Our homeless youth group produced this video.

Unaccompanied youth, living without a family or guardian, face day-to-day challenges that can cloud their adult lives. They must secure food and shelter, find a job or return to school. Often, they are unclear where to seek help and who they can trust.

CCH has advocated for the needs of unaccompanied youth since it organized a Youth Committee in 1983. Comprised of 38 youth-serving agencies – 25 in Chicago, six from the suburbs, and seven in downstate Illinois – the Youth Committee helps our No Youth Alone campaign advocate for policies and programs serving unaccompanied youth.

Thousands of youth across Illinois experience homelessness. In 2005, CCH was involved in a comprehensive state-run study that found almost 25,000 Illinois youth experience homelessness each year, about 9,000 of them in the Chicago area. About one-third blamed family conflict. Other common reasons included physical or sexual abuse by a parent or family member. Three out of five youth said they had been the victims of violence in the prior 12 months. Many said they were throw-aways, not runaways.

HELLO youth group meets with then-Mayor Richard Daley

In 2014, CCH drafted and advocated for House Bill 4501, which allows unaccompanied minors to consent to their own medical care for non-emergency illnesses and injuries. Bringing Illinois in line with 17 other states, the amendment allows minors, ages 14 to 18, to consent to their own care, when previously they were turned away even from school-based clinics if they lacked a parent/guardian to sign a consent form.

No Youth Alone also mobilizes youth and youth providers to advocate for state and city resources. After extensive advocacy by CCH and its Youth Committee, a stop-gap state budget for FY16 funded homeless youth programs at 76% of FY15 levels. By FY19, homeless youth programs received a $500,000 increase, to $6 million; another $1 million increase was approved in the FY20 budget.

Youth attorney Beth Malik runs a mobile legal aid clinic that offers outreach at school and street programs, with assistance from Education Attorney Alyssa Phillips.

For 11 years, until 2016, CCH youth staff co-led an advocacy group for street youth. Their advocacy included meeting with then-Mayor Richard Daley, which resulted in Chicago starting a homeless youth task force and pilot funding for the Crib, the city’s first overnight youth shelter. Youth leaders remain active through our Youth Committee partners, with leadership by Unity Parenting & Counseling.

In FY20 – FY21, the work by No Youth Alone was supported in part by the Youth Homelessness Innovation Fund, a special initiative of the Polk Bros. Foundation and Crown Family Philanthropies.

For more information, contact Niya Kelly, Director of State Legislative Policy, Equity and Transformation