By Sarah Phillips, MSW, LCSW-A
In the fall 2023 issue of Fostering Perspectives, I asked you to think back to your 18th birthday and remember at that point you likely hadn’t developed the skills you needed to be completely self-sufficient. Hopefully you also had the realization that you needed opportunities to build those skills early in adolescence.
Now, imagine you’ve just turned 21. Finally! But now that you’re 21, the support you’ve received from DSS has ended. Your social worker may be there to celebrate, but otherwise, now that you’ve had these three extra years in care, you’ve been able to learn everything you need to be completely self-sufficient, right?
If we think that’s the case, then we continue to expect more from a demographic we know has experienced trauma and less support than we expect from their non-system involved peers. A recent study released by Pew Center for Research identified that “More young adults today live with their parents than in the past. Among those 18 to 24, 57% are living in a parent’s home, compared with 53% in 1993” (Pew Research Center, 2024). The Maryland Population Research Center confirms this finding, while also noting young adults are more financially dependent on their parents now than they were fifty years ago (Kahn, J.R., Goldscheider, F. & García-Manglano, J.Growing, 2013).
Young adults in North Carolina who age out of foster care can participate in Foster Care 18-21, the voluntary extended foster care program. However, the National Foster Youth Institute identified that “an average of one out every four youth in foster care will become homeless within four years of aging out of foster care” (National Foster Youth Institute, 2024). While extended foster care programs are beneficial to young adults on their journey to self-sufficiency, continued services and supports may be needed to ensure that young adults can transition to their own cultivated support system in times of need.
Housing is one way that young adults can continue to receive support. Access to safe and stable housing provides stability, physical protection, improved psychological well-being, access to services, and expanded community support. To address this gap and prevent homelessness, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched several programs to specifically support child-welfare involved families and young adults.
In 1990, the Family Unification Program (FUP) was launched. This federal program allows local housing authorities to receive housing choice vouchers (HCV) for families as they reunify. These vouchers are also available for young adults as they age out of foster care. However, this program is competitive, meaning each housing authority is required to submit an in-depth application and maintain the staffing necessary to implement the program.
The Fostering Stable Housing Coalition (a group led by ACTION Ohio) advocated to HUD the need to improve program timing and access, specifically for young adults who age out of care. Their advocacy led to the creation of Foster Youth to Independence Initiative (FYI), an initiative that was codified in the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act (FSHO, 2021). With FYI, local housing authorities can directly request a time limited HCV from HUD for young adults who age out of foster care. The local public housing authority (PHA) can directly request vouchers for up to 25 young adults in a non-competitive manner. The benefit to requesting vouchers on an individual basis ensures that timing aligns best with a young adult’s plan.
Housing is not the only necessity on the journey to self-sufficiency. To ensure that these young adults can access support, the local public child welfare agency (in NC, this is DSS) is responsible for ensuring the young person can access support for educational and employment skills. While funding sources are capped at 21, NCDSS encourages local DSS to collaborate with local independent living services or connect to their local NCWorks NextGen to ensure young adults are integrated into existing available community supports.
To participate in this program, young adults must be at least 18 years old and not older than 24, must have left foster care or plan to leave foster care within 90 days, and must have been homeless or have been at risk of being homeless at age 16+.
Federal ruling decrees an individual cannot be a recipient of Foster Care 18-21 and an FYI housing choice voucher at the same time. For this reason, it is best to view this as a part of the continuum of support accessible to young adults. While a young adult does not have to use FYI at 21; they are able to return until their 25th birthday to connect to FYI. As this is a federal program, young adults can also connect to FYI in another state.
Young adults can use the HCV for any unit that will accept it. However, many young adults are finding it difficult to find a willing landlord to accept the HCV. In the meantime, there are additional actions that can help to expand FYI:
- If your local public housing authority does not already use FYI, advocate to your local child welfare agency and the housing authority’s board of commissioners to lay the groundwork to begin a partnership. This can start with the housing authority changing their administrative plan to ensure this demographic is prioritized.
- If you or anyone you know is a private landlord, advocate for the acceptance of the HCV.
- If you are currently a foster parent to a young adult, consider writing them a letter of recommendation. If you are charging them monthly rent, even if it is a nominal amount, this speaks to their ability to regularly pay and how they function as a member of the small community that is your household.
Additional information about this program can be found at https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/fyi.
In February 2024, NCDSS partnered with Rapid Resources for Families to host an event for local child welfare social workers to learn more about how to implement the program in their area. For a copy of the recording of this event, please reach out to Sarah Phillips at [email protected].
Housing is an important component of being self-sufficient as there are many decisions to be made. Just a few of these decisions include how to decorate, how to set up a working kitchen, and who you will allow in your home. Having a space to call your own provides young adults with the sense of empowerment and confidence to manage the changes life will bring them.
Sarah Phillips MSW, LCSW-A is the Foster Care 18-21 State Coordinator with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
