Youth and Allies Against Homelessness: Mixed Method Research Projects (PI: Prof. Colette (Coco) Auerswald, MD, MS, UC Berkeley School of Public Health) - YEDI Affiliated Project
Colette (Coco) Auerswald, Professor
Public Health
Applications for Fall 2026 are closed for this project.
Internship Pilot Program with Youth Experiencing Homelessness and Toolkit Development - YEDI Affiliated Project
Youth and Allies Against Homelessness (YAAH) is a research team based in i4Y (Innovations for Youth), a Berkeley School of Public Health research center. YAAH is made up of people with lived experience of homelessness or who have a deep commitment to ending youth homelessness. This includes youth community partners, undergraduate students, graduate students, post doctoral scholars, a research coordinator, and faculty lead, Coco Auerswald, MD, MS.
YAAH has the goal of addressing and ending youth homelessness in the United States. To reach this goal, we conduct research and evaluation studies with the aim of generating a body of evidence that can be used to impact the implementation of programs for youth experiencing homelessness (YEH), as well as policies related to addressing and ending youth homelessness. Our activities have long included hiring youth as co-researchers or interns in our work.
We are looking for undergraduate students (second-years and above) who are interested in committing to the lab for at least one year, i.e., for Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 semesters.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Tessa Stapp, Research Coordinator
Summary
Youth & Allies Against Homelessness (YAAH) is seeking two Undergraduate Research Apprentices to join our internship team. This project is building on insights gleaned from previous internships that have trained youth leaders with lived experience of homelessness in research. The purpose of the internship is to train community based youth in data analysis principles and disseminate findings from our population size estimation (PSE) project, and for this internship, nonpartisan advocacy. The PSE project utilized gold standard methods to estimate the population size and characteristics of youth experiencing homelessness in three specific communities across the state of California. The three target communities are: Alameda County, Marin County, and San Diego County. Youth leaders/community interns will be recruited from each target community to support in advocacy. Our URAP students will act as peer supports for our internship team.
Our internships for YEH aims to advance youth research and workplace skills, involve them as stakeholders in research decisions, and include them in dialogue with policymakers.
Project activities for URAP interns will include the following:
Collaborate on the implementation and evaluation of a research, advocacy, and professional development internship for YEH.
Support youth in advocacy meetings with local and state elected officials
Co-design and facilitate internship programming for youth.
Translate research findings into data visualization aids and applied recommendations for practitioners and community partners.
Support additional tasks as needed.
Role: SPECIFIC ROLE
This URAP position includes a weekly 1.5 hour in person lab meeting in Berkeley Way West. Time to be determined based on availability of team.
Qualifications: Equity and inclusion are core values of this project. We highly encourage students from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences to apply.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR STUDENTS WITH A RANGE OF QUALIFICATIONS, BUT WE ARE NOT EXPECTING STUDENTS TO HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH ALL OF THE QUALIFICATIONS WE ARE LISTING BELOW.
Core qualifications:
–We are particularly interested in engaging students from marginalized backgrounds who have lived experience with homelessness OR students who have worked with people who have experienced homelessness OR with marginalized youth populations AND have an interest in systems-level thinking.
–Be at least a second-year undergraduate student.
–Interest in working in research, data analysis, training and/or advocacy.
–Ability to work effectively independently and as a team member.
–Excellent attention to detail, organizational skills, people skills, and strong initiative.
–Open to accepting, acting on, and providing feedback.
–Able to attend mandatory, in-person weekly lab meetings.
Knowledge of Youth Homelessness:
– Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to addressing homelessness
– Possess either lived experience of homelessness or housing instability OR direct experience working with individuals with lived experience of homelessness
– Experience with historically underrepresented subgroups of youth at-risk of homelessness, including youth who are indigenous, immigrant/newcomer, justice-involved, and/or survivors of human trafficking
– Exposure to or interest in systems-level thinking, particularly as it relates to homelessness response systems or other social service sectors
Research Skills –Note: We are also looking for a range of qualifications, but we are NOT expecting students to have experience with all of the qualifications we are listing below.
– Experience conducting literature reviews
– Familiarity with cleaning and analyzing quantitative data using statistical software (e.g., Stata, R, SPSS, Excel)
– Ability to contribute to the design and implementation of qualitative data collection instruments (e.g., focus group and interview guides)
– Experience collaborating with diverse groups in the planning and implementation of research activities (especially youth)
– Skills in creating infographics to summarize research findings
– Demonstrated commitment to the ethical engagement of marginalized communities in conducting community-based research
Communication and Teamwork
– Strong writing skills, particularly in producing research summaries, reports, and/or social media
– Comfortable communicating with a range of stakeholders, including youth with lived experience, service providers, and local government agency representatives
– Ability to work in a team-based environment with diverse collaborators
Organizational Skills
– Ability to manage note-taking, organize research documents, and support project logistics
– High level of attention to detail and time management
Weekly Hours: Most students commit 6-8 hrs (2 units). Students have the option of committing 8-10 hours (3 units). These hours include mandatory 1.5 hour weekly in-person meetings (Date & time to be finalized by 8/27/26 and availability will be discussed in interviews.) & weekly project specific meetings.
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If you are selected for this research project, you will also be invited to join the Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI) Program, a research mentorship program that aims to build supportive pathways into research careers, service, and leadership addressing adolescent wellbeing. The year-long program provides weekly skill-building workshops, cascading mentorship, and professional development training to a cohort of 20-30 undergraduate scholars working on faculty-led youth equity research projects (like this one). Past scholars have benefitted from YEDI’s mentorship and professional development opportunities (including faculty and graduate student speakers). The program culminates in an end-of-year research poster symposium. Participation in the YEDI Program is not required for this research project, but is strongly encouraged, particularly for new lab members.
The 2026-2027 YEDI cohort will meet on Tuesdays from 11:00am - 12:30pm beginning September 22nd. In order to take part in the YEDI program, you MUST be able to attend the workshops at this time. As a YEDI scholar, you will sign up for a PH198 (independent research) class and receive 1 unit in addition to the units you will receive for this URAP project. For any questions about YEDI, please contact Marieka Schotland at mschotland@berkeley.edu or visit our website (https://i4y.berkeley.edu/youth-equity-discovery-initiative-yedi-program).
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: https://sph.berkeley.edu/colette-auerswald
Related website: https://yaah.berkeley.edu/