Indy Homeless Advocacy Group Finds 183 Unaccompanied Young People In One-Night Count

The Coalition For Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, known as CHIP, conducts what they call a Point-in-Time Count of the city’s homeless population every year.

This is the second time they’ve devoted a separate count to unaccompanied youth and young adults – anyone 24 years old and under.

The one-night count, conducted in November 2018, found 96 more individuals than they did the year before. But CHIP's executive director Chelsea Haring-Cozzi says that seems to be the result of a more comprehensive counting process, not an actual increase.

It's difficult to say how accurate these numbers are. Haring-Cozzi says getting data on young people is especially challenging because they move so much. And she says some are hesitant to use supportive services, usually offered in places that would make them more easily visible.

Out of the 183 youth and young adults counted, 46 percent have a serious mental illness, 24 percent have some form of disability, 49 percent lack employment, and 61 percent lack a high school diploma.

CHIP hopes to get the data in the hands of groups that can use it, to better understand and address the problem.

You can see more details from the report right here. CHIP says the full report will be released early next week.