Reform Efforts
Long-Term Housing Reform Efforts
The homelessness response and affordable housing systems have attempted several reform efforts to increase youth’s access to housing assistance, including family-based services to ensure family reunification and preservation as a long-term housing option. These efforts have led to thousands of youth being housed in rental assistance, public housing, voucher programs, and through family reunification and preservation (birth and chosen). However, these efforts have not led to the housing at the scale that is needed, provided the full array of housing options youth are seeking, reduced all the barriers to accessing housing assistance, or offered the full flexibility needed to support long term family preservation and reunification.
Example of Long-Term Housing Reforms
Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) a federal grant program that has led to the creation of hundreds of new dedicated housing units; long-term, family-based services for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness to ensure family reunification and preservation; and community-wide and cross-systems planning to address the needs of youth and young adults. The program still operates within a system that is actively causing harm to young people and is not funded to, nor do the regulations governing the program allow communities to serve all young people experiencing homelessness.
Time-limited housing, including Transitional Living Programs (TLP) and other transitional and bridge housing programs. Programs around the country have worked to increase the support that bridge youth to long-term housing. These efforts include giving youth choice in the types of housing they live in, including living with roommates, in their own apartment or in group settings; transitioning leases to youth to ensure they can remain in a unit after the program ends; and implementing youth-led case planning that helps to ensure that no young person exits from time-limited housing to homelessness. These programs still operate within a system that is actively causing harm to young people and is not funded to, nor do the regulations governing the programs allow communities to serve all young people experiencing homelessness. There are also very few time-limited housing programs that are operating with these types of reform efforts.
Family Unification Program (FUP) and Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) housing vouchers for youth and young adults. There is a dedicated, but limited, set of federal housing choice vouchers for youth and young adults with a child welfare history. There are still far too few vouchers available to meet the need, the vouchers lack adequate access to supportive services, and are only available to youth who have been involved in the child welfare system.
Public Housing Authority preferences for youth and young adults on public housing and voucher waiting lists. Some communities are giving priority to young people on their local housing authority waiting lists. Limited amounts of PHAs are using this method and waiting times to receive housing support are often years long.
City, state, and federal tax incentive programs for affordable housing developers to rehab or build new affordable housing units for people experiencing homelessness. These tax credit programs are limited and do not lead to production at the scale needed or at the speed in which they are needed. They also often do not lead to production at the affordability levels needed, as they are developed through the private market with developers who still need to make a profit off of the production of the units, and with landlords, many who still discriminate against youth.