For many teens and children, homelessness seems a safer environment than living under a roof filled with emotional stress or abuse. The grim reality is that many of our marginalized youth feel they have no choice but to abandon their home and try to make it on their own. Barbara Duffield, director of policy and programs at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, told U.S. News & World Report that young people may even be homeless with their family and take on the role of caretaker for younger siblings.1