National Network for Youth (NN4Y) has been a public education and policy advocacy organization dedicated to the prevention and eradication of youth homelessness in America for over 45 years. As the largest and most diverse network of its kind, NN4Y mobilizes over 300 members and affiliates – organizations that work on the front lines every day to provide prevention services and respond to runaways and youth experiencing homelessness and human trafficking. Annual membership fees can be found at: https://nn4youth.org/membership
In carrying out their mission as the nation’s leading network of homeless and runaway youth programs and their allies, members are provided with:
- Networking - information about organizations’ collaborative initiatives, promising practices and innovative strategies
- Knowledge - useful, timely and relevant information to increase the capacity of communities to serve youth and families in crisis
- Solutions - access to resources and innovative solutions to challenges communities face
- Public Policy - federal policy advocacy, access to policy makers, policy action alerts, and insider federal government information
- Voices - monthly membership calls and discussions. Members can apply for a position on the Policy Advisory Committee or nominate a young person for their Nation Youth Advisory Council
They partner with members to enact public policies that decrease the number of youth who:
- Couch surf or live on the streets
- Run away from home
- Are ejected from their home
- Are homeless
By doing this, members prevent youth from:
- Criminal justice system ensnarement
- Victimization, exploitation and trafficking
- Chronic homelessness as adults
- Suffering with untreated physical and mental illnesses
- Death
