Often, when I talk about FYA and the need for a shelter for youth in Fairbanks, I’m asked how many homeless youth there are here.  I’m always asked – how many?  People want to understand the scope of the problem – that is understandable.  They want to know how significant it is, how needed – as if by giving numbers and statistics, that need would be verified.

But that is such a difficult question to answer.

When a youth runs away from home, often their guardians report them to the police, to help locate them.  In 2011, for instance, 173 such youth were reported to Fairbanks law enforcement. Many of those youth return home on their own, often within a day or two.  Some are found and returned by officers.  Of those youth, a small percentage will not return home within a few days.  Those youth are often facing conflict or crisis that makes them feel that returning home is truly not an option.

But there are more than 173 runaway & homeless youth in Fairbanks each year.

Many parents don’t call the police to report their child missing: they may know where they are, and that they are safe; they might not be bothered that the child is not home; they might not want the police involved.  Again, some of these youth will return home within a short span of time.  Some will not.  Furthermore, many of our homeless youth are not runaways at all – many are kicked out of home, abandoned, or fleeing danger, dysfunction and neglect in the home.  None of these youth are included when we talk numbers – because there is no way to reliably track how many youth fall into those categories.

The school district helps homeless youth remain in school. In the first semester of the school year, last year, they identified 72 courageous students still attending school, despite having no parent or guardian or home to depend on. Many such students are unidentified – the only way the school district can know such youth exist is if their teachers become aware that the youth is living on their own, or the student admits it. Homeless youth often work very hard to hide their homeless status – afraid, for instance, that they will be arrested or returned to their homes if they are discovered.  Once they are identified, though, they can be connected to resources that support their education and help them remain in school.  It is incredibly challenging to remain in school when homeless.  It is hard to worry about school when you are worried about finding – and keeping – a place to sleep that night, or having enough to eat – concerns that often occupy a homeless youth’s entire day.  Again, there are students in our schools – and out of them – who are homeless and on their own, but haven’t been identified.

But we hear stories.  All the time, we are hearing stories.  Heartbreaking stories of youth kicked out of home, or leaving horrific home lives behind to meet the dangers and challenges of being homeless.  Encouraging stories of homeless youth taken in by friends’ families and supported and treasured and guided to succeed.  Poignant stories of parents whose children left home and, disconnected and fearful of returning, turned to dangerous lifestyles on the streets.  These stories paint a picture of the scope and significance of the problem more than any numbers we might gather would.  Those stories remind us that, however many youth there may be, homeless and on their own in Fairbanks, they are each facing challenges no child should have to.  They remind us that we need more options for our homeless youth, particularly the establishment of an emergency shelter.

You are welcome to email any questions to me at sarah@fairbanksyouthadvocates.org.