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Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- General
- Indianapolis Star
Youth homelessness in Indiana: An invisible -- but not hopeless -- struggle
Indiana public schools have reported an estimated 44% increase in homeless students from the 2020-21 to the 2023-24 school years. This mirrors a national trend, with youth homelessness rising by an estimated 32% across the United States. Much of our data originates from the Department of Education, which under the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987, defines homeless children as 'individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.' Breaking the cycle of chronic homelessness, community leaders and advocates say, must start by supporting youths who don't have a place to call home. Without early intervention, the trauma of being homeless — both physical and emotional — can leave lasting scars on individuals and ripple effects throughout our communities. 'It was nightmarish,' Victor Hutchinson of Indianapolis said of his childhood spent bouncing between homeless shelters and staying with friends alongside his mother. Now 24, Hutchinson is a participant in Outreach Indiana — a local nonprofit working to equip and empower young Hoosiers between the ages 14–24 experiencing homelessness. For many Hoosiers, youth homelessness is an invisible issue. It's often hidden, undocumented, and underreported. And it looks very different from adult homelessness. Homeless youth may sleep on the street one night and on a friend's couch the next. This kind of intermittent homelessness makes it harder for them to qualify for state assistance programs, which often prioritize chronically homeless adults. The IndyStar estimates there were 22,114 homeless students (Pre K-12) in Indiana during the 2023-24 school year. The most recent count represents a 44% increase from the five-year low of 15,373 in 2020-21 school year. Of Indiana's homeless students, 28% of lived in Marion County in the 2022-23 school year, according to SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan Youth homelessness is fueled by a range of factors, including family breakdowns, forced evictions, and cultural beliefs that turning 18 marks the end of parental responsibility, often forcing young adults out of their homes. 'I always felt like I was on the journey by myself, because we didn't have adults around us who could give us proper guidance, they didn't know what to do," said Trinity Hopkins, a 24-year-old local author and current Outreach participant. "So how could I expect them to teach me?' Homeless students consistently fall behind their housed peers in academic performance. For example, only 57% of homeless students were proficient in third-grade early literacy assessments, according to the Brightlane Learning Homeless Education 2024 Report. That's 1.4 times lower than the 82% proficiency rate among housed students. Several factors contribute to this gap: Lack of quality sleep, which is essential for a child's development and learning. Higher rates of serious health issues, such as asthma, which affect nearly twice as many homeless students compared to their housed peers. Food insecurity, with homeless students having reduced access to nutritious meals and being twice as likely to skip breakfast. 'Food insecurity is further exacerbated during the summer months, as many students rely on school for guaranteed meals like breakfast and lunch,' said Barbara Duffield, Executive Director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national nonprofit focused on ending homelessness through education. Loss of safety and structure: According to the Department of Education, nearly 80% of homeless students are 'doubled up,' meaning they share housing with others due to economic hardship. Constant movement makes it difficult to maintain stability. Missed learning opportunities: Homeless students often miss out on summer enrichment programs, especially when they move between school districts. College students face renewed homelessness: Many campuses close dorms during summer, leaving unhoused students without shelter. 'They come back to Indy, for example, and they are homeless again,' said Andrew Neal. Statewide data reveals a troubling racial disparity: According to SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, Black or African American students made up 31% of homeless students in Indiana (2022-23), despite representing only 11% of the overall student population. This overrepresentation reflects broader systemic inequities. African Americans are disproportionately affected across all categories of homelessness in Indiana, highlighting the urgent need to address racial bias and structural barriers in housing, education, and social services. Allow minors to apply for health insurance independently, such as Medicaid, without requiring parental consent. Eliminate racial disparities in housing, including discriminatory evictions, loan denials, and high housing costs. Repeal laws that criminalize homelessness, shifting the focus from punishment to support. Intervene early in a young person's housing crisis to prevent long-term or chronic homelessness in adulthood. The Public Policy Institute at Indiana University emphasizes that to curb the rise in youth homelessness, the state must strengthen programming for unhoused youth. This includes allowing unaccompanied minors to access healthcare, addressing racial inequities in housing, and, most urgently, ending the criminalization of homelessness. Currently, laws in Indiana make it illegal for people without homes to do basic things like sleep outside, sit in public spaces, stay in their cars, or ask for help. These laws can result in tickets, fines, or even arrests — punishments that only deepen the struggles of young people trying to survive. If we got rid of these laws, homeless youth could rest safely, get the help they need, and look for jobs without worrying about getting in trouble for trying to survive. Beyond the human cost, criminalizing homelessness is also financially inefficient. A national study found that placing a homeless youth in the criminal justice system for one-year costs $53,665, compared to just $5,887 to permanently move that same youth off the streets. The Indiana University Policy Institute found between 2021 and 2023, Indiana's corrections spending nearly doubled, from $849 million to an estimated $1.7 billion. Other cities have found success with more compassionate approaches. In 2015, Milwaukee County launched a Housing First Initiative, providing housing without preconditions. The results were dramatic: municipal violations dropped by 82%, and the homeless population fell from 1,521 to 900. 'If we truly want to address street homelessness, we need to focus more on upstream factors, cutting it off at the source, when a young person first becomes unhoused,' said Neal of Outreach Indiana. "The longer a youth remains on the streets, the more trauma they experience and the more likely they are to face long-term, chronic homelessness.' Fortunately, organizations like Outreach Indiana are already doing the groundwork, offering essentials like fresh clothes, hot meals, showers, and a safe, welcoming space for youth in need. 'I feel like this is a safe home for me… and I come here every chance I get. I wish they had housing because I would literally live here. You can tell they put love into it. Even if it's a bad day, you wouldn't know,' said Trinity Hopkins. But Outreach goes beyond the basics. They help youth build futures. 'If you need anything — literally anything — they're willing to help. They paid for my for-hire exam so I could start driving commercial vehicles (CDL),' said Victor Hutchinson, who recently started working at a moving company with Outreach's support. His advice to other young people facing homelessness is simple but powerful. 'It takes a lot of patience, so just endure. Endure all of it," Hutchinson said. "Because you know, within time, something will come up. Something will get better.' Outreach Youth Hotline: (317) 699-1994
