A lot of homeless youth are forced to engage in survival sex, trading their bodies for a place to stay, or food, or money. Homeless youth often “couch surf,” moving from location to location wherever they can find a place to stay and possibly a meal. Many homeless youth are ages 18-24, and they have aged out of either the child welfare system or the juvenile justice system with no supports or permanent connections. Homeless youth under the age of 18 can be youth who have run away, or they can be youth who were ejected from their family homes, often due to LGBTQ identities. H: Youth homelessness in Iowa is a largely invisible crisis for most of the general population, and can take many forms other than what many would think of as a person living in a tent or cardboard box and panhandling at intersections and highway ramps. Do you share that experience, and if so, what kind of damage do you feel that does? How do we repair it? P: It’s been my experience people have a lot of misconceptions about what youth homelessness (and even homelessness in general) is.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |