Investing in homeless young people can yield good human and financial return

The last time he was beaten by school bullies, at 17, Jamie Nabozny required hospitalization.

The gay teenager ran away to Minneapolis, in 1993, resolving never to return to his hometown. He had been hassled by thugs since middle school.

He sought refuge at YouthLink, a Minneapolis center for homeless young people between 16 and 24.

A case manager helped him get counseling, shelter, eventually an apartment through Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, a bus card, a job and a GED.

Today, Nabozny, 41, is a vice president of Sunrise Banks, a college graduate and a volunteer at YouthLink and other nonprofits.

"Without the proper support and guidance I could have been another statistic, strung out on drugs and alcohol," Nabozny said. "There weren't a lot of options on the street for a 17-year-old. When I was at my lowest, YouthLink was there for me. I've been a taxpayer ever since."

Heather Huseby, the executive director of YouthLink, long has made the human case to funders for why her outfit, as well as similar nonprofits that help homeless teens such as The Bridge For Youth and Avenues for Homeless Youth, are a good investment for foundations, business and generous individuals.

"The best opportunity is before they reach 25. If they are still disconnected when they reach 25, their chance for an independent life diminishes."

Huseby believes she and other homeless-youth advocates now can make a great return-on-investment case for their work.

Economists Steven Foldes and Andrea Lubov of Foldes Consulting, thanks to more than $150,000 in funding from the Bremer Foundation and the Hearst Foundation, have concluded a study of 1,451 youths who received services from YouthLink in 2011.

The conclusion: If just 89 of the 1,451, or 6 percent of the study group achieve financial independence by age 20, Minnesota taxpayers break even on the total one-year cost of intervention programs supporting the rest of the group.

YouthLink spent about $12,800 per teen client in 2011, for a total of $18.6 million, including public subsidies for housing, health care and welfare.

Early-stage intervention programs that stabilize kids do work, sometimes working collaboratively to resolve family issues and return them home. That means less selling drugs, prostituting, stealing or other crimes.

Supportive housing, education and employment training for a year or two is far less costly than a $50,000-a-year Minnesota prison cell or juvenile detention facility.

And most offenders have a background of family problems, education failure and other troubles.

Agencies such as YouthLink struggle every year for the government and philanthropic funds to fully implement intervention and supportive services for the estimated 4,000 Minnesotans between 16 and 24 who are homeless, according to Wilder Research.

Kids leave home for many reasons; sometimes kicked out or abandoned by parents, or out of desperation. Most have little money or hope. They are prey for predators, lives of crime and dependence.