Indianapolis Star
23-07-2025
- Health
- Indianapolis Star
Indy homelessness keeps rising in 2025 — but not for veterans. 4 takeaways from new data
Homelessness in Indianapolis continues to climb closer to the highest levels recorded in the past 15 years, new data shows. The newly released 2025 point-in-time count — a nationwide census held each January to provide a single-night snapshot of homelessness — found that 1,815 people were experiencing homelessness in Marion County at the beginning of this year. This is only the third year since 2010 in which the countywide total exceeded 1,800 people. The 2025 figure is a 7% increase from last year and the highest tally since 2021, when Indianapolis reported a 15-year high of 1,928 people experiencing homelessness. Indy's rising homeless population coincides with record-high homelessness across the United States. Despite the overall increase, significant reductions in veteran homelessness in Indianapolis and the U.S. at large hold lessons for how to help other groups, advocates say. Here are four key takeaways from the 2025 homelessness count: This year's increases were driven by rising homelessness among some of Indianapolis' most vulnerable groups. The number of residents facing chronic homelessness, a subgroup including people with health issues who have been homeless for more than a year, increased 24% from last year to roughly 400 people. More families with children are homeless, too, making up more than a quarter of the total homeless population. In 2025, 316 children under 18 years old were experiencing homelessness, a 14% increase from last year. "We're seeing more families sleeping in vehicles," Andrew Neal, leader of the youth social services organization Outreach Indiana, told IndyStar. "We're seeing more families who are homeless and trying to get access to shelters." The data also shows that Black residents are increasingly likely to end up homeless in Marion County, marking the failure of a 2023 citywide goal to effectively eliminate racial disparities in homelessness by this year. Of the total homeless population, more than 1,000 people identified as Black. This means that while nearly 30% of Marion County residents are Black, roughly 56% of the county's homeless residents are Black. While homelessness increased overall, one vulnerable group continues to make progress: veterans. The number of veterans experiencing homelessness fell to 125 people — a 26% decrease from last year. Just 10 years ago that figure was more than three times higher, when nearly 400 veterans were experiencing homelessness in 2015. The local decline in veteran homelessness is part of a record-breaking drop across the U.S. since 2010, when the federal government began a focused effort to end homelessness among veterans. Organizations like Helping Veterans and Families in downtown Indianapolis have benefited from more funding and an influx of specialized housing vouchers that help veterans pay rent. "In its simplest form, the solution to homelessness is housing with supportive services," HVAF CEO Emmy Hildebrand said. "That's what we do here at HVAF every day." HVAF fire: How Indianapolis veteran homeless housing damaged in fires last year is being rebuilt The organization provides more than 100 temporary beds where veterans typically stay for six to nine months, Hildebrand said. Because more than 80% of HVAF's clients report mental health or substance abuse issues, case managers connect veterans with health care, employment opportunities and government benefits while they're staying in those beds. "We want to make sure we're addressing every possible barrier to self-sufficiency when they're present here so they're in the best position to be successful when they leave," Hildebrand said. HVAF also sends rental assistance to about 500 families a year to ensure they remain stably housed, Hildebrand said. In total, their work helped more than 1,300 veterans in 2024. About eight in 10 people experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis were sleeping in emergency shelter beds or transitional housing units during the frigid January count. The city is taking the lead on an ambitious plan to move the remaining people who are habitually unsheltered — sleeping on the street, in vehicles or in abandoned buildings — into housing by next summer. Through the new program Streets to Home Indy, Indianapolis aims to end unsheltered and chronic homelessness by 2028 for the quarter of homeless residents who fall into those two distinct but overlapping categories. The first phase of that plan is to offer temporary or permanent beds to roughly 350 people. Although about 330 were counted as unsheltered this January, the number typically increases during warmer months, advocates say. "(Homelessness) is something that we have been managing, but we really want to bring these targeted investments to the table to essentially end chronic homelessness as we know it in Indianapolis today," Aryn Schounce, a senior policy adviser on homelessness for Mayor Joe Hogsett, said in June when the program was announced. Implementing the plan will be a heavy lift. City employees will partner with street outreach teams from local nonprofits like Horizon House to visit well-known encampments and direct residents to open housing units. The city says it will clean up and shut down camps only after everyone has been housed or has left on their own. Streets to Home Indy is a key piece of Marion County's new Community Plan to End Homelessness, along with a low-barrier shelter that will offer 150 emergency beds for families, couples and individuals experiencing homelessness starting in 2027. The Department of Housing and Urban Development won't release the 2025 point-in-time count results until the end of this year, but the most recent data shows that homelessness is rising even faster across the U.S. than in Indianapolis. The nationwide 2024 point-in-time count found that more than 770,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the U.S., the largest number on record and an 18% increase from 2023. The numbers reflect the rapid rise in housing costs, the expiration of pandemic-era rental assistance and an increasing number of migrants seeking asylum, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank. Although rental costs have soared particularly in denser coastal cities, prices have jumped in Indianapolis too. One in four renting households in Indianapolis spent at least half of their income on rent in 2023, according to census data. The price squeeze shows up in the fact that more than 2,000 evictions are filed each month in Marion County courts, according to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University.
