Unaccompanied Youth

An unaccompanied youth is a young person that has no stable place to live and no stable guardianship. They have been forced to leave home because of family problems, economic problems, and residential instability. They live in hotels, motels, cars, parks, campgrounds, or relative or friends house. Living on the streets leaves youth at extreme risk for sexual exploitation, substance abuse, and other mental and emotional problems. These youth face a tumultuous time in their lives and are just trying to make it by.

Unaccompanied youth value their education, perhaps even more than children who have stable homes. They wish to go to school because they recognize the importance and know it is a way to make their future brighter. Yet research shows that the vast majority of unaccompanied youth do not finish high school. 

This can surely be accounted for by the seriousness of homelessness. They have to struggle to ensure they have their basic needs. They have to undergo the severe emotional and physical stress psychologically. 

Now some unaccompanied youth are able to make it through high school, but this is only made possible through assistance from educators and adults and supportive services. They are able to find a place to live and have their basic needs met. While they receive the services however, they may still experience extreme stress and emotional instability because they are unsure or how long the circumstances will last. 

These youth experiencing homelessness need help if they are going to remain in school. First and foremost, their basic needs must be met. They must be able to have the shelter, food, and health services that they need. Additionally, the students need to feel safe in their school environment through the help of mentors, welcoming schools to all minority groups, and revision of legislature. Those unaccompanied youth that have removed themselves from school need to be drawn back through the help of caring individuals that want to help. Welfare policies regarding children need to be revised. Lastly, those agencies that aim to help unaccompanied youth need to work together to provide wrap around service for every child.

2012 College Visit

Good morning All,

I am sending out a few pictures from our college trip.  It was a great trip, we had 15 children in all and made visits to:


Hocking Hills
Rio Grande
Shawnee State
Ohio University (a small group)


We were also able to visit with 2 of our girls who are now attending Shawnee State.  It was so rewarding to see them there and see the growth in them over the past year.


This trip is one of the most impactful pieces of our job as getting a child to graduate and attend college despite all odds is the culmination of all of our efforts including the support from our manager, Woodward Trust and Faces w/o Places.


Thank you for supporting this trip and enjoy the photos,

Homeless Teens

Reporter Mark Curnutte spent weeks researching his in-depth article on homeless teens that was featured in the Sunday Forum Enquirer on Sunday, February 21st. 
Homeless Teens is a great piece about the increase in teens experiencing homelessness, and we've received calls from many caring citizens wanting to help. Curnutte offers snapshots of three teens who are on their own and some cases, on the street. It's eye opening and heart-breaking.

Last year, PC served 381 unaccompanied youth and we expect that number to be even higher this year. Check out the blog post on Thursday, October 29th for more information about unaccompanied youth (teens experiencing homelessness).  

One important correction to the article is Curnutte's statement about Faces Without Places. He says in 2009 FWP provided $5,000 for a summer bus. In fact, that was the first fundraiser FWP undertook in 1998. In 2009 FWP provided over $141,000 to assist children experiencing homelessness in greater Cincinnati!  

Kids On Their Own

There was a good article published in the New York Times this week, Running in the Shadows: Recession Drives Surge in Youth Runaways. With stories from all over the U.S., but especially focused on a group of runaways in Oregon, the article introduces us to children who are living on the streets, in abandoned homes, libraries, or stores to avoid returning home to abuse or neglect.

We have these kids in Cincinnati too. Last year Project Connect identified 381 unaccompanied youth, or 16% of all of the children identified as experiencing homelessness during the 08-09 academic year. An unaccompanied youth is defined as children who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Some of these children are smaller and in the care of a relative or family friend (without guardianship), but most are what we call throw-away or runaways, children who are very similar to the teens in the Times article. Project Connect works closely with several local agencies serving this population including Lighthouse Youth Services and StandUp for Kids, an all volunteer street outreach program. PC adresses the specific needs of these youth through an adolescent manager.

If you click on the article link, there is a side video, When No One's Looking, that you can view. I found it sad and inspirational at the same time. It includes the story of a family who lost their house to foreclosure, but the high school student in the family wanted to stay so that she could finish her degree. She values her education so much that she is willing to live without electricity or water.

PC Director Karen Fessler's biggest concern is that unaccompanied youth receive little support and do not qualify for many resources to help them complete their high school degrees or access higher education. Unlike children in foster care, these students do not have anyone (beyond Project Connect) to represent or help them.