Twenty-year-old Mikayla Foreman knows her experience is meaningful. Dealing with homelessness since 18 and currently living in a shelter, Foreman has managed to continue her academic journey, studying for exams this month in hopes of attaining a nursing degree.

But Foreman believes there were intervention points that could’ve prevented her from experiencing homelessness in the first place.

“If someone in school had understood what I was going through, things could’ve been very different,” she said in an interview with Stateline.

As more cities impose bans, fines or jail time for adults living on the streets, young people who have been homeless say they face unique problems that could have been addressed earlier. Through more than 400 interviews and survey responses, young people across the country recently told researchers how earlier guidance and intervention might have made a difference for them. The research suggests the country is missing its biggest opportunity to prevent youth homelessness — by intervening well before a young person reaches a shelter and years before they are chronically homeless.

The , from Covenant House and the University of California, Berkeley, finds that the pathways into youth homelessness are different from those of adults experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness. A young person coming out to their family, or becoming pregnant, or experiencing untreated trauma can create conflicts that push them into homelessness. A lot of that doesn’t show up in current data.

The survey responses offer the nation’s schools and social services agencies the chance to get ahead of youth homelessness, researchers say, not only by intervening earlier, but also by pinpointing and responding to the diversity of needs among teenagers and young adults who might be close to losing their housing.

Advocates say there are multiple intervention points — in school, in child welfare organizations and inside family dynamics — where the worst outcomes can be avoided. States such as California, Florida, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington have explored some of those intervention points in policies that range from guaranteed income pilot programs to youth-specific rental assistance and campus housing protections.

Hawaii has made its youth drop-in and crisis-diversion program permanent, and Oregon and Washington have expanded rental assistance and education-centered supports for vulnerable youth. Florida now requires colleges to prioritize housing for homeless and foster students.

“With young people, we have opportunities to intervene much further upstream — in schools, in families, in child welfare — before anyone has to spend a single night on the streets. That’s simply not the case with older adults,” said David Howard, former senior vice president for Covenant House and a co-author of the new research, in an interview with Stateline.

“Even at 18, 20 or 24 [years old], young people are still developing,” Howard said. “Their vulnerabilities look very different from middle-aged adults, and the support systems they need are different too.”

One of the key points of intervention for potentially homeless youth is school. Public schools across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic.

And homelessness has many various regional factors outside of individual circumstances, such as climate-driven homelessness. More than 5,100 students in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina became homeless as a result of hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.

“Homelessness is multifaceted and lots of us slip through the cracks because the system isn’t designed for our reality,” said Foreman, a former Covenant House resident who helped conduct the new research.

Foreman’s insights and lived experience were included in the study, which showed that youth homelessness rarely begins with an eviction or job loss — frequent causes of homelessness among adults.

The top three reasons that young people experience homelessness for the first time, according to respondents, were being kicked out of their family homes, running away, and leaving an unsafe living situation such as one affected by domestic violence. Other instigators included being unable to afford housing, aging out of foster care, being kicked out of or running away from foster care, and moving away from gang violence.

However, respondents also had suggestions for ways government, schools and the community could help or prevent youth homelessness. They suggested youth-specific housing options, identifying and helping at-risk youth in health care settings, providing direct cash assistance and offering conflict resolution support within families.

Among the most common suggestions was to offer services that create long-lasting connections for young people.

“Strong relationships with non-parental adults, including mentors, teachers, service providers, and elders, were identified as especially important when family connections were strained or absent,” the report said.

The surveys and interviews also demonstrated that young people want mental health care tailored to their personal experience, said Benjamin Parry, a lead researcher on the report, speaking during a September webinar hosted by Point Source Youth, a nonprofit that works to end youth homelessness.

The research breaks out responses from a few specific groups — Indigenous, Latino, immigrant, LGBTQ+ people of color and pregnant or parenting youth — to understand their distinct needs, said Parry, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health. “There’s so much nuance and specificity within these different groups.”

Indigenous youth, for example, often are dealing with the effects of intergenerational trauma and alcoholism that have been projected onto them, Parry said. Those young people have far different needs than pregnant or parenting youth, he noted.

“They are like, ‘I don’t know where my next paycheck’s going to come from, I don’t know how to put food in my baby’s stomach, I don’t have a support network or someone to go to for this advice,’” he said. “That specificity is exactly why we need to understand this better and do better to tailor our approaches and responses.”

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Some migrant families will get a reprieve from a widely criticized policy that evicted them from New York City shelters every 60 days, often disrupting their children’s schooling.

Migrants living in city shelters , sometimes necessitating moves far from their initial shelter placements. But officials announced Monday that families with children in grades K-6 will only be required to move once — after their first 60 days in a city shelter.

After that, families will be able to stay in the same shelter, though they will still have to reapply, a City Hall spokesperson said.

The decision to tweak the 60-day policy comes as the influx of migrants has slowed, leading the city to close some emergency shelters. City officials argued that tweaking the 60-day policy would save money on school buses required to ferry students from new shelter placements to their original schools, though they did not provide specific estimates.

