This document discusses housing issues facing transition-aged youth aging out of foster care. It provides data showing thousands of youth age out of foster care each year and experience high rates of homelessness. Research studies are cited that find 12-17% of former foster youth report experiencing homelessness. The document outlines challenges these youth face in obtaining housing, including limited independent living program capacity and lack of affordable housing. It provides recommendations for actions at the state level, such as implementing the Fostering Connections Act, ensuring housing is in transition plans, and building partnerships to create affordable housing opportunities.

1. Housing for Transition-Aged Youth
Washington, DC March 2013
Housing for Transition-Aged Youth
Washington, DC March 2013
Ruth White
National Center for Housing
and Child Welfare

2. The National Center for Housing and
Child Welfare (NCHCW)
 NCHCW links housing resources to
child welfare agencies to improve
family functioning, prevent family
homelessness, safely reduce the
need for out-of-home placement, and
ensure that each young person who
ages out foster care is able to access
safe, decent, permanent housing.
2

3. Disclaimer
No am o unt o f se rvice s o r ho using o f
any kind can re place the co nne ctio n
to a pe rm ane nt, lo ving fam ily in the
life o f a yo ung pe rso n.

4. AFCARS Data
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Year
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
Number of children in care
Number of youth emancipating
How Many Youth Age Out of Foster Care Each
Year?

5. How Many FFY Experience Homelessness?
• No national data on homelessness among transitioning
foster youth
• Homelessness is one of the outcomes states will be
required to report as part of the National Youth in
Transition Database (NYTD)
• Most of what we know about homelessness among this
population is based on survey data from a small number
of studies each of these is in a literature review recently
conducted by HUD. Housing for Youth Aging out of
Foster Care can be downloaded at: www.huduser.org

6. What does the existing research show?
• Foster Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study
(Courtney et al., 2001)
• Surveyed 113 young people 12 to 18 months after they had
aged out of foster care in Wisconsin
• 12% reported being homeless for at least one night within 12
months of aging out
• Youth Aging Out of Foster Care in Metropolitan
Detroit (Fowler et al., 2006)
• Surveyed 264 young people an average of 3.6 years after they
had aged out of foster care in the metropolitan Detroit area
• 17% reported being homelessness for an average of 61 days
• One-third had spent time doubled up or “couch surfing”

7. 2011 Study of Washington State Youth (Roller White, Gallegos,
O'Brien, Weisberg, Pecora & Medina (2011))
7
•542 foster care alumni (ages 19, 22, and 25 years old)
48% of the 1135 eligible alumni
•Received services from Casey Family Services for
•at least 12 months
•Of these youth 20% had been homeless since leaving
care
•Median length of homeless spell was 90 days

8.  Limits in the capacity and capabilities of Independent
Living Curricula.
 According to the NLIHC, in 2013, the housing wage for
an efficiency in Columbus, OH is $9.31, fulltime or
$19,365 annually.
 This full report is available at www.nlihc.org.
 Low-income housing agencies are blocking youth, ages
18-21 with juve nile records from applying.
 Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, MRDD and Mental
Health Systems are dropping 18 year olds due to budget
deficits.
What are unaccompanied youth
up against?

9. “Everyone is living in their parents’ basement”
 1. More “youth” in their 20s and 30s are still at home than at
any other time since the Great Depression.
 2. Average age of total financial independence was 26 in
2000.
 3. A majority of current college seniors are planning on
moving back home after graduation.
 4. Youth employment rate the lowest since 1940s.
 5. Many traditional entry-level jobs are now overseas. Many
entry-level jobs have no health insurance.
 7. Americans, 25-26, still get an average of $2,323 a year
from parents. One out of 8 Americans is getting food stamps.

10.  Implement the Fostering Connections Act
 Housing must be a central feature of your
state’s independent living curriculum.
 Ensure that your child welfare system
organizes a continuum of housing resources –
a BI-DIRECTIONAL CONTIUUM.
 Build statewide partnerships to create a range
of affordable housing opportunities.
 Tap new and unusual streams of funding.
What can be done at the state level
to address housing issues?

11. Planning for successful transition to
adulthood is now required by federal law
 The Fostering Connections to Success
and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
(P.L. 110-351) (FCSA) requires CWto
create a youth directed plan 90 days
prior to discharge.
 This plan MUST include housing.

12. Child Welfare has more housing expertise
than most systems
+2 Clear Strength Refers to family receiving very high ratings in the following
areas: housing stability, safety in the community, housing
habitability, income/employment, financial management, food
and nutrition, personal hygiene, transportation, and learning
environment.
0
Baseline/Adequate
Refers to family experiencing minimal problems in the following
areas: housing stability, safety in the community, housing
habitability, income/employment, financial management, food
and nutrition, personal hygiene, transportation, and learning
environment. However, problems do not interfere in family’s
ability to function, and problems do not need to be addressed.
-3 Serious
Problem
Refers to family receiving very low ratings in the following
areas: housing stability, safety in the community, housing
habitability, income/employment, financial management, food
and nutrition, personal hygiene, transportation, and learning
environment.
An excerpt from a common child welfare assessment form – “overall environment”

13. Knit funding streams together to maximize
time for youth to achieve self-sufficiency
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Independent Living
Family Foster
Care/Residential
Title IV-E
FUP for
youth
Regular Sec. 8
Other Subsidy
Roommate
Private Housing/LL
Age

14. States CanReceive IV-E Reimbursement for SIL
and other Age-Appropriate Placements for Youth
18-21
 Fostering Connections added “a
supervised setting in which the
individual is living independently” as a
reimbursable setting for youth 18-21. 42
U.S.C.A. 672 (c).
 As states implement the older youth
provisions of Fostering Connections,
they will need to expand their capacity
to provide SIL settings while youth are
still in care.

