KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasFirst Ever Homeless Youth Count in Clark County
The results for the first ever Homeless Youth Count in Clark County are now out.
According to the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, one of the agencies behind the study, nearly 400 kids are living on the streets of Clark County on any given day.
Kathleen Boutin is the Director of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. She oversees the drop-in center on Maryland Parkway and Tropicana, provides homeless kids with a place to shower, eat, study or just relax.
The Homeless Youth Street count revealed 385 kids between the ages of 12 to 20 years old are living on the streets without any parent or guardian.
Boutin says the majority of the kids are minorities with 60 percent identified as African American.
"We have a lot of homeless youth in this community and even more complicated there are very few people in the community aware of the issue because the are invisible because they look like regular teenagers," said Boutin.
The study also identified more than 3,500 kids enrolled in the Clark County school district and transportation as a major obstacle for kids getting to school.
The drop in center is always taking food, clothing and school supply donations if you would like to help out.
The study was funded by several local homeless service providers.
Click here to read the results of the Clark County homeless youth study.
Homeless teenagers living on our streets struggle daily to get by. But for the first time locally, a census and survey reveals how many local teens are homeless and why. More>>
