LAHSA

On any given night in 2018, 159,911 youth younger than 25 across the country were homeless — 36,361 of them on their own. One-third of them were in California. As the homeless youth population declines nationwide, California remains the state with the highest population of people experiencing homelessness overall and the highest number of unaccompanied homeless youth, according to the 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment from the U.S.

Amid a seemingly intractable homelessness crisis, Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors proposed Tuesday to support two youth populations long known to have serious housing instability: transition-age foster youth and young people exiting the county’s juvenile justice system.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) submitted an application to the federal government on September 12 for $104,949,390 million for projects to provide housing and services to L.A.’s homeless population, including almost $5 million specifically for transitional housing for youth.

Though Veronica Lewis had grown up in South Los Angeles, it was not until she became a high school math teacher at a charter school for at-risk youth that she realized the depth of the challenges in her community.

When Pamela Walls hit rock bottom, she turned to her friends and family for support and resources for her son and her. But they were not able to help, and she became a victim of homelessness in Los Angeles.

In December, a new study from the University of Chicago that found that, in New York County, no matter the amount of counseling treatment given to homeless mothers transitioning into affordable housing, mental illness and distress only receded after significant time in permanent housing.