New York, NY —

Organizations across the city that serve troubled youth have been conducting surveys over the last several months to try to determine just how many young people are living on the streets. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports:

REPORTER: Advocates and elected officials say it's the first time the city has tried to quantify the problem. Though during the Guiliani administration an internal report that was leaked estimated the number at 15-thousand. Today, those that work with youth say it could be as high as 30-thousand during the course of the year. Youth shelters have fewer than 400 beds. City councilman Lewis Fidler helped secure funding for the count. And says surveys conducted with youth are meant to find out as much as possible:

FIDLER: Did they age out of foster care, were they thrown out of their homes, did they travel to our city and why, are they couch surfing

REPORTER: Some advocates worry those who sleep on the couches of friends or relatives were missed by the count. About 600 surveys were done and most were with youth in programs. The number is supposed to get projected out by researchers trying to establish a city wide estimate. For wnyc, I'm Cindy Rodriguez