15. Federal Guidance on SIL
 The feds are not going to issue regulations on
this setting.
 States have “the discretion to develop a range
of supervised independent living settings
which can be reasonably interpreted as
consistent with the law, including whether or
not such settings need to be licensed and any
safety protocols that may be needed.”

16. Examples of SIL Provided by
HHS
 host homes,
 college dormitories,
 shared housing,
 semi-supervised apartments,
 supervised apartments

17. Federal Guidance Continued
 “We encourage the title IV-E agency to be
innovative in determining the best living
arrangements that could meet an olderchild's
needs forsupervision and support as he/she
moves toward independence.”
 “Further, we note that a title IV-E agency
should continue to work with youth who are in
supervised independent living settings to form
permanent connections with caring adults.”
Guidance on Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, Program Instruction
.

18. Leave no stone unturned when seeking
housing resources
This is just a partial list of housing resources you can
tap:
 ARRA Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-
Housing Program (HPRP)
 Community Action Programs (received $1 billion in
CSBG ARRA funds)
 HOME
 Low Income Housing Tax Credit
 City and State housing funds, SHFAs
 Private Landlords
 Public Housing Authorities – Section 8 and PH
 Family Unification Program

19.  Family Unification Program
 Priority Codes for Youth Leaving Care
 Housing Choice Vouchers
 Project Based Section 8
Partnerships with Public
Housing

20. Agency Partnership
Department of Children and
Families (child welfare)
Supportive Housing
(IL Program)
US Dept of Housing and Urban
Devt. (HUD)
Local
Public
Housing
Authority
(PHA)
Young person
Landlord
Funding and referrals
MOU
Housing assistance and
case management
Funding for
Sec. 8 vouchers
Pays rent on time
Issues
voucher to
youth
Pays rent on time
Info and
cooperation

21.  For the Community: it is the preferred
option and it’s cheaper: a 2004 cost
benefit analysis showed that it costs
Colorado $53,655 to maintain one
youth in the criminal justice system,
but it only costs the state $5,887 to
provide housing and services.
Making the Case…

22. Colorado State Example
 The Colorado Family Unification Program (FUP)
focuses on serving former foster care youth
experiencing homelessness. In 2001, the Colorado
Department of Human Services received 100 FUP
vouchers.
 These Section 8 vouchers last for 18 months and are
targeted specifically for youth ages 18–21 that leave
foster care at age 16 or older with inadequate
housing.
 Recently partnered with Mile High United Way to beef
up case management. Through this partnership,
youth have access to job training and IDAs!

23. City of Las Vegas PHA
Example
 As a proactive measure, the Housing
Authority of the City of Las Vegas created
a local waitlist preference to ensure when
its Housing Choice Voucher Wait list
opens, the first 10 eligible foster youth
through a referral system, receive
vouchers.
 With the success of the first ten youth, we
plan to increase this allocation each year.

24. • State-chartered authorities established to help meet the
affordable housing needs of the residents of their states.
Although they vary widely in characteristics such as their
relationship to state government, most HFAs are
independent entities that operate under the direction of a
board of directors appointed by each state's governor.
• State Housing Agencies administer a number of housing
funding streams, including HOME, Low Income Housing
Tax Credit and some homeless funds.
• More can be learned about State Housing Agencies at
www.ncsha.org.
State Housing Finance
Agencies

25.  The Home Investment Partnership Program is a
federal block grant that provides states with a
flexible affordable housing funding stream. This
money can be used to subsidize rent (best kept
secret of HOME!)
• States receive 40% of HOME dollars.
• Florida and California are just a few examples of
states where jurisdictions are using these funds
to subsidize rent for youth leaving foster care.
HOME Program

26. .
The LIHTC was established in 1986 in order to
encourage the construction and rehabilitation of
rental housing affordable to low income
households.
LIHTC offers a reduction in tax liability or credit to
developers or owners for the first ten years.
These properties can be used for youth and often
are, however there are some restrictions that affect
foster youth.
Low Income Housing Tax Credit
Program

27. What about federal homeless assistance
programs?
 Change in Definition
 In December 2011, HUD changed its
definition of homelessness to include all youth
under the age of 25 who are considered
homeless by several other federal statutes.
 HUD acknowledges that this group of
individuals is “uniquely vulnerable.” By adding
them to this definition, HUD makes them
eligible for HUD services.

28. Opportunities for Prevention
 The HEARTH Act funding now allows for
rapid-rehousing and prevention through the
newly formed Emergency Solutions Grant.
 This funding could be used for
unaccompanied youth to shorten shelter stays
or for prevention.

29. Capturing the scope of youth
homelessness
 Each year, HUD asks communities to conduct a
point in time (P.I.T.) of all homeless individuals
and families in each HUD-funded community.
Because HUD has added unaccompanied youth
to their definition, HUD will require communities
to include unaccompanied youth in their
accounting.
 As such, in 2012, HUD will provide an estimate
of youth homelessness to Congress for the first
time since national homeless figures have been
calculated.

30. What should CW be doing on
housing for families?
 Train cw workers on housing issues and resources.
 Consider instituting “Alternative” or “Differential Response”
 Partner with local housers – like PHAs, HFAs and private
non-profit developers
 Set up a local Family Unification Program
 Apply for a Title IV-E waiver
30

31.  Pay a visit to the states that have made
strides, learn from their mistakes and
achievements.
 States can use some homeless services
and housing dollars for youth, but again,
there are restrictions.
 Collaborations are the fastest, most
efficient way to create a range of housing
options.
 Join your community continuum care
Some final thoughts on where to
start

32. Contact information
 Ruth White, MSSA
Executive Director
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare
6711 Queens Chapel Rd
University Park, MD 20782
(301) 699-0151
rwhite@nchcw.org
www.nchcw.org