The Lost Children Of Connecticut

We aren’t doing right by our most vulnerable youth — the runaways, and the young people who are homeless. For all its resources, the state of Connecticut has less than 25 beds available for young people who are under the age of 18 and in crisis. Stacey Violante Cote, director of the Teen Legal Advocacy Project at the Center for Children’s Advocacy, heads a work group that studies homeless youth in the state. The group recently released a report, “Opening Doors for Youth,” that said the state’s youth services are geared mostly for young people who are clients of state agencies such as the Department of Children and Families, or they are among the handful of young people who occupy the state’s few slots in shelters. That leaves out most of the young people who are homeless in Connecticut, who are uniquely skilled at staying under the radar.