Only 22 percent of states—including the District of Columbia—offer free or reduced-cost ID cards to young people who are homeless. With research that suggests that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are significantly overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness, this is a problem.

Regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, homeless youth—like other adolescents and young adults—are growing and developing a sense of self, while also navigating homelessness. For LGBT young people, this often includes making difficult choices about whether and when to identify openly as LGBT. At the same time that they are figuring out how to express who they are to themselves and to others in person, many homeless LGBT youth struggle to prove their identities on paper. State-issued photo identification, or ID, cards are, for a variety of reasons, difficult to obtain for many LGBT and homeless youth. Without an accurate, up-to-date ID card, even routine tasks can become bureaucratic nightmares.

A new report by the Center for American Progress, Expanding ID Card Access for LGBT Homeless Youth, calls for the implementation of measures that will facilitate access to ID cards. These measures include:

• Revising state policies to facilitate access to ID cards for LGBT homeless youth.
• Improving ID card access for youth in foster care, the juvenile justice system, and the criminal justice system.
• Creating or leveraging partnerships with the nonprofit community.
• Establishing municipal ID card programs.

Read the full report below, or download it here.

Expanding ID Card Access for LGBT Homeless Youth by Center for American Progress