Across the Lifespan - Youth to Elder Survivors

Abuse in later life victims may benefit from services offered by domestic violence and sexual assault programs, such as crisis lines, emergency shelter, transitional housing, support groups, peer support, and legal and economic advocacy. This report will help in the assessment of existing services and offer guidance to enhance response to older victims. The document contains links to videos of subject matter experts discussing key concepts.

This report by the The Palette Fund, True Colors Fund, and the Williams Institute presents data from The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Homeless Youth Provider Survey, a web-based survey conducted from October 2011 through March 2012. The survey was designed to assess the experiences of homeless youth organizations in providing services to LGBT youth. It also assessed the prevalence of LGBT youth within the homeless populations being served by these organizations. Overall, respondents indicated that nearly seven in ten (68%) of their LGBT homeless clients have experienced family rejection and more than half of clients (54%) had experienced abuse in their family.

This document reports the planning phase-related findings and recommendations of HUD’s LGBTQ Youth Homelessness Prevention Initiative (“initiative”). The findings illustrate that, while challenging, community-wide planning to address LGBTQ youth homelessness is possible with buy-in, resources, and a collective willingness to invest time in a planning process. The recommendations are intended to inform replication of similar LGBTQ youth homelessness prevention planning in communities nationwide.

In 2015, the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL) and Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) hosted a listening session with representatives from tribal governments and service providers and those that work closely with tribes, tribal domestic violence coalitions and federal responders. The gathering was an opportunity for Native people to inform the field about what abuse in later life looks like in tribal communities and how to address it. This report contains potential strategies, additional resources, and tools to enhance conversation and planning.

This webinar accompanies NCALL's publication, "Working with Older Survivors of Abuse: A Framework for Advocates."

This Population Policy Brief focuses on the victimization, costs of abuse and barriers to safety and recovery that older survivors experience. The Office of Violence Against Women defines older survivors as those over 50 years of age. This recognizes that older adults, who are largely past their reproductive years but are too young for services available to seniors, are particularly vulnerable due to a lack of programs and supports targeting this population. Include discussion of strategies and solutions.

Seventy-seven million baby boomers are aging and people 85 and older, the fastest growing segment of the population, are disproportionately women. These demographic trends have significant implications for victimization, safety, suffering, health, and well-being of tens of millions of older Americans. Through advocacy and education, the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL) works everyday to improve victim safety, increase abuser accountability, expand coordinated community response, and ultimately, put an end to abuse in later life.

This guide focuses on adapting advocacy skills to help young people who experience homelessness and sexual violence build resiliency and lessen their traumas. It has three aims: (a) to provide an overview for the intersections between identity, trauma experiences, and resiliency among youth who are homeless; (b) to highlight core skills and techniques for advocates; and (c) to discuss how to tailor these skills in order to improve services for youth who identify as LGBTQ.

Between 3 percent and 5 percent of the U.S. population identifies as lesbian, gay or bisexual, yet research suggests that between 20 percent and 40 percent of all homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). This reality prompted the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (the Task Force), in collaboration with the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), to produce this publication. Through a comprehensive review of the available academic research and professional literature, the question as to why so many LGBT youth are becoming and remaining homeless is addressed. This paper also reports on the harassment and violence that many of these youth experience in the shelter system and summarizes research on critical problems affecting them, including mental health issues, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior. The federal government’s response to youth homelessness is analyzed, including the specific impact on LGBT homeless youth of increased federal funding for faith-based service providers. Five social service agencies detail model programs designed to improve service delivery to LGBT homeless youth.

Severe family conflict, abuse, neglect, and abandonment all contribute to family displacement and homelessness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/ questioning (LGBTQ) youth in America. This issue brief offers an overview of research and offers information about best practices.