Address Oregon's Youth Houselessness Crisis

Oregon currently faces a youth houselessness crisis with some daunting statistics:

In the top five states with the highest number of unaccompanied youth houselessness in the U.S.
8,278 youth in need of safe housing in Oregon
Youth experiencing houselessness are disproportionately African American, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+
The high school graduation rate for Oregon's houseless youth is just 55%.

HB 2001 would provide youth with the following:

Increased access to existing shelter and support services such as mental health/substance use services, culturally specific services,street outreach, and other transitional housing options;

Oregon currently faces a youth houselessness crisis with some daunting statistics:

In the top five states with the highest number of unaccompanied youth houselessness in the U.S.
8,278 youth in need of safe housing in Oregon
Youth experiencing houselessness are disproportionately African American, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+
The high school graduation rate for Oregon's houseless youth is just 55%.

HB 2001 would provide youth with the following:

Increased access to existing shelter and support services such as mental health/substance use services, culturally specific services,street outreach, and other transitional housing options;
Increased access to existing host home programs, like EMO's Second Home program, that provides UHY with stable housing and empowers them to graduate from high school; and
Emergency funds to prevent evictions and rapidly rehouse school-aged youth and families.

Contact your legislators today and call upon them to stand with Oregon's houseless youth by passing HB 2001 and fully funding the youth experiencing homelessness provision at $25 million dollars!

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Email Your Legislators About Youth Houselessness Today!

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Contact your legislators TODAY and ask them to support fully funding supports for youth experiencing houselessness at $25 million dollars in HB 2001!

HB 2001 is a bill package that provides housing supports for many different groups across Oregon - including youth experiencing houselessness! We need people of faith and citizens of Oregon to help get this historic bill package through the Legislature with the full $25 million dollar funding for supports and services for youth experiencing houselessness in Oregon.

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Subject:

As a constituent, I urge you to support Oregon's unaccompanied houseless youth (UHY) by ensuring that that Legislature passes HB 2001 with the full $25 million dollar funding for supports for youth experiencing houselessness.

Oregon has been facing a youth houselessness crisis. Our state is in the top five for highest number of unaccompanied youth experiencing houselessness in the country. Youth who identify with minority groups are at an increased risk of experiencing houselessness — with Black youth being at an 83% greater risk over other races, LGBTQIA+ youth at a 120% greater risk compared to heterosexual and cisgender youth, and youth without a high school diploma having a 346% higher risk over youth who finished school.

Additionally, combatting youth houselessness represents a key opportunity to bolster Oregon’s ongoing efforts to redress racial injustices. Racism touches every facet of American life—including the housing market—and impacts our children’s lives even before they are even born. As a result, African American, Indigenous, and Alaska Native youth, particularly young men, report the highest rates of houselessness.

I urge the Legislature to pass HB 2001 and fund the youth experiencing houselessness components at the $25 million investment level. This level of funding will provide youth with continued access to host home housing and other services as well as access to emergency funds to prevent evictions and rapidly rehouse school-aged youth and families. These provisions will provide:
- $6.25 million to enhance Oregon’s existing networks of host home housing programs that match UHY with volunteer home providers, ensuring they have stable housing, regular access to food, and a supportive family.
- $12.5 million for shelter services, such as emergency housing, street outreach, culturally specific services, mental health & substance use services, and transitional housing options.
- $6.25 million in emergency dollars to help prevent evictions and rapidly rehouse school-aged youth and families to stop them from experiencing houselessness in the first place.

Investing in supports for youth experiencing houselessness will also benefit Oregon’s fiscal health. According to a 2009 study from Portland State University and Pacific University, for every $1 invested in services for youth experiencing houselessness, Oregon saves $4 down the road.

Passing HB 2001 and fully funding the provision for youth experiencing houselessness at $25 million dollars will help address today’s youth houselessness while preventing a budget crisis down the road. Oregon's youth deserve a robust continuum of services to keep them cared for, supported, and safe. Now more than ever, I call upon you and your colleagues in the Legislature to stand with unhoused youth and fund this provision at its full ask of $25 million dollars.

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