Housing Solutions for Child Welfare Families and Youth innovative approaches to Serving Special populations

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Housing Solutions for Child Welfare Families
and Youth innovative approaches to Serving
Special populations
NCSHA 2014

• Housing Solutions for Child Welfare Youth and
  Families
• Ruth Anne White, National Center for Housing and
  Child Welfare

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The National Center for Housing and Child Welfare
(NCHCW)

• NCHCW links housing and child welfare resources
  in order to improve family functioning, prevent
  family homelessness, safely reduce the need for
  out-of-home placement, and ensure that each young
  person who ages out foster care is able to access
  safe, decent, permanent housing.

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What is the scope of the problem?
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Housing Matters

• Housing affects families at each decision point
  in the child welfare continuum. Children from
  families with housing problems are
• More likely to be investigated by CPS (Culhane et
  al, 2004)
• More likely to be placed in out-of-home care
  (Courtney et al, 2004)
• Longer stayers in foster care (Jones, 1998)
• Thirty percent of children in foster care are
  there because of housing problems (Doerre
  Mihaly, 1996 Hagedorn, 1995 Thoma, 1998).
• Housing poses a special challenge for which cw
  workers are uniquely ill-equipped (English,
  2005).

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Housing is Cost-Effective

• A 15 million investment in housing subsidies
  means that more than 9,000 children can return
  home. This will result in a savings of 101
  million in foster care expenditures. (Harburger
  and White, 2004). (or 56, 892 per family)
• It costs 53,500 to serve a homeless young person
  on the street or in residential treatment but
  supportive housing for one young person costs
  only 5,300. (Van Leeuwen, 2004).

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Housing is a smart investment

• "If we can invest resources that we now spend to
  have kids in foster care to help stabilize their
  families so that they can take care of their own
  kids, that would be better for the kids, better
  for the families, and better for the
  child-welfare system," Donald says. "The system's
  past failures are not due to lack of resources.
  They really are not. And that definitely includes
  Baltimore City." Instead, she says resources have
  been poorly allocated. It is cheaper to provide
  services for families than to house kids in group
  homes, which can cost the system 72,000 a year
  per child. (MD DHR Secretary Brenda Donald, June
  10, 2009, Baltimore City Paper)

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State and Local Child Welfare Funding for Housing

• Local child welfare dollars are flexible and what
  they can be used for is at the discretion of the
  local administrator.
• State child welfare dollars are also flexible,
  and again, these funds are distributed at the
  discretion of the state child welfare leaders,
  state budget director and Governors office. In
  Connecticut, for example, state child welfare
  dollars are used to provide bridge subsidies for
  housing in lieu of Section 8 funding for hundreds
  of families. This has been the case for over a
  decade.

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Federal child welfare funding for housing

• Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program
• CAPTA
• TANF
• Social Services Block Grant
• Medicaid Targeted Case Management Funding
• States that currently have a Title IV-E waiver
  may be able to subsidize housing
• States can institute DIFFERENTIAL REPONSE

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Knit funding streams together to maximize time
for youth to prevent homelessness and achieve
self-sufficiency
Age
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Independent Living
Title IV-E
Family Foster Care/Residential Unaccompanied/ Hom
eless youth
FUP for youth
Regular Sec. 8 Other Subsidy Perm Supp
Hsg Roommate Private Housing/LL
Title IV-E can be used to subsidize rent.
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States must use available flexibility to free up
funds for housing

• Independent Living funds (Chafee) can and
  should be used for housing.
• States have considerable flexibility on the use
  of Title IV-E funds for this population. They
  must be encouraged to use it for housing.
• The way that state and county child welfare
  dollars are spent is dictated by state and local
  governments. They must be encouraged to use this
  funding for housing.

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Housing Resources
A partial list of housing funding sources coupled
with child welfare

• Family Unification Program
• Public Housing Authorities Section 8, PH, PBVs
• Low Income Housing Tax Credit
• HOME
• City and State housing funds, SHFAs
• Private Landlords
• Private Philanthropy

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What is the Family Unification Program (FUP)?

