Forum on Homelessness Among Connecticut’s Youth

Over 100 policy makers, legislators, activists, and youth who are or have been homeless recently gathered at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, CT, for “Invisible No More,” a policy forum on homelessness among Connecticut’s youth.

The gathering released a study, “Invisible No More,” which was the result of a year of research that included input from 98 young people who are or have been homeless. The study found that such youth often are not connected to services, and populations within the youth who are most vulnerable to housing insecurity include those who are LGBT, trafficked, and/or have some involvement with the juvenile justice or child welfare systems. Young men and boys of color are also especially vulnerable, according to the study.

Recommendations included:

• creating a planning task force to develop and recommend strategies to address housing insecurity for young people,
• developing strategies to improve the point-in-time-count of the number of housing insecure young people by increasing collaboration across Connecticut state systems and non-profit organizations and expanding the methodology used in gathering data and outreach to capture these young people,
• including the voices of all young people in the review, development, and approaches developed to address their housing needs,
• building on best practice experiences of other states, and
• increasing the supervision and training at the Connecticut state and local provider level to help providers identify and work with housing insecure young people.

To access the complete report, please visit:

Partnership for Strong Communities: Invisible No More