LETTER: Las Vegas homeless population includes far too many teenagers

Society’s perception of the homeless is mainly the stereotypical drunken old man with a cardboard sign asking for money. We need to widen our minds to the reality that there young teens out in the street for reasons that are no fault of their own.

As of 2016, there were about 6,200 homeless in Southern Nevada. A percentage of that population includes young children and teens. Homelessness among youth is prevalent due to unstable homes and the unstable foster care system that affects the county and the rest of the country.

The foster care system is supposed to protect children in unsafe environments — Clark County foster care has approximately 3,000 children, from toddlers to teenagers. Unfortunately, the foster care system has a reputation of not having safe environments for children in need of new homes, which in return leads too many foster children to become runaways and live on the street.