Detailed Notes on LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

The Trevor Project

• The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998.
• It focuses on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.

Overall Statistics

• 28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives.

Racial Disparities in Homelessness

• Nearly half (44%) of Native/Indigenous LGBTQ youth have experienced homelessness or housing instability.
• 16% of Asian American/Pacific Islander youth.
• 27% of White LGBTQ youth.
• 27% of Latinx LGBTQ youth.
• 26% of Black LGBTQ youth.
• 36% of multiracial LGBTQ youth.

Homelessness Rates Among Transgender and Nonbinary Youth

• Homelessness and housing instability were reported at higher rates among transgender and nonbinary youth.
• 38% of transgender girls/women.
• 39% of transgender boys/men.
• 35% of nonbinary youth.
• Compared to 23% of cisgender LGBQ youth.

Reasons for Sleeping Away From Home

• 16% of LGBTQ youth reported sleeping away from parents or caregivers because they ran away from home.
  • 55% reported running away due to mistreatment or fear of mistreatment related to their LGBTQ identity.
• 14% of LGBTQ youth reported sleeping away from parents or caregivers because they were kicked out or abandoned.
  • 40% reported being kicked out or abandoned due to their LGBTQ identity.

Mental Health Challenges

• LGBTQ youth who experienced homelessness or housing instability reported higher rates of mental health challenges compared to their stably housed LGBTQ peers.
• LGBTQ youth reporting housing instability or homelessness had nearly two to four times the odds of reporting:
  • Depression ($aOR = 2.07$).
  • Anxiety ($aOR = 1.96$).
  • Self-harm ($aOR = 2.30$).
  • Considering suicide ($aOR = 2.62$).
  • Attempting suicide ($aOR = 3.70$).
  • Compared to those who did not report any housing instability.

Self-Harm and Suicide Rates

• 69% of youth reporting past housing instability engaged in self-harm in the last year.
• 68% of currently homeless youth reported self-harm in the last year.
• Compared to 49% of youth who had not experienced housing instability.
• 58% of youth reporting past housing instability seriously considered suicide in the last year.
• 62% of currently homeless youth reported considering suicide in the last year.
• Compared to 35% of youth who had not experienced housing instability.
• 28% of youth reporting past housing instability attempted suicide in the last year.
• 35% of currently homeless youth reported a suicide attempt in the last year.
• Compared to 10% of youth who had not experienced housing instability.

Victimization, Foster Care, and Food Insecurity

• LGBTQ youth who reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability had higher rates of victimization, being in foster care, and food insecurity compared to their stably housed LGBTQ peers.
• LGBTQ youth with past housing instability or current homelessness had more than three times greater odds ($aOR = 3.46$) of ever being physically threatened or abused due to their sexual orientation or, among transgender and nonbinary identity, gender identity ($aOR = 3.13$).
• LGBTQ youth with past housing instability or current homelessness had nearly six times greater odds ($aOR = 5.81$) of reporting that they had been in foster care at any point in their life.
• LGBTQ youth with past housing instability or current homelessness had more than three times greater odds ($aOR = 3.53$) of reporting food insecurity in the last month.

Recommendation Summary

Preventing LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

• Strong anti-discrimination policies in the workplace and strong anti-bully and harassment policies in schools can be effective.
• Family counseling or mediation programs may be effective at decreasing conflict and keeping LGBTQ youth in their homes and connected to their families.
• Special attention should be paid to preventing housing instability among LGBTQ youth in foster care through case management and exit planning for youth exiting care.

Increased Funding for Low-Barrier Housing Programs

• More funding should be allocated for safe, low-barrier housing programs.

Reimagining Shelter Services

• Shelter and housing facilities should provide culturally competent services to LGBTQ youth.

Improved Data Collection on LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

• Questions about LGBTQ identity and housing status should be added to population surveys of youth and young adults, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

Anti-Poverty Economic Policies

• Policies that combat poverty at the societal level will have a positive impact on LGBTQ youths’ access to safe and secure housing.
• Economic upheavals, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, increase economic pressure on low-income households.

Background

• LGBTQ youth are overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness.
• LGB youth make up 7-9% of the general population but 29% of youth experiencing homelessness ($Choi et al., 2015$).
• Nearly one in four (23%) of transgender young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 experience homelessness.
• 23% of transgender young adults reported ever experiencing homelessness, compared to 12.5% of the overall population of 18-25 year-olds (O’Neill, Wilson, & Herman, 2020; Morton et al., 2018).
• The phrase “homelessness and housing instability” captures the wide variety of experiences that can negatively impact a young person’s housing stability.

Definition of Homelessness and Housing Instability

• Living on the streets.
• Staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing.
• Living in one’s car.
• Staying at a hotel due to lack of other housing options.
• Sleeping in a public place or on public transportation.
• Temporarily moving in with friends and family.
• Volatility of housing instability makes it difficult for young people to stay connected to supportive institutions.

Risks Associated with LGBTQ Youth Homelessness

• LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness are more likely to report drug use compared to their straight, cisgender peers experiencing homelessness (Gattis, 2013; Kattari, Barman-Adhikari, DeChants, & Rice, 2017; Saewyc et al., 2017).
• LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness report higher incidences of being injured or having sex when they did not want to because of substance use ($Saewyc et al., 2017$).
• LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness are more likely to report engaging in survival sex (Bauermeister, Eaton, Meanley, Pingel, & UHIP Partnership, 2017; Ecker, 2016; Gattis, 2013; Tyler, 2013).
• LGB youth experiencing homelessness are more likely to report a variety of risky sexual behaviors ($Ecker, 2016; Gattis, 2013; Rice et al., 2013$).
• LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness are also more likely to have been either physically or sexually assaulted or abused ($Gattis, 2013; Ecker, 2016; Saewyc et al., 2017$).

Mental Health Impacts

• Homelessness or housing instability can have strong negative impacts on LGBTQ youths’ mental health.
• LGB youth experiencing homelessness report higher rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-harm, suicidal ideation, or suicide attempts than their straight, cisgender peers experiencing homelessness (Ecker, 2016; Gattis & Larson, 2017; Gattis, 2013; Moskowitz et al., 2012; Saewyc et al, 2017).
• LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness are also more likely to report high levels of stress compared to their straight, cisgender peers experiencing homelessness ($Moskowitz et al., 2012$).

Complexities of Measuring Housing Status Among LGBTQ Youth

• Few large data sets that include youth experiences of homelessness exist.
• Only 27 states ask questions about housing and sexual orientation, and very few ask about gender identity in ways that include transgender students.
• The California Healthy Kids Survey is one iteration of the YRBS, including questions about housing status and LGBTQ identity.

The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

• Data include both housed and unhoused LGBTQ youth for comparison.
• Sample size also includes youths’ specific LGBTQ identities and therefore allows us to look at differences among subgroups (e.g. bisexual youth, transgender youth).

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Housing

• Data were collected between October and December 2020 and were therefore influenced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic upheavals.
• More than 80% of LGBTQ youth reported that COVID-19 had made their living situation more stressful.
• A recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that over 2 million homeowners and 8 million renters were behind on their mortgage or rent payments ($Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2021$).
• Black and Hispanic households were more than twice as likely to report being behind on housing payments ($Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2021$).
• Economic stress impacts LGBTQ youth homelessness in two central ways.
  • LGBTQ youth are at risk of homelessness if their families lose their housing.
  • LGBTQ youth already living away from their families are also vulnerable to the economic upheaval of the pandemic.