Billie is 22 years old and has been homeless since she was 17.
She was adopted at the age of 4 and her adoptive mother is now in her 80s and won’t let Billie live with her. She does not know her biological parents. She has two children, now in the custody of children protective service agencies, and has had two miscarriages, the result of domestic violence. Billie was 17 when she met her first boyfriend. He was 32 and picked her up as she was walking along a highway near Moberly, Mo., after being expelled from a private youth facility. He took her to his home and she eventually had a child with him.