Office of Homeless Youth. In 2015, the Legislature created the Office of Homeless Youth Prevention and Protection Programs (OHY) within the Department of Commerce. OHY provides services for youth and young adults, including through the Independent Youth Housing Program (IYHP), street youth services, HOPE Centers, and crisis residential centers.
Independent Youth Housing Program. Created by the Legislature in 2007, IYHP provides rental assistance and case management services, through five contracted agencies located throughout the state, to eligible youth who have aged out of the Washington State foster care system. IYHP goals are to ensure all youth exiting the state dependency system have a decent, appropriate, and affordable home in a healthy, safe environment to prevent youth from experiencing homelessness, and to reduce the percentage of young people eligible for state assistance upon exiting the state dependency system.
Foster youth are eligible under the program if they are 18 years of age or older, were a dependent of the state within four months of their 18th birthday, have not yet reached the age of 23, and are a Washington resident. Priority under IYHP is given to youth who were dependents of the state for at least one year. Youth participating in extended foster care are only eligible to receive IYHP services once they exit extended foster care.
Youth may receive the following services under IYHP:
Other IYHP requirements include:
Extended Foster Care. The extended foster care (EFC) program provides an opportunity for youth who were a dependent of Washington State at age 18 to voluntarily agree to continue receiving foster care services, including placement services, while working on their goals towards independence.
The youth's dependency action will continue if they elect to participate in the program on their 18th birthday. Eligible youth who do not elect to participate in the EFC program on their 18th birthday will have until their 21st birthday to voluntarily request to participate in the EFC program. Eligible youth may enter and exit the program as needed between the ages of 18 and 21 years old.
EFC services may include:
Eligibility requirements under IYHP are expanded to include youth who were formerly dependent at any time before their 18th birthday and up to the age of 25, and youth who are also receiving extended foster care services.
PRO: Research supports that foster care and homelessness are linked. The bill is intended to prevent further homelessness, ensure access to safe and stable housing, and provide stability for foster youth to focus on their education, maintain a job, and thrive in adulthood. Some foster youth have nowhere to go after services end even after reunification or adoption, especially failed adoptions. Failed adoptions of young adults are unfortunate, especially when entering young adulthood. Service providers struggle to find resources needed for foster youth. There is a constant threat of discontinuation of support, which is not unique to foster youth. Young adults navigating resources encounter little options, especially around housing, when support is needed. One in three youth who are in foster care in Washington experience housing instability within one year of removal from services. The bill represents an important strategy for the state to meet its goal of preventing youth from exiting public systems of care into homelessness and into safe and stable housing. IYHP is a beacon of success and hope for all dependent youth experiencing homelessness. All systems designed to help youth have led to detriments in housing stability, including foster care, juvenile justice, and behavioral health systems. Changes to eligibility align with other OHY programs. Families often reunify more often if young adults are able to thrive, become more mature, and learn other life skills. Rental assistance provided under IYHP helps foster youth with burden of paying high rental rates in current market and to build up a strong rental history. Allowing youth receiving EFC services to enter IYHP prevents them having to decide between the two programs, including preventing a loss of state social worker supports. Some youth do not have strong connections with their biological family, making the transition to adulthood difficult to navigate. Medicaid funding cannot be used to cover rent and other services covered by IYHP. IYHP provides basic skills necessary to manage adult life, specifically including individualized case management, access to housing specialists, and help with money management and preemployment skills. Many foster youth choose EFC services and its stipend over IYHP services. The bill eliminates unnecessary limitations as young adults are shouldering the biggest burdens of the pandemic, especially with housing security.
PRO: This is agency request legislation from the Office of Homeless Youth that will help ensure young people will have safe and stable housing. Nationally, 51 percent of homeless adults have spent some time in foster care and in Washington, 1 in 3 youths will experience homelessness within one year of exiting foster care. Programs like the Independent Youth Housing program that address housing instability for young people help prevent chronic homelessness.
Many youth are experiencing homelessness and this bill gives them a chance to be productive members of society by investing in themselves and working towards becoming independent. This program guides and supports youth while they do the work to understand how to survive in the adult word. Currently when you turn 18, you have to make a decision of what program to enter. If I had been able to enroll in independent youth housing as well as extended foster care I would not have had to live in my car.
This program is a stepping stone between dependence and independence and allows space for youth to practice their newly acquired independent living skills with support from their housing specialist. There have been several cost-benefit analyses that have been done that show investing in programs, like the independent youth housing program, actually create a savings for governments. Since starting the program, only one youth entering the program has entered into homelessness.