In her mind, she soared. But this power was always fleeting.

Heartbroken over a childhood in a home marred by violence and alcohol problems, Lily left home at 16 and moved in with her boyfriend.

She was sick of the late-night parties her mother threw with drunken friends, who always "forgot" where the toilet was and fumbled their way to her bedroom.

How could she lie awake and alert all night and then trudge to school at St Kilda Youth Service to study for year 12? Forget it. She had to leave. But where to go?

In interviews with 400 young people who were homeless or at risk of becoming so, researchers from Swinburne University found there was a strong link between early experiences of family violence and homelessness later in life.

About 40 per cent of those interviewed said police had come to their house because of violence between their parents at least once.

The research, released on Tuesday, also found that the majority of young homeless people (about 60 per cent) had been in out-of-home care such as foster care or residential care before they were 18.

A collaboration between a number of universities and organisations including the Salvation Army, Mission Australia and Anglicare, this research is the first time extensive interviews have been done with young homeless people over a three-year period.

The findings add weight to calls from the Council to Homeless Persons and others for the government to provide a proper safety net for young people in care when they turn 18.

For Lily Graham, help came in the form of a self-contained apartment through The Ladder, a youth organisation founded by a group of AFL players. "They saved my life," says the 19-year-old with a wide smile.

She stopped using drugs and got a traineeship at the Korin Gamadji Institute, at Richmond Football Club, where she now works mentoring young Indigenous people who have been identified as leaders in their community.

But the path out of homelessness is never smooth. Until recently, Lily was in a private rental – her first – with a friend. But when he started taking drugs, she moved out and is now back at home temporarily.

"It would be easier just to go back to doing nothing, but when you see how the kids [she mentors] have changed and grown, how much faith they have in me I couldn't throw it back in anyone's face, especially my own," she says.

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