Alaska brings youth voices to policy with statewide youth-homelessness grant
Loading...
Summary
CoC leaders said minors and youth accounted for about 30% of people entering Alaska’s homeless response system last year; Alaska won a statewide youth homeless systems improvement grant to convene youth with lived experience to redesign policies and identify system gaps.
Speakers at the Juneau lunch-and-learn highlighted youth homelessness as a pressing concern and described a federal grant that centers youth input in system redesign.
A presenter said minors and youth comprised roughly 30% of people who entered the homeless response system in the prior year: “Out of every 10 people who enter homelessness in our communities, in our state, 3 of them are under the 24,” he said. That pattern prompted a statewide youth homeless systems improvement grant that brings youth with lived experience into policy planning.
Presenters said Alaska was the only state to have the entire state covered by the project and that youth from around Alaska convened in Juneau to identify gaps and recommend goals. “They worked together… what are those gaps? What goals do we have? What do we want to do to help start addressing the pieces of our system that need to be improved?” a presenter said.
Speakers asked for referrals of young people aged 16–24 who want to participate and described follow‑up contacts for communities interested in learning from the convening. The grant’s stated purpose in the session was to incorporate lived experience into program design rather than to authorize immediate program expansions or fund allocations.
No formal policy or appropriation decisions were made at the event; presenters encouraged further engagement and local meetings to translate youth recommendations into programmatic or legislative proposals.
