Kia” was fifteen years old when she met her boyfriend. At sixteen years old, she found out she was pregnant, and her parents kicked her out as a result. Now, she is pregnant, homeless, and at just sixteen years old, highly vulnerable and not sure what to do next.
Frederick Douglass once said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Despite these insightful words, we are failing our youth. A 2004 study found that approximately 1.6 million youth in the United States experienced homelessness in the preceding twelve months. In Minnesota, this translates to more than 6000 youth on any given night.
These young people are not homeless by choice, and they are not homeless with their families. The disparity between the need for and the number of youth services is stunning—Minnesota has fewer than 100 emergency shelter beds statewide to respond to this need. Even more concerning, more than thirty-five percent, or 2000 of these youth, are pregnant or parenting. Yet only 100 shelter beds are available for these youth in the entire state, and many homeless youth cannot bring their children with them because of program restrictions in the shelter or facility.
For all of the child welfare, well-being, and public policy implications that arise from youth homelessness, the consequences and threats that arise with homeless teen parents are even more stark. This article explores the history of youth homelessness in Minnesota, the system that has been cultivated in response, the growing number of homeless teen parents, and policy recommendations to better respond to this growing need.