. This brief estimates the total number and ages of highschool youth who face homelessness in the state, their health risks, and use of support services in the last 12 months using data from the Michigan Department of Education, Michigan’s 2018 Annual Report on Ending Homelessness, and the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) .4 Based on this analysis we find that the likely number of homeless unaccompanied minors in Michigan is much higher than shelter or school data suggest. Data also show that homeless youth in Michigan face much higher risks to their health and well-being and are accessing primary health care at much lower rates than their housed peers . * 6,400 is a conservative estimate for the number of homelessness unaccompanied youth in Michigan . This number only represents those youth who responded that they were both homeless and had been kicked out, ran away from home, or abandoned within the last 30 days . KEY FINDINGS Michigan’s high school aged youth face significant risk for experiencing homelessness. In 2019, 5. 6% of youth reported being homeless in the last 30 days . This is the equivalent of an estimated 22,444 highschool youth without a stable place to live across the state of Michigan . Experiencing homelessness without the support of a parent or guardian is common for youth in Michigan. Over one-third (37. 8%) of youth who were homeless in the last 30 days also reported that they had run away from home, been kicked out, or abandoned in the last 30 days . At least 6,400 of these youth were minors ages 17 or younger.* The vast majority of homeless, unaccompanied minors in the state are not accessing shelter supports. In 2018, Michigan youth shelters served only 711 homeless, unaccompanied minors—the equivalent of just 11% of unaccompanied minors estimated to be experiencing homelessness in Michigan in 2019.5 Homeless youth face greater risks to their health and well-being than their housed peers. Homeless youth were five times more likely to have attempted suicide, four times more likely to currently misuse prescription pain medicine, three times more likely to have been forced to have sex, and 11 times more likely to have been, or gotten someone pregnant than their housed peers . Homeless youth in the state of Michigan are not connecting to primary care services. Only one-third (37. 2%) of homeless youth reported seeing a doctor or nurse in the last 12 months compared to threequarters (75 .7%) of housed youth. UNDERSTANDING WHO EXPERIENCES HOMELESSNESS In 2019 an estimated 22,444 high school youth across the state of Michigan were homeless living in a location other than their parent or guardian’s home. This is the equivalent of 5.6% of all high school youth in the state, with Black, Native American,** and Hispanic youth reporting higher rates (8%, 8%, and 7% respectively) . An estimated 19,920 additional Michigan

FAQs

What intervention does the brief identify as critical for unaccompanied minors?

The brief highlights safe and accessible shelter as a critical intervention that enables unaccompanied minors to connect to services and caring adults.

How many Michigan high school youth were estimated to be homeless in 2019?

The brief estimates about 22,444 high school youth across Michigan were homeless in 2019, living outside their parent or guardian’s home.

How does access to primary care differ between homeless and housed youth?

Homeless youth reported seeing a doctor or nurse at much lower rates (about 37.2%) compared with housed youth (about 75.7%) in the last 12 months.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Angel