Younger Americans are homeless

Now, with what he calls "lowered the standards" and a new position inconsistent with a Jack in the Box restaurant, Mr Taylor, 24, doesn't do enough to rent an apartment or share one. Sleeps on a mat in a homeless shelter, except when his sister let him crash on her couch.

"Anytime I could lose my job, my safety," said Mr. Taylor, explaining how it has always been the last hired and first fired. "I'd like to be able to support myself. This is my only goal. "

Across the country, tens of thousands of people unemployed and underemployed youth with college credits or work stories, many are struggling to house themselves following the recession, which has left workers between 18 and 24 with the highest unemployment rate of all adults.

Who can move back home with their parents — the so-called boomerang set — are the most fortunate. But that is not an option for those whose families have been affected badly the economy, including Mr. Taylor, whose mother is barely scraping while working at a laundromat. Without a permanent residence, they are an elusive group which mostly SURFs sofa or sleeping hidden away in your car or other private places, hoping to avoid the stigma of homelessness lasting public during what I hope will be a temporary situation.

These young adults are the new face of a national population of homeless, poverty experts and workers say cases is growing. But the problem is largely invisible. Most cities and States, focusing on homeless families, they did not make special efforts to identify young adults, who tend to shy away from ordinary admissions for fear of being victimized by a chronically homeless people, seniors. The unemployment rate and the number of young adults who can't afford college "point to the fact that there is a dramatic increase in homelessness" in that age group, said Barbara Poppe, Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on homelessness.

The Obama administration has launched an initiative with nine communities, most of them large cities, to try and those between 18 and 24 who are without a consistent home address. New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Boston are among the cities included in the effort.

"One of our first approaches you get an estimate more confident," said MS. Poppe, whose Agency is coordinating the initiative.

Those who provide services to the poor in many cities say that economic recovery has not alleviated the problem. "Years ago, you haven't seen what looked like college age sitting and waiting to talk to a worker of the crisis because they are homeless on the street," said Andrae Bailey, the Executive Director of the Community food and Outreach Center, one of the largest charitable organizations in Florida. "Now that is a normal thing."

Los Angeles first attempted a count of young adults who live on the street in 2011. Found 3,600, but the city had the capacity to shelter only 17 percent of them.

"The rest are left to their own devices," said Michael Arnold, Executive Director of the homeless services authority in Los Angeles. "And when you start adding in those who are couch surfing and staying with friends, that number increases exponentially.

Boston also tried to contend in 2010 and 2011. Seeking shelter homeless young adult population has grown by 3 percentage points to 12 percent of homeless people 6,000 served during that time.

"It is a step significant enough to know that it is just the tip of the iceberg," said Jim Greene, Director of emergency shelters for the Commission of public health in Boston.

In Washington, Lance Fuller, a 26-year-old with a degree in journalism, he spent the end of last month packing a one-bedroom apartment that he can no longer afford after being fired. Mr Fuller said he had been unable to keep a job for more than eight months after graduating from the University of Florida in 2010.

"Luckily, I have a girlfriend who is willing to let me stay with you until I get back on my feet again," said Mr Fuller, who writes a blog, rumors of a lost generation. "It's really hard for people of my generation do not feel completely defeated by this economy."

Mr. Taylor, the fast-food worker in Seattle, said that he felt lucky when he could find a coveted space to roots, a shelter for young adults in a church basement. These shelters are rare.

For generations, services for the homeless were directed at two groups: children and the elderly. There has been little attention focused on what today we call the experts «transitional age youth ' — young adults whose needs are distinct.

"I see them coming back day after day, more defeated, tired out, asking, ' when will it be my turn? ' "said Kristine Cunningham, Executive Director of roots".Is heartbreaking. This is the age when you want to show the world that have the value ".

Need more than just clean clothes and shelter to move into adulthood, experts say. "They want a way out," said MS. Poppe, whose Agency is also gathering evidence on what types of programs and awareness campaigns work best. "They want the opportunity to develop skills so they are long-term marketable".

"A more individualized approach seems to be working," he added.

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