Welcome to the New Youth State Index
Take a closer look at the legislative state of youth homelessness and housing policy across the country by exploring our issue pages and maps.
Homeless youth face legal and systemic barriers to accessing essential resources and services, but state laws, policies, and systems can provide crucial protections and advantages for a smoother and more secure transition out of homelessness. But all of this requires housing.
The updated Index focuses primarily on housing policy – accessing, affording, and maintaining safe and habitable housing, free from discrimination and with additional supports and resources for youth who want them. It also focuses on systems that can help prevent, or that can cause, homelessness.
Our New Identity
The logo symbolizes the complexity and multifaceted nature of youth homelessness. The curves within represent the challenges and obstacles that homeless youth face, which are often intricate and intertwined. These squiggles also suggest that the State Index aims to unravel these complexities and provide solutions to help.
About Youth State Index
New Look, New Metrics, New Scoring
The Index now centers homeless youth and young adults’ experiences and needs as they navigate complex laws and systems to find housing. It recognizes policies and systems that can actually end or prevent youth homelessness if effectively implemented.
While it is true that some states may receive lower scores than in previous years, this is intended to be aspirational and encourage change. Rather than being discouraged by a lower score, we urge states to seize the opportunity to implement policies that can help put an end to youth homelessness.
About Youth State Index
The State Index on Youth Homelessness
Overall Policy Map
We must work together if we want to tackle youth homelessness. This means agreeing on the causes and potential solutions, and developing a strategy to implement those solutions that is led by and accountable to unhoused youth and young adults. Reimagining the structures and systems that cause homelessness is a crucial part of this work. The Index maps seek to illustrate the current state of legislative efforts to address youth homelessness, serve as a know your rights tool for currently unhoused youth, and suggest policies for a pathway forward.
This map depicts the overall score range for each jurisdiction after adding up the scores for each policy metric tracked by the State Index. Hover over the jurisdiction to find the exact score and click on the state or territory for more information. To search for and explore maps for each policy metric, click on the Explore by Policy button below. To access specific information for each state or territory, click on the Explore by Jurisdiction button below.
- High Score | 71 to 94.5
- Medium Score | 47.5 to 70.5
- Fair Score | 24 to 47
- Low Score | 0.5 to 23.5
- Very Low Score | 0
- Negative Score | -24.5 to -0.5
Message from YSI
Note from the authors
The Index is a tribute to all the young people, providers, advocates, and policymakers who are tirelessly working towards eradicating youth homelessness. Unfortunately, we lost one of our champions, Gabriela Sevilla, co-author of the 2021 Index, who passed away on October 10, 2022. Her sudden departure has left those who knew her grieving for a life taken too soon. However, she also left behind an enduring legacy – a legacy of transforming ideas into actions, of making advocacy accessible, of leading with her heart and prioritizing the community.
Gabi, we are doing our best to continue your legacy, although it is difficult without you. Nevertheless, your memory shines bright and inspires us to keep striving for change.
Direct Quotes
Authentic Youth Engagement
This year’s Index is the first to include the insights and guidance of directly impacted youth and young adults. Their contributions in the creation of the improved Index cannot be overstated.
Explore More
The Index is a tool and we hope you’ll find it useful
We hope that you will explore the State Index site and make use of the resources and information provided. We would love to know what you think! Please feel invited to contact the authors with any suggestions, questions, or corrections you may have.
Maps
The overall State Index scores are accompanied by individual state profiles and metric-specific maps. Our maps also provide links to resources for legal help and state-specific Know Your Rights materials through HYLN.
Live Tracking
Our team works hard to maintain real-time updates and ensure that our maps contain the most current information available for the topics covered.
Resources
Our resources range from how young people can access legal assistance through the Homeless Youth Legal Network, authentic ways to engage with unhoused youth, the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Model State Statutes, to real-time tracking of legislation on youth homelessness around the country.
Contact
The authors of the Index want to ensure it is accurate and useful. Please contact us if you spot a mistake, have a suggestion for new metrics, or want to participate as a panelist on any upcoming webinars!
Stay Informed. Stay Involved.
Our journey is constantly evolving and we want you to be a part of every step forward.
The Systems That Displace Us
My Nana, a Black woman born and bred in Five Points Denver, Colorado, fought to protect her community of people living in the Denver Housing Projects for more than five decades. She was relentless in her drive towards equity and … Continue reading
- Aleya Jones
- February 4, 2024
What it Will Take to End Homelessness
Like many people, I grew up believing that owning a home was the ultimate goal – it signaled success and stability and being a part of the “American Dream”. As a young white woman from the suburbs, I absorbed all … Continue reading
- Katie M Scott
- January 23, 2024
Welcome to the new State Index
We have compiled research on 100+ metrics across 56 jurisdictions here. We want this research to do at least three things: shape the advocacy landscape by centering the priorities of young people with lived experience, document jurisdictions’ laws and policies … Continue reading
- Jeremy Penn
- January 23, 2024