LGBT youth make up a disproportionately large percentage of our nation's homeless youth, as Change.org Poverty editor Shannon Moriarty and others have reported. A new, national report on homeless youth from Covenant House, which says it is "the largest provider of services to homeless and at-risk youth in the Americas," does not include any information specific to the LGBT youth it serves -- despite claiming that "Our ability to describe youth characteristics and experiences is the first step towards systematically identifying important trends and risk factors for homelessness as well as promising interventions." 

The Covenant House report, "A National Picture of Youth Homelessness," is based on information about over a thousand youth who entered Covenant House facilities in various locations around the country between mid-2007 and mid-2009. The data was collected through lengthy psychosocial assessments that asked about "demographics, circumstances of admission, family history, current family and social supports, education and employment history, current income sources, health and mental health history, and legal issues." The demographics, included age, gender, and ethnicity.

Nowhere, however, does the report mention sexual orientation or gender identity or how they may interact with the other characteristics.

Covenant House California Associate Executive Director Sylvia LaMalfa told The Advocate last July, however, that about 10 percent of the youth they serve are LGBT, and she noted that “a disproportionately high number of youth are driven from their homes because they’re LGBT.”

Tell Covenant House to make sure that its future reports include information specifically about LGBT youth, so that this population, which makes up a disproportionate number of all homeless youth, may be better served.