Chair Stevens on RHY youth referred to DHS shelter system

you still got turned away because that's we can definitely get you the I would love to just see the the whole uh the whole all all of the language in 2025 how many young people were able to access RHY

beds were instead referred to DHS shelter system.

I could take that too.

So our shelter access report does not give us that number, right?

So we are not capturing that on the shelter.

Well, it wasn't part of the local law.

No, she said access.

And then I could tell you about the streamline report.

But the shelter access, the way that it's set up right now, does not allow us to capture that number.

We don't know how many youth actually left the site and went to DHS, right?

So we have a streamlined report where we streamline the youth to DHS.

What does that mean?

And what's the difference?

The difference is...

Okay, the difference is with the streamlined report, you get to skip intake at DHS.

So you don't have to go through that whole.

situation, you can go straight into a DHS bed.

So we have made collaborations.

So if you have a process where they can skip the line and just get and go straight in.

to there, why aren't we tracking that?

Well, that we do track.

Okay.

Right?

That's on the streamlined report.

We do track that.

So we know exactly how many of the youth were streamlined into DHS.

So then I'm confused.

So then why don't we know how many kids access it?

I'm confused.

I feel like y'all trying to confuse me.

Let me give you the numbers, right?

Because when you said access, we were talking about the shelter access report, which is a different report than the streamlined report.

The streamlined report for fiscal year 2025, we had 121 youth that were placed.

Directly into a DHS shelter.

You said 125?

121 youth that were placed directly into a DHS shelter.

And FY26, since June, there's been 55 youth placed directly into a DHS shelter.

The benefit of the streamlined access is that, you know, intake serves a purpose at DHS.

They want to understand what the context of the young person's situation is, what their needs are, who they are, what their resources are.

And so if you've been a young person in a runaway and homeless youth program, our advocates were saying, then why, if I need to continue to access shelter after I've potentially aged out, why do I have to go through that process again?

Somebody in a city program really already knows my situation.

So the streamlined report takes the information that we already know about the young person and shares that with DHS so that they can skip that process.

They are already known to somebody, and it just alleviates some of the hesitancy that some young people feel about going through that process and helps them get to shelter more efficiently.

I mean, I think that's one of the reasons why they have issues with DHS, but I'm almost positive, and you guys will stay around to hear them tell me all the other reasons why they don't want to go to DHS shelters because, you know, it's just not as nice, right?

I mean, you know, I like to give her flowers.

Young people want to stay with us.

They don't want to go over there, right?

And so it's like if I've already done this work with this organization and this group of people, it's I want to stay there so I can finish out that process.

And, you know, I think that that's kudos to the work and the providers cultivating these communities for our young people.

And they become their family.

So it's really hard.

And so for them to go.

into a DHS shelter that often isn't as homey and friendly and, you know, tentative, it becomes hard.

And so, you know, I think, you know, that's why they've been advocating so hard to have these young people stay under their tutelage.

And that's to the good work that's being done.

So.

I'd have to say it too.