Each year, thousands of U.S. youth run away from home, are asked to leave their homes or become homeless. Through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program (RHY), FYSB supports street outreach, emergency shelters and longer-term transitional living and maternity group home programs to serve and protect these young people.
Programs
Street Outreach Program
Through the Street Outreach Program (SOP), FYSB supports work with homeless, runaway and street youth to help them find stable housing and services. SOPs focus on developing relationships between outreach workers and young people that allow them to rebuild connections with caring adults. The ultimate goal is to prevent the sexual exploitation and abuse of youth on the streets.
Street outreach services include:
- Street based education and outreach
- Access to emergency shelter
- Survival aid
- Treatment and counseling
- Crisis intervention
- Follow-up support
For more information, please see the Street Outreach Fact Sheet. To find SOP grantees, please visit the FYSB map.
Basic Center Program
The Basic Center Program (BCP) helps create and strengthen community-based programs that meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth under 18 years old. In addition, BCP tries to reunite young people with their families or locate appropriate alternative placements.
BCP provides the following services:
- Up to 21 days of shelter
- Food, clothing and medical care
- Individual, group and family counseling
- Crisis Intervention
- Recreation programs
- Aftercare services for youth after they leave the shelter
Please see the Basic Center Program Fact Sheet for more details. To find BCP grantees, please visit the FYSB map.
Transitional Living Program
Our Transitional Living Program (TLP) for Older Homeless Youth supports projects that provide long-term residential services to homeless youth. Young people must be between 16 and less than 22 years of age to enter the program.
Living accommodations may include:
- Host-family homes
- Group homes or maternity group homes
- Supervised apartments owned by the program or rented in the community
TLPs offer or refer for the following services:
- Safe, stable living accommodations
- Basic life skills building, including consumer education, budgeting, housekeeping, food preparation and parenting skills
- Educational opportunities, such as GED preparation, post-secondary training and vocational education
- Job attainment services, such as career counseling and job placement
- Mental health care, including individual and group counseling
- Physical health care, such as physicals, health assessments and emergency treatment
For more information, please see the Transitional Living Program Fact Sheet. To find TLP grantees, please visit the FYSB map.
Maternity Group Homes for Pregnant and Parenting Youth
The Maternity Group Homes for Pregnant and Parenting Youth (MGH) Program supports homeless pregnant and/or parenting young people, as well as their dependent children. Youth must be between 16 and less than 22 years of age to enter the program.
In addition to standard TLP services, MGH programs offer an array of comprehensive services to teach:
- Parenting skills
- Child development
- Family budgeting
- Health and nutrition
MGH projects incorporate the principles of Positive Youth Development and administer services such as:
- Child-safe transitional and independent living accommodations
- Education in parenting, child discipline and safety
- Mental, physical, and reproductive health care
- Resources to help youth identify reliable, affordable child care
- Money management and use of credit
- Educational opportunities, such as GED preparation, post-secondary training and vocational education
For more information, please see the Maternity Group Home Fact Sheet. To find MGH grantees, please visit the FYSB map.
National Runaway Safeline
The National Runaway Safeline offers a crisis hotline and online services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to youth at risk of running away, those who have run away or are homeless, and their families. NRS helps in the following ways:
- Crisis Intervention: Front line staff and volunteers are trained to use a solution-based crisis intervention model.
- Information and Referrals: NRS locates local resources and makes appropriate referrals to meet each caller’s needs.
- Three-Way Conference Calls: NRS initiates calls between youth and their parents or guardians, staying on the line to mediate the discussion. NRS also initiates calls between youth and social service protection agencies, and between adults and organizations that can help resolve their problems.
- Message Relay: When youth and their parents or guardians are not yet ready for one-on-one interactions, they may take the first step toward reconnecting with each other by leaving messages with NRS.
- Free Trip Home: NRS has a partnership with Greyhound Bus Lines to be able to offer runaway and homeless youth a free bus ticket home.
- Advocacy: The NRS front line team advocates for youth and ensures they get support and guidance from authorities, school administrators, social service agencies, and medical and legal professionals.
CALL: 1-800-RUNAWAY
CLICK: 1800RUNAWAY.org
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Runaway and Homeless Youth Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity Building Center
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Training, Technical Assistance, and Capacity Building Center (RHYTTAC) assists FYSB grantee agencies in:
- developing new approaches to serving runaway and homeless youth
- accessing new resources
- establishing linkages with other grantees with similar interests and concerns
Through the center, FYSB tracks trends in youth and family issues, identifies and shares best practices, sponsors conferences and workshops, and provides direct T/TA.
Prevention Demonstration Program
The RHY Prevention Demonstration Program (RHY-PDP) supports the design and delivery of community-based demonstration initiatives to prevent youth from experiencing homelessness. Through the development and coordination of partnerships with youth and young adult service providers, community organizations, and private and public agencies, the RHY-PDP will 1) identify young people at risk of experiencing homelessness; 2) design and develop a comprehensive community-based prevention plan to prevent youth homelessness; and 3) implement robust, holistic prevention services tailored for youth and young adults to respond to the diverse needs of youth who are at risk of homelessness and their families.
Reports to Congress
