The Central Florida Commission on Homelessness will conduct a count next week of homeless youths in the region. The goal is to get a sense of just how many teens in central Florida are living on the street.
Volunteers will fan out across Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties looking for homeless teens and young adults. These are kids who aren’t living with family, and many of them identify as LGBT.
“What we know about this population is that they are in crisis, that they are running from something. And it’s generally associated with a significant family event,” said Central Florida Commission on Homelessness CEO Shelly Lauten.
The number of homeless young people between 13 and 24 years old is rising across the country, said Lauten.
“This population does not appear to be showing up when we do the point in time count for all homeless populations. Because they are just a different population,” said Lauten. “They hang out in different places, they appear in different ways, and they don’t necessarily hang out with other homeless populations.”
The homeless youth count takes place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Lauten said there’s a need for volunteers to help with the count in Osceola County.