In this op-ed, Marguerita Lightfoot, PhD, MA, Associate Dean for Research at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, highlights the need to make youth experiencing homelessness more visible. She outlines that the estimates of youth experiencing homelessness are vastly underrepresented. Youth experiencing homelessness are often not in the locations that are surveyed. Dr. Lightfoot writes, "It falls to HUD and lawmakers to make the invisible, visible — to look for and truly see young people experiencing homelessness." This op-ed was published as part of the Public Voices Fellowship in partnership with The OpEd Project and funding from the California Health Care Foundation.

Following is a statement by Dr. Margot Kushel, MD, Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) at the University of California, San Francisco on the 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, released today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The pandemic has had and continues to have a profound impact on youth experiencing homelessness  in the Bay Area. Youth and Allies Against Homelessness (YAAH) employed a web-based survey of such youth in San Francisco and Alameda counties to document the impact of the pandemic on their trajectory to adulthood during the summer of 2021.

Conducted by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH) is the largest representative study of homelessness in the United States since the mid-1990s. The study provides a comprehensive look at the causes and consequences of homelessness in California and recommends policy changes to shape programs in response.

During the COVID-19 pandemic youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) were disproportionately impacted; there were common upstream factors, including racism, homophobia, poverty, and structural violence that place youth at risk for homelessness and exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Public health guidelines overlooked YEH. In this commentary, researchers discuss practical strategies to address the unique health and social needs of YEH.