Title: The Visibility Gap: Why LGBTQ+ young people may be missing from the monitoring data of mainstream homelessness services. 

Introduction 

Youth homelessness remains a pressing issue in the UK, affecting more than 118,000 young people every year. Evidence collected in surveys by AKT and others suggests a disproportionately high number of the LGBTQ+ community will be reflected in these statistics. However, Depaul UK’s own data is lower than these estimates. This report seeks to understand the gap. 

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key findings

The research considered three possible scenarios: 

  1. Under-representation: LGBTQ+ young people are genuinely underrepresented within Depaul UK’s services, suggesting barriers that prevent them from accessing either homelessness support in general or Depaul UK’s services specifically.
  2. Non-disclosure: LGBTQ+ young people are using Depaul UK’s services but are not disclosing their identities to staff, possibly due to concerns about safety or potential discrimination.
  3. A visibility gap: Young people disclose their identities to staff, but this information is not consistently recorded at a system level, pointing to issues with data processes and systems. 
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      This report was supported by The George Michael Fund, managed by The Talent Fund.