Transcript The Family Unification Program

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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
The National Center for Housing and
Child Welfare (NCHCW)
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
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.
What is the scope of the problem?
AFCARS Data
600,000
35,000
30,000
500,000
25,000
400,000
20,000
300,000
15,000
200,000
Number of children in care
10,000
Number of youth emancipating
100,000
5,000
0
0
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Housing Matters
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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).
Housing is Cost-Effective
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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
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"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)
State and Local Child Welfare Funding
for Housing
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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 Governor’s 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.
Federal child welfare funding for
housing
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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

Knit funding streams together to maximize time for youth to
prevent homelessness and achieve self-sufficiency
Age
16
17
18
19
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Independent Living
Title IV-E
Family Foster
Care/Residential
Unaccompanied/
Homeless youth
FUP for
youth
Title IV-E can be
used to subsidize
rent.
Regular Sec. 8
Other Subsidy
Perm Supp Hsg
Roommate
Private Housing/LL
States must use available flexibility to
free up funds for housing
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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.
Housing Resources
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A partial list of housing funding sources coupled with child
welfare:
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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
What is the Family Unification Program
(FUP)?
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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
Family/Young Person
Housing search
assistance and
case management
Supportive Housing/
IL Program
Issues
voucher to
household
Pays approx.
30% of income
as rent to
landlord
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, 2008
Landlord
Local Public
Housing
Authority
(PHA)
Pays HAP
rent on time
to landlord,
HQS
inspection
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.
City of Las Vegas: setting local
Section 8 priorities.
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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.
Colorado State: Using IDAs to
support youth success
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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 18–21 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
New Jersey Example
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Homeownership for Adopting Families
NJHMFA'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.
Florida Example: Using the
HOME Program
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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.
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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.
What Services are needed to support
FUP families?
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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.
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
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Ruth White, MSSA
Executive Director
National Center for Housing and Child Welfare
4707 Calvert Road
College Park, MD 20740
(301) 699-0151
[email protected]
www.nchcw.org