“We need a collective effort to get service providers to understand our daily struggles. The system builds walls around us that make it more challenging to reach those in power; they want to develop programs for us but will get nowhere if they don’t ask us what we need. We are the experts on what we need, and no book can teach that. We must sit at the table and help you pioneer what the end of homelessness will look like.”
Theo O.
What Young People Have Taught Us
We will never end and prevent youth homelessness as individual organizations, following individual work plans from individual funders, accountable to people who aren’t directly impacted by homelessness, and constrained by rules that prevent us from directly lobbying for legislative change. That’s the non-profit industrial complex in action. As people who work for non-profit organizations that benefit from this system, we know the challenge of trying to do the necessary transformational work from within our current structures.
What we also know is that if we want to prevent and end youth homelessness, we need to work collectively to: 1. Develop and align our theories of change, 2. Agree on and implement a coordinated strategy that centers and is accountable to those directly impacted by youth homelessness, and 3. Work to dismantle, reimagine, and replace the structures that contribute to homelessness, including charity-based models of care. We have an unprecedented opportunity now to both defend young people and prevent harm from the ad hoc attempts to dismantle the current federal systems that fund our nonprofit youth homelessness systems and to develop our vision and pursue buy-in for rebuilding a new transformative system.
“I think the biggest issue is that homelessness as a whole is not seen as a human issue. It’s a political issue. I personally will always need help, both from the government, and from others. I can’t shower on my own, how would I do regular work and maintain a house alone?”
Kamiron K.
Links, resources, and how to get involved with rapid response and rebuilding in the youth homelessness space:
Equal Access Rule
What’s Going On & Helpful Links
As you have likely heard, the new HUD Secretary has directed HUD to stop enforcing the Equal Access Rule, which required shelters and other programs receiving HUD funding to ensure equal access to its programs regardless of gender identity. However, not enforcing the rule does not change the rule and so EAR is still law. They will almost certainly try to replace the rule through the notice & comment process, which will be an excellent opportunity to slow down and gum up the works.
Resources & How to Get Involved
strategy around responding to the attempts to rescind or weaponize the Equal Access Rule is moving forward. We’re keeping an eye on this page for rule change language: https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/hud_no_25_026I. I will make sure you know when there are any meetings or trainings re: making public comments!
HUD Funding and Stop Work Orders
What’s Going On & How to Get Involved
This article and this article summarizes the HUD technical assistance and capacity building contract cancellations. There still aren’t any updates re: the status of grants awarded for 2025 and 2026.
Links & Resources
Health and Human Services Stop Work Orders and Other Threats
What’s Going On & Helpful Links
On February 18, 2025, providers who receive funding through HHS’s Legal Services for Unaccompanied Children program were ordered to stop work immediately.
As of February 21, 2025, providers were reporting that the memo was rescinded.
Check out the Immigration Policy Tracking Project for more info.
Resources & How to Get Involved
If you have contact with or work with unaccompanied young people, please make sure to check in with them and help them find alternative resources for representation in their immigration hearings. If you need help, email hyln@americanbar.org. If you want to stay up to date on this issue, sign up for emails from https://supportkind.org/.
ICE Raids and Immigration
What’s Going On & Helpful Links
ICE reportedly released a memo announcing an intent to track down unaccompanied minors.
Resources & How to Get Involved
ICE guidance for shelters: https://homelesslaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ICE-Guidance.pdf
Dept. of Education Threats
What’s Going On & Helpful Links
SchoolHouse Connection has some excellent information about it here: https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/impending-executive-order-on-dismantling-ed-fy2025-budget. They also provided this helpful summary of the rights of students.
Resources & How to Get Involved
IRS and Taxes
What’s Going On & Helpful Links
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is seeking to deputize IRS agents for immigration enforcement and has recently escalated to pushing the IRS to turn over taxpayer data to DHS in order to target ITIN users for deportation. The IRS has so far refused.
There has long been a firewall between the IRS and immigration enforcement in order to encourage undocumented people to file taxes, as they are legally required to do. Tax returns contain a ton of sensitive data including addresses, information about family members, where people work, etc.
