From foster care to secure housing: How vouchers help young adults build self-sufficiency
Jonathan Bonilla, then 20, sits down in Massachusetts' first transitioning home for young adults transferring out of foster care on December 19, 2013. Photo by MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
While some first-time renters rush to thrift stores to find eclectic pieces to decorate their new apartments, for adolescents leaving the foster system, the experience of moving out is often much bleaker.
The number of adults living at home is at an all-time high, with about 45% of people ages 18 to 29 reporting they stay at their parents’ home largely because the nationwide affordable housing shortage makes it too expensive for many young adults to move out. It’s a workable solution for many—particularly those who don’t mind hanging out with mom and dad. But for the more than 20,000 adolescents transitioning out of foster care annually, it’s a different story.
“[T]he affordable housing crisis is having a huge impact on young adults nationally—leading to many staying with their family of origin for a longer period of time, as a safety net and/or to build up savings,” Sharon McDonald, senior advisor to the chief policy officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said in an email to Route Fifty. And when they are ready to leave the nest, “they often have help with that first apartment, including help with security deposit, rent and accessing furniture.”
But adolescents leaving foster care, generally from ages 18 to 21, “typically don’t have this luxury, so the challenges they face are often without the back-up that other young adults may have, and the consequences thus are more severe,” she said. A missed rent payment, for example, can push a former foster kid into homelessness.
And that’s happening more frequently. A 2021 analysis of adolescents who were surveyed at age 17, 19 and 21 found that homelessness among those transitioning out of the foster system was greater among older survey respondents. Twenty-one percent of respondents aged 17 reported they were homeless at one point during their life, and for those who were 21, 26% said they were unhoused in the last two years.
Part of the reason former foster children end up homeless may be that they are less likely to have credit or tenancy histories that could otherwise help them secure housing in a market that often discriminates against younger and low-income individuals, McDonald said.
But housing assistance is not reaching enough of these adolescents. Of the 21-year-old respondents, only 10% reported they received housing assistance, and only 6% of 19 year olds said they received public housing assistance.
“Currently, youth who transition out of foster care are far more likely to experience homelessness than receive public housing support,” McDonald said.
To mitigate the risk of homelessness for vulnerable young adults, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is looking to equip public housing agencies with housing choice vouchers to help young people aging out of the foster system pay for a place to live. Its Foster Youth to Independence, or FYI, initiative will award $12.7 million to PHAs for vouchers, and applicants can receive as much as $1.7 million.
The housing vouchers aim to aid youths aged 18 to 24 who left foster care or will leave foster care within 90 days and are at risk of homelessness. The vouchers are valid for up to 36 months but may be extended.
To be eligible for the funding, PHAs must partner with public child welfare agencies and already administer the housing choice voucher program. Under the FYI initiative, child welfare agencies are also required to provide young adults supportive services to build their self-sufficiency. Services can include life skills training, housing counseling and education and career advancement resources. HUD also encourages housing agencies to partner with additional organizations such as local continuums of care or faith-based organizations.
The housing assistance program creates a “safety net” for young adults experiencing unemployment or job loss, McDonald said. It also allows them to participate in education and training opportunities while keeping rent affordable. Plus, it can help individuals take their first steps to find better housing options because the vouchers give them more financial freedom.
“Housing navigation support, case management support, and help building [a] support network of caring adults can all bolster youths’ success,” McDonald said. “Those without vouchers have these same challenges, but it is so much harder without the promise of affordable housing.”
Public housing agencies can apply here. The deadline is June 17.
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