LAS VEGAS, Nov. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a
new assessment developed by the UNLV Greenspun College of Urban
Affairs, Southern Nevada is facing
a youth homelessness crisis, leading the nation in incidence rates
with a service delivery system that is ill-equipped to handle the
case load. The findings were announced today at
Intersections: The 2017 Southern Nevada Youth Homelessness
Summit, presented by Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) and
Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY).
According to longitudinal data available from U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Annual Homeless
Assessment Report from 2013-2016, youth make up a much larger
segment of the overall homeless population in Southern Nevada than the national average – in
2016, unaccompanied homeless youth accounted for 24.7
percent of Southern Nevada's
homeless population, while the national average was 6.54 percent.
In addition, the State of Nevada
continues to rank first in the rate of unaccompanied homeless youth
living unsheltered, demonstrating a lack of resources in the
community.
The UNLV assessment shows that
Southern Nevada has a service
delivery system in which the region's needs greatly surpass
available resources – for instance, the number of unsheltered youth
is far greater than available shelter and housing beds. In
addition, preventing and responding to youth homelessness can
impact many related negative outcomes for our community, including
increased risk of mental health, health and substance abuse
problems. One additional consequence is that homelessness heightens
the risk of youth becoming victims of sex trafficking. In
Southern Nevada, 2,794 youth have
been recovered from sex trafficking during the period between
1994-2016.
The assessment states that to make lasting change on the youth
homelessness problem, the Southern
Nevada community must create a coordinated plan that
includes integration of the service delivery system, an innovative
redesign of the policy and resource response, and integrated,
meaningful data systems.
"Effective cities exhibit a willingness and desire to work
together and to have strong, productive, inclusive engagement about
important community issues," said Robert R.
Ulmer, dean of the UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs.
"Addressing the needs of the homeless youth population is one of
the most important challenges we're facing as an urban city. Our
college faculty are working with community partners and the private
and nonprofit sectors to understand the state of youth homelessness
and find ways to ensure this vulnerable population
succeeds."
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) and Nevada Partnership for
Homeless Youth (NPHY) hosted the first annual Southern Nevada
Youth Homelessness Summit at The Venetian today to accelerate
community awareness of the problem and kick-start a year-long
planning process to create the Southern Nevada Plan to End Youth
Homelessness – a community-wide master plan targeted at reducing
the high incidence numbers and addressing the myriad of problems
underscored by youth homelessness – from criminal behavior to
health consequences.
With support from the UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs
and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the event showcased the youth
homelessness issue through data and personal stories, as well as
insights from a range of experts. Other highlights beyond the
UNLV state of youth homelessness,
included:
- A review of the national policy landscape by Darla Bardine, J.D., executive director of the
National Network for Youth (NN4Y), the
United States' largest public education and policy advocacy
organization devoted to homeless youth
- A personal account of youth homelessness by NPHY alumnus,
Giuseppe Pizano
- A private screening of soon-to-be released documentary film
Lost In America, which follows director Rotimi Rainwater's journey to shine a light on
youth homelessness in America
- Interactive focus group sessions exploring the intersections
between youth homelessness and other key community issue areas,
including human trafficking, education, immigration and LGBTQ
issues
To review presentations, download the UNLV State of Youth
Homelessness white paper and follow the planning process for the
Southern Nevada Plan to End Youth Homelessness begun today at the
Southern Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit, please visit
http://www.nphy.org/themovement.
About Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is the world's pre-eminent
developer and operator of world-class Integrated Resorts that
feature luxury hotels; best-in-class gaming; retail; dining and
entertainment; Meetings, Incentives, Convention and Exhibition
(MICE) facilities; and many other business and leisure
amenities. LVS pioneered the MICE-driven Integrated Resort, a
unique, industry-leading and extremely successful model that serves
both the business and leisure tourism markets.
LVS properties include The Venetian and The Palazzo resorts and
Sands Expo in Las Vegas, Sands
Bethlehem in Eastern Pennsylvania,
and the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Through majority ownership in Sands
China Ltd., LVS owns a portfolio of properties on the Cotai Strip
in Macao, including The Venetian
Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Sands Cotai Central
and The Parisian Macao, as well as the Sands Macao on the
Macao Peninsula.
LVS is dedicated to being a good corporate citizen, anchored by
the core tenets of delivering a great working environment for our
more than 50,000 team members worldwide, driving impact through its
Sands Cares corporate giving program and leading innovation with
the company's award-winning Sands ECO360° global sustainability
program. To learn more, please visit www.sands.com.
About Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY)
NPHY is the most comprehensive service provider for the
thousands of homeless youth in Southern
Nevada, serving hundreds of youth through our core programs
and touching the lives of thousands more through outreach each
year. NPHY's programs stabilize homeless teens' lives, meeting
their immediate needs and providing a safe, supportive environment
and a path to self-sufficiency. Through our work with homeless
youth, NPHY creates productive, healthy adults who contribute to
society. Strengthening and complementing our high-quality
programming for homeless youth, NPHY is dedicated to advocating for
the Vegas Valley's homeless youth population and serves as a leader
in systems-level efforts to eliminate homelessness among
Nevada's youth. For more
information or to support our life-changing work for homeless
youth, please visit www.nphy.org.
Contacts:
|
|
Kristin
Koca
|
Lanette
Rivera
|
Las Vegas Sands
Corp.
|
Nevada Partnership
for Homeless Youth
|
Kristin.Koca@sands.com
|
summit@nphy.org
|
702-414-3218
|
702-969-2196
|
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SOURCE Las Vegas Sands Corp.