Resources & How to Get Involved
Many young people we work with are getting ready to file their taxes and I am currently looking for resources for undocumented taxpayers who are worried about being targeted. Please let me know if you come across any!
Public Benefits
What’s Going On & Helpful Links
EO re: financial “benefits” to people without “legal status”: This order requires all federal agencies and departments to conduct a thorough review of government programs to identify and end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens” (which it does not define – and there is some speculation that it might include people granted temporary protected statuses, parolees, etc. since undocumented immigrants cannot access any federal benefits except extremely limited emergency medical coverage via Medicaid; another potential concern is whether access to school is at risk, despite the Supreme Court decision in 1982 ensuring access for undocumented kids). Agencies will then be directed to take “corrective action” to ensure that federal funds are not being used to support “sanctuary policies” or “assist with illegal immigration”.
Resources & How to Get Involved
This EO in and of itself does not change current eligibility for federally funded public benefits programs, and does not change how any federally funded programs are currently administered. Changing these benefit programs would take an act of Congress.
Disability Rights
Section 504 attacks: A group of 17 states have sued the United States government, asking the court to get rid of Section 504 and its new rules that protect people with disabilities from discrimination in health care and human services (the case is called Texas v. Becerra ). Advocates are concerned that Trump’s Dept of Justice won’t bother defending the suit, and that protections for disabled students and for all disabled people in healthcare are at risk. See this site from one of our partners for more info and action items: https://dredf.org/protect-504/
Resources & How to Get Involved
“In order to heal, the wound or pain has to be in the past. We aren’t there. We are still inflicting pain. We can create healing spaces and do individual and personal healing, but as far as for all of youth homelessness, we aren’t there. There is a misalignment between political promises surrounding houselessness and actions being taken against people experiencing housing instability. Healing starts with the acknowledgement of harm.”
Focus Group Participant
Research Organizations Supporting the Movement
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonpartisan research and policy institute that advances federal and state policies to help build a nation where everyone — regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ZIP code, immigration status, or disability status — has the resources they need to thrive and share in the nation’s prosperity. We are particularly interested in their work on tax policy.
Chapin Hall is dedicated to the idea that evidence should drive decisions. They combine rigorous research methods and policy expertise to generate evidence and support its use. They work in three primary impact areas: child welfare systems; community capacity, including schools, courts and before- and after-school programs; and youth homelessness.
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. We are a trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decision-making, create inclusive economic growth, and improve the well-being of families and communities. We are particularly interested in their work on decommodification of housing.
“I work with the city's homeless coalition – we’re supposed to come together to talk about food and housing. But one member was anti-trans and now the work is distracted from the real issues to discuss if this person is allowed to treat homeless trans kids poorly. Society is built around acting on immediate dangers so we don’t have time to focus on bigger systemic pictures. It’s built so we can never stand next to each other and rise up against those to blame for our strife. Survival prevents us from elevating ourselves.”
E. Jasper McEwan
Stay Informed. Stay Involved.
The Index is constantly evolving and we want it to reflect what YOU need to end youth homelessness in your community. Check out our blog posts for our most recent news and insights.
March 2025 Updates
Please see below for all email updates sent in March 2025. Feel free to reach out to Katie at kmeyerscott at homelesslaw.org with any questions or to be added to the email list! From: Katie Meyer Scott <kmeyerscott@homelesslaw.org> … Continue reading
- Katie M Scott
- March 5, 2025
February 2025 Updates
Please see below for all email updates sent in February 2025. Feel free to reach out to Katie at kmeyerscott at homelesslaw.org with any questions or to be added to the email list! From: Katie Meyer Scott <kmeyerscott@homelesslaw.org> Sent: … Continue reading
- Katie M Scott
- February 21, 2025
The Systems That Displace Us
My Nana, a Black woman born and bred in Five Points Denver, Colorado, fought to protect her community of people living in the Denver Housing Projects for more than five decades. She was relentless in her drive towards equity and … Continue reading
- Aleya Jones
- February 4, 2024
