The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, recently published a literature review on housing needs and outcomes common among youth who age out of foster care. These youth face unique housing challenges; they often quickly transition from being dependents of the State to being independent young adults. Because of these fast transitions, many have difficulties finding and maintaining suitable housing, and they often have little to no support from family members or the State. The review gives a detailed summary of the issue and focuses on programmatic initiatives geared toward tackling the problem. Link to Literature Review
Tag Archives: housing
Chafee Housing Funds for Youth
A new report prepared by the Urban Institute and funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) explores States’ use of Chafee Foster Care Independence Program funds for housing for transitioning youth. Chafee provides $140 million annually for Independent Living services for youth exiting foster care. States are permitted to use up to 30 percent of their respective Chafee allocations to meet the housing needs of youth after they leave care. The report examines how States use these funds, in addition to other State and Federal funding sources, to provide housing to this population. Link to pdf Report
Aging out of Foster Care: Important Information for Teens
Children’s Law Center, Washington DC: List steps that youth aging out need to take to successfully age out of care. Some resources are D.C. specific but the action steps listed have general applicability. Link to Information Sheet
Keeping Families Together Matters: An Introduction to Creating Supportive Housing for Child Welfare-Involved Families
2012, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Keeping Families Together was designed to address the needs of the most vulnerable families. The model shows real promise in preventing child welfare involvement and reuniting children with their families in a safe, stable environment.
The Keeping Families Together innovative supportive housing approach combines affordable housing with customized case management services. By leveraging the collaboration of a number of city agencies, the program helps families overcome the bureaucratic hurdles that can arise when trying to navigate these services on their own. The Keeping Families Together pilot achieved promising outcomes for high-need families (see the Metis Evaluation report found at http://www.csh.org/resources/keeping-families-together-guidebook). Although the model is not yet considered evidence-based, CSH attributes much of the success of the pilot to its five core components and recommends that any community wishing to initiate a similar project incorporate them. Link to KFT Guidebook