The Healthcare Needs and Rights of Youth Experiencing Homelessness

Executive SummaryThe purpose of this position paper is to set forth guiding principles for working with youth experiencing homelessness (YEH).The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine supports the following positions:1?>All policies addressing health and wellbeing should include the needs and rights of YEH, including youth who are migrant, uprooted, and unaccompanied.2?>A range of services should be provided to meet the diverse needs of YEH.3The application of a strengths-based, resilience-building, and trauma-informed approach should inform care and programs for YEH.4?>Stigma against YEH is harmful to their wellbeing and should be formally addressed and reduced.5?>All agencies serving YEH should provide or facilitate access to youth-centered, holistic physical, and mental healthcare services.6?>To improve effectiveness in addressing the complex challenges facing YEH, collaborations across sectors (including but not limited to education, law enforcement and juvenile justice, child protection, healthcare, and community representatives) should be encouraged.7?>The protection and wellbeing of refugee, migrant, and asylum-seeking youth should be prioritized through international and multiagency collaboration from their initial displacement to their successful resettlement.8?>Research regarding the health and wellbeing of YEH to inform policy and interventions should be promoted through the expansion of public and private support, the maintenance, and application of guidelines for ethical research, and through the meaningful participation of youth.