Mecklenburg County Launches 100-Day Challenge to Prevent Youth Homelessness

In July 2024, Chapin Hall released New Opportunities: A National Strategy to Prevent Youth Homelessness. This week Mecklenburg County Continuum of Care (CoC) staff, members of the CoC Youth Action Board (YAB), and representatives from youth-serving organizations came together to plan a 100 Day Challenge to Prevent Youth Homelessness in Mecklenburg County.

This blog provides an overview of key risk factors for youth homelessness, the prevention framework proposed in the report, and the work being done locally to prevent youth homelessness.

ABOUT THE REPORT

The New Opportunities: A National Strategy to Prevent Youth Homelessness report was developed as part of the Preventing Youth Homelessness Learning Collaborative, a national initiative led by Chapin Hall. The collaborative brought together youth with lived experience of homelessness, system leaders in child welfare, education, juvenile justice, housing, and behavioral health systems, service providers, advocates, researchers, funders, and federal partners to create and test strategies to prevent youth homelessness. The report explores risk factors for and pathways to youth homelessness, provides a prevention framework based on risk, and provides policy, practice, and research recommendations for each level of risk.

RISK FACTORS FOR YOUTH HOMELESSNESS

The New Opportunities: A National Strategy to Prevent Youth Homelessness report highlights numerous factors that have been associated with an increased risk for homelessness among youth ages 13 -25 years old.  These factors can generally be categorized as structural, individual, or relational.

Key risk factors include:

• Economic hardship: lack of affordable housing, poverty, intergenerational poverty, insufficient financial supports.
• System involvement: youth transitioning out of foster care, juvenile justice, behavioral health, or other systems often lack sufficient supports.
• Discrimination and structural inequities: race/ethnicity, sexual/gender minority status, policies or practices that discriminate by income, housing source, etc.
• Family issues: conflict, loss of a caregiver/parent, instability in family relationships.
• Gaps in education and health/mental health systems: chronic absenteeism; limited access to quality health, mental health care; lack of screening or early intervention.

CHAPIN HALL YOUTH PREVENTION FRAMEWORK

In New Opportunities: A National Strategy to Prevent Youth Homelessness, the authors outline four levels of prevention. Each addresses different stages of risk from crisis to homelessness to housing stability.

1. Prevent (unequal) Risk: Address structural factors such as systemic discrimination and economic inequities.
2. Prevent Risk from Becoming Crisis: Intervene early before risk escalates through cross-systems collaboration and in educational settings.
3. Prevent Crisis from Becoming Homelessness: Ensure accessible and affirming supports are available for youth having a housing crisis to prevent them from becoming literally homeless.
4. Prevent Recurrence: Provide ongoing support services post homelessness exit to prevent future housing crises.

In an effective youth prevention system, youth would not be at disparate risk for homelessness. They would be knowledgeable about where and how to access affirming support and resources; have access to educational, employment, and vocational opportunities that align with their goals and needs; have immediate support to prevent them from becoming literally homeless and to support them in quickly obtaining stable housing if homelessness occurs; and they would be connected to resources that support their long-term stability.

YOUTH AT RISK OF HOMELESSNESS IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY

As of July 31, 2025, of the 163 unaccompanied youth ages 18-24 who were actively engaged in the homeless services system, 70 reported being unstably housed. Most of the youth (56) reported being in a doubled-up situation, staying or living in a family member or friend’s room, apartment, or house. Thirty-nine percent reported a disability, 30% reported being a survivor of domestic violence, and over half (54%) reported some form of income. Eighty-three percent reported that this was their first time being at-risk of homelessness

These data highlight both the opportunity to prevent youth homelessness in Mecklenburg County and the need for tailored interventions. The high rates of disability and domestic violence histories indicate the need for coordinated, trauma-informed supports, while the prevalence of youth with income suggests that employment alone isn’t always sufficient to obtain and maintain stable housing. Together, these characteristics, along with the input of youth with lived experience, should guide the design of strategies to prevent youth homelessness in Mecklenburg County.

100 DAY CHALLENGE TO PREVENT YOUTH HOMELESSNESS

This week staff from the Mecklenburg County CoC, youth with lived experience of homelessness, local youth-serving organizations and systems, and representatives from Re!Institute spent two days collaboratively planning for the Mecklenburg County 100 Day Challenge to Prevent Youth Homelessness which kicks off on September 29^th. Re!Institute, a HUD technical assistance provider, partners with communities to implement the 100 Day Challenge methodology and catalyze rapid systems change with the goal of preventing youth homelessness.

Their work included an analysis of the current system, establishing a Challenge goal, identifying four key workstreams to guide the work, and mapping out timelines, milestones, and action steps for each workstream. Over the next week, the team will put the necessary tools in place to implement the identified initiatives, including the data infrastructure that will not only allow the evaluation of Challenge activities but also provide essential information to strengthen the local youth prevention system both during and after the Challenge.

The four workstreams are: system-level tools and processes, youth engagement and leadership, wraparound and supportive services, and maximizing housing options. Strategies within these workstreams include enhancing youth cultural competency among service providers, developing a youth resource list, expanding the size and impact of the Youth Action Board (YAB), increasing the utilization of housing problem-solving conversations and shared housing, better connecting youth to income and benefits, and enhancing peer support in stabilization services.

By implementing these initiatives, the Challenge team hopes to reduce the number of unstably housed youth who become literally homeless by 30%.