• FUP is a housing program for families and
  aging-out youth in the child welfare system. At
  minimum, FUP provides Section 8 vouchers to child
  welfare families.
• FUP is a local level collaboration between
  Housing Authorities and Child Welfare Agencies.
• FUP is designed to strengthen and stabilize
  families and assist aging out youth reach
  independence.

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FUP Partnerships
US Dept of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Department of Children and Families (child
welfare)
Funding for Sec. 8 vouchers
MOU
Certifies eligibility
Funding and referrals
Local Public Housing Authority (PHA)
Family/Young Person
Issues voucher to household
Housing search assistance and case management
Pays approx. 30 of income as rent to landlord
Pays HAP rent on time to landlord, HQS inspection
Supportive Housing/ IL Program
Landlord
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New York City Example Coupling Section 8
eligibility and the LIHTC

• The LIHTC was established in 1986 in order to
  encourage the construction and rehabilitation of
  rental housing affordable to low income
  households.
• NYCHA and ACS have been at the forefront of
  creating local priority codes for FUP eligible
  households and then using that status to leverage
  private dollars and developers in order to free
  up units for youth leaving foster care.

.
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City of Las Vegas setting local Section 8
priorities.

• The Housing Authority of the City of Las Vegas
  partnered with DSS and created a local waitlist
  preference for Housing Choice Vouchers. When a
  voucher becomes available, eligible foster youth
  through a referral from DSS, receives a voucher
  plus services.

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Colorado State Using IDAs to support youth
success

• The Colorado Family Unification Program (FUP)
  focuses on serving former foster care youth
  experiencing homelessness. In 2001, the Colorado
  Department of Human Services received 100 FUP
  vouchers.
• These Section 8 vouchers last for 18 months and
  are targeted specifically for youth ages 1821
  that leave foster care at age 16 or older with
  inadequate housing.
• Recently partnered with Mile High United Way to
  beef up case management. Through this
  partnership, youth have access to job training
  and IDAs

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New Jersey Example

• Homeownership for Adopting FamiliesNJHMFA's
  award-winning Home Ownership for Permanency
  Program provides home ownership mortgage loans to
  families that are newly adopting or making a
  permanent commitment through kinship legal
  guardianship for a child through the Department
  of Human Services, Division of Youth and Family
  Services, or a state-licensed adoption agency.
• NJHMFA also administered affordable housing for
  former foster youth.

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Florida Example Using the HOME Program

• Jeb Bush, when Governor, used his discretion to
  set aside 5 of HOME funds to subsidize rent for
  youth participating in the Road to Independence
  Program. leaving foster care.
• Florida also made use of LIHTCs for youth and
  helped to interpret complex eligibility rules and
  exclusions for this population. The Carlisle
  Development Group developed housing for youth.

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What Services are needed to support FUP families?

• Service needs are determined on a case by case
  basis
• HUD and CWLA suggest at least 60-90 days of
  follow-up services. NCHCW recommends access to
  support for up to two years post lease-up.
• Most common services
• on-going case management
• family counseling, parenting classes
• drug and alcohol treatment
• budgeting

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What kind of services can be expected for youth?

• FUP requires that sites make available (or have
  the capacity to provide) the following services
  for youth
• crisis intervention
• case management/counseling
• childcare
• adult education
• life skills
• parenting skill training
• vocational training
• mental and physical health care
• substance abuse treatment and,
• client advocacy.

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Some final thoughts on where to start

• Pay a visit to the states that have made strides,
  learn from their mistakes and achievements.
• States can use homeless services and housing
  dollars for youth but these young people are
  entitled to Title IV-E protection and funding
• Collaborations are the fastest, most efficient
  way to create a range of housing options.
• Urge child welfare agencies to contribute
  financially to housing costs for families but
  CWAs will never replace housers such as the PHA.

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Contact information

• Ruth White, MSSA
• Executive Director
• National Center for Housing and Child Welfare
• 4707 Calvert Road
• College Park, MD 20740
• [phone]
• rwhite_at_nchcw.org
• www.nchcw.org