Ensuring youth transitioning out of foster care have access to housing programs that prepare them for independence is critical, as losing housing at a young age increases the chances of remaining unhoused as an adult by five times and can span over decades or even their entire lives. In California, within 18 months of aging out, 12% of former foster youth experience homelessness and within 36 months that figure increases to over 24%. However, California has several transitional housing program options for transition aged youth with vacancies so we spent the last year studying county to county differences in program utilization in order to provide recommendations for maximizing available housing and program opportunities. This workshop will share our findings and barriers, but also highlight bright spot solutions that can improve not only the outcomes for California's youth but former foster youth across the nation. We will also share the 6 recommendations offered by our Thriving into Adulthood project, that engaged over 160 transition-aged former foster youth (TAY) over the last 2 years. One of these recommendations became CA Assembly Bill 2802 that has recently passed the final Senate floor vote and is awaiting the Governor's signature. This bill would also expand capacity for housing TAY by allowing youth and providers together to decide on safe housing opportunities vs. identifying slots by gender. We discovered in our research that in areas where transitional housing program slots were divided by gender, male slots were often full while female slots remained empty, siblings who desired to live together but are different genders were unable to share housing, and co-parents wishing to remain together as a family and LGBTQ+ youth were also lacking opportunities. Through the partnership of former foster youth, we are excited not only that we were able to provide meaningful research and recommendations, but that we have one that is about to be signed into law and another that we hope to bring into the next legislative cycle!
Objectives
Identify at least 3 ways vacancies can be minimized and secure more stable flow of housing opportunities for transition aged youth.
Name at least 3 ways programs can honor the balance between independence and support critical to the pathway to adulthood for this age group.
Identify at least 3 bright spot examples that may be transferrable methods for other existing programs serving the transition aged youth population.
Content: 3 modules
Course Length: 2 hours
Level: Intermediate