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| Toward a More Just and Effective Response to Youth Homelessness |
| Wednesday, October 7, 2020 |
| 2:00 PM–3:00 PM |
| Online |
| Domain: Systems |
| Chair: Mark A. Mattaini (Jane Addams College of Social Work-University of Illinois at Chicago) |
| CE Instructor: Mark A. Mattaini, Ph.D. |
| Presenting Author: CASEY HOLTSCHNEIDER (Northeastern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: Each year, an estimated 4.2 million unaccompanied youth ages 13-25 experience homelessness in the United States. The threats facing young people in housing crisis are many and their potential impacts, harrowing. Youth are at high risk for physical and sexual victimization, mental and physical illness, involvement with the criminal justice system, and face serious threats to their education, their future economic stability, and their lives. This presentation will critically examine the current approach to services for youth in situations of homelessness in the United States. Directly informed by the lived experience of young people, it calls for a shift in our understanding of the nature and scope of the problem and consequently, our practice and policy strategies being implemented to address it. |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) describe the general scope and nature of youth homelessness in the United States; (2) identify harms youth experience as a result of current policy and practice approaches; (3) explain alternative strategies to better support young people at both a practitioner and structural level. |
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| CASEY HOLTSCHNEIDER (Northeastern Illinois University) |
 Dr. Casey Holtschneider is an assistant professor of social work at Northeastern Illinois University and has spent the last 20 years working with young people experiencing homelessness. Dr. Holtschneider completed her PhD at the University of Illinois at Chicago where her dissertation research investigated the long-term impact of housing and support services for youth in situations of homelessness in Chicago, IL. Her findings raised critical concerns with regard to: the systemic barriers and further harm youth experience when accessing services; the prioritization and quality of those services; and the continued structural violence that leads to and perpetuates poverty and homelessness for youth. In effort to act on these findings, in 2014 Dr. Holtschneider teamed up with a group of former participants in, and directors of, homeless youth services in Chicago and together they founded the LYTE Collective where Dr. Holtschneider currently serves as executive director. At LYTE, the team is now implementing youth homelessness intervention models that are youth-driven, evidence-guided, and grounded in anti-oppressive practice while they simultaneously work toward necessary structural change. |
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