WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the launch of a new LGBTQI+ Youth Homelessness Initiative, which will partner with local communities, service providers, and directly-affected young people to address barriers to housing and shelter access for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) youth. Nearly 40 percent of all youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQI+, and these disparities are especially pronounced for transgender youth and other Black and brown LGBTQI+ youth.
HUD will encourage communities to develop collaborative solutions to address the specific needs of LGBTQI+ youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability. With this new initiative, HUD will provide technical assistance and regular training for shelter and service providers, new informational resources highlighting innovative methods for supporting LGBTQI+ youth, and Know Your Rights tools for direct-affected youth. This work will be informed by listening sessions the Department will hold with LGBTQI+ youth across the country.
“In the greatest country on earth, no one should have to sleep on the streets – and we know that the crisis of homelessness has an outsized impact on our LGBTQI+ youth,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “This Pride Month, the Biden-Harris Administration is illustrating our commitment to advancing equity in all forms and taking steps to ensure that our LGBTQI+ youth have the resources to find safe, supportive shelters and affordable housing in their communities.”
In the coming months, HUD will release a toolkit focused on best practices for supporting LGBTQI+ youth and new Frequently Asked Questions that provide clarity about complying with the Equal Access Rule and Fair Housing Act. In addition, HUD will launch a regular training series for communities and providers committed to improving their care for LGBTQI+ youth.
Today’s announcement is one more important step to address and prevent homelessness in this country – which has been a top priority since day one of the Biden-Harris Administration. In 2022, HUD Secretary Fudge and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) launched House America, a national initiative in which HUD and USICH partnered with 105 communities led by mayors, county leaders, governors, and tribal nation leaders to place over 100,000 households from homelessness into permanent housing and add over 40,000 units of affordable housing into the development pipeline. In addition, USICH released All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, which set forth President Biden’s ambitious goal to reduce all homelessness by 25% by 2025.