Workers call it a difficult situation at the HRDC Warming Center in Bozeman. A homeless child in need of shelter turned to them for help on Sunday night.
“It’s tough, you know, in the state of Montana, juveniles cannot seek shelter services, and not without consent, and so in cases like that, we do have to get law enforcement or Child Protection Services involved to best assess the situation on how to support that young person that is experiencing housing instability,” HRDC Blueprint Continuum coordinator Jeremy Alcoke said.
HRDC says they’ve seen a major increase in minors seeking housing and support services. They run a special program to help with youth homelessness called Blueprint Continuum. Officials say the number of people using it doubled from 2021 to 2022, totaling 125 young adults last year.