“The new policies we’re implementing today will build on our successes, save taxpayers millions, and help even more migrants take their next steps towards fulfilling their American Dream,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

City officials also vowed to set up a centralized mail center for migrants to help them keep track of essential paperwork even as their addresses may change.

Advocates have long criticized city officials for forcing migrants to bounce from shelter to shelter, disruptions that are especially difficult for families. Although students in temporary housing have a legal right to stay in their initial school, families often face a difficult dilemma: enroll at a campus closer to their new shelter, potentially upending their child’s education, or brave longer commutes on public transit or the city’s notoriously unreliable yellow bus system.

It’s unclear how many families will be affected by the tweak to the 60-day policy. Nearly 14,000 migrant families have been given 60-day notices through Nov. 10, according to figures from Comptroller Brad Lander’s office. About 42% of them are still in the shelter system. City officials did not say how many families in the shelter system have children in grades K-6.

Multiple advocacy groups applauded the change to the 60-day policy while arguing it does not go far enough.

“Allowing certain families to stay in their same shelter placement is a step in the right direction, but the city should end the 60-day limit for families and youth altogether,” said Jennifer Pringle, director of the Learners in Temporary Housing Project at Advocates for Children.

The new policy will continue to create unnecessary disruptions for families who will still be required to move after their first two months in a city shelter, Pringle said. Most students living in shelters , and she believes getting rid of the 60-day rule could help boost attendance.

Christine Quinn, the CEO of a supportive housing provider for families called WIN, also urged the city to do away with the 60-day policy. The approach leaves “countless families in a perpetual state of limbo, creating unnecessary instability while inflicting lasting trauma,” she said in a statement.

“We urge the City to go further and end these cruel and senseless shelter stay limits and administrative transfers once and for all,” Quinn said.

The City Council’s immigration committee is on the 60-day policy on Tuesday.

This was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at .

Even after we moved out of the shelter, there were times I feared we would have to return. It was a scary ordeal because we lived with different people each night. Sometimes those people were not happy and made life difficult. That experience made me appreciate having food and a permanent home. It also made me want to give back and help others.

That’s why, when I was 9 years old, I created a nonprofit organization to supply many of the things students experiencing homelessness may need. I started the because I saw a lady and her children begging for food outside a grocery store. After learning they were homeless and hungry, I knew I wanted to do something to help because I had been in their shoes before I was adopted. 

Now, my organization fills Ziploc Gallon storage bags with food that can be eaten right out of the bag and toiletry items that they need to have good hygiene. I also include words of encouragement such as the Daily Bread, which is a booklet that gives inspirational readings for each day, or handwritten notes to give recipients hope that better days are coming and can help their mental well-being.

Before school starts, we give out book bags and school supplies so youth experiencing homelessness have what they need to be ready for school.  We also give socks, hats, gloves, coats and scarves to help them prepare for the cold weather. I wish I could help more but I do know that what I do does make a difference and that makes me feel good.

But my work is not enough on its own. It is important for the schools to understand the challenges faced by youth experiencing homelessness or living in temporary housing. They need help to navigate these challenges and support them through these tough times. This is what I think leaders and educators should understand, based on my personal experiences and my volunteer work.

Some of the problems homeless students face are not having shelter so they have issues with feeling insecure and they also experience a problem with absences. Since attendance issues are something they deal with, it leads to other problems. These students usually lack emotional support from parents or guardians because they are so overwhelmed. The parents or guardians sometimes do not know what they are going to eat or where they will sleep. This causes students to feel like they don’t belong and can negatively impact their mental health. Students experiencing homelessness report feeling depressed at than students who have homes and loving families. 

Being homeless can also lead to behavioral issues, causing problems in school, especially if people know your situation. Sometimes behavioral problems arise because students are ashamed to be around others, especially when they have poor hygiene and don’t smell so good. Students are often bullied, talked about and shunned because of their poor hygiene. Poor hygiene can also lead to issues like bad breath, body odor and poor health. 

One of my most memorable experiences with my organization was giving out book bags, and toiletries at a hotel that temporarily housed some homeless residents. A little 6-year-old girl ran up and hugged me really tight and kept thanking me because in her bag, she received some deodorant. She was so excited that she would have deodorant to put on and did not have to worry about people talking about how she smelled.

Homeless students may suffer from illnesses and accidents more than their peers. Since they do not always get the right health care, their bodies may not be in good shape and they may have dental issues. These students often face hunger issues. For many students living in poverty, schools are not just a place for learning but also for eating regular meals. Many students dread the summer months because they know they will not have regular meals like when school is going on. This also can contribute to them feeling depressed at higher rates than students who are not homeless.

Their living situations can lead to academic challenges. These homeless students do not have stable situations to learn and study. Sometimes they are moved from school to school. Many times they lack school supplies, which also affect their grades.

School leaders can support these youth by keeping a close check on them to assist them with any needs they have. It is important to make sure they have the materials necessary to complete school assignments. It is also important to make sure that the mental and emotional needs are met as well. If we pay attention to these things, we will help even our homeless youth to have some amount of success.