Street life is no life for children.

• Author: Jewel
• Position: Homeless children

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COMING HOME AFTER school or a day with friends is something most kids take for granted, but for more than 1,000,000 young people living in this country, there is no place to call home. Youth homelessness is a complex issue that often is overlooked in the U.S.--even as we face a growing crisis of teens and children living alone on the streets. Left to fend for themselves, children as young as 11 years old confront such nightmarish scenarios as human trafficking and drug use, often with little understanding or sympathy from the general public. In June, I testified before the House Ways & Means Committee to support bipartisan resolutions designating November as "National Homeless Youth Awareness Month." Setting November aside in this way should help raise much-needed awareness of the issue, while demonstrating to kids on the streets that Congress is listening, people do want to help, and America cares about their futures.

While youngsters often become homeless due to some kind of family breakdown, there is no one cause. Poverty; lack of affordable housing, access to education, and other resources; unemployment among family members; abuse; and mental health issues all can be contributing factors. The issue of homeless youth is complicated further by misperceptions about children and teens who end up on the streets, as many people immediately jump to easy--but wrong--conclusions. For instance, when walking by a teenage girl sitting on a bench in the middle of a weekday, few might consider whether she is homeless. The easier response is to assume that she probably is just some punk kid who ditched school and is hanging around waiting for her friends. Few onlookers go so far as to consider an even darker reality--such as the fact that this girl might be forced into prostitution to make enough money to put food in her stomach.

This also is a population that is very good at making itself "invisible" to adults--since it is adults who so often have endangered or let these teens down in the past. That boy at your son's high school may seem like a nice, average kid, but he may have no home to return to after the school day; the point is, these girls and boys do not five on the streets or become homeless by choice. The sad truth: many of them feel safer there and, despite what many Americans think, this is not an easily "correctable" condition, land of opportunity or not.

I have a personal understanding of the plight of these young...