Program and policy implication of the gender distribution of LGBTQ identified youth

Over the past 5 years transition age youth have been at the forefront of research across disciplines as a cohort of youth struggle to find their place in difficult economic times.  Transition age youth across the world are experiencing extremely high rates of unemployment; labeled the boomerang generation they are returning to the homes of parents and friends.  Yet, many youth do not have this safety net and transition age youth are one of the fastest growing subpopulations among those experiencing homelessness.  In an effort to address the needs of this population, researchers and policy makers have zeroed in on causes of youth homelessness including poor transitions from foster care and sexual identity, and the challenges homeless youth experience when accessing mainstream homeless services due to their age, gender and sexuality.  The study explores the relationship between youth homelessness, gender and sexual identity as a study of 500 youth, and additional program data showed unexpected numbers of youth who identified, as LGBTQ were female. These data breakdown some stereotyping of the population but also introduce interesting questions for service planning, education and outreach efforts.