California commits to long-term solutions with $56M for young people at risk of losing housing
Sacramento, California – California is making another big investment in local governments to help them reduce youth homelessness. On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom and the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) said that $56 million will be given to counties to help young people who are at danger of becoming homeless. These new awards will go to 52 counties and are meant to help young adults who are leaving foster care or probation find stable housing and get the resources they need.
The state’s latest investment comes as California continues to make gradual progress in reducing homelessness among young people. State officials say that last year, California saw a drop in youth homelessness and a smaller rise in unsheltered homelessness than most other states. Some of that progress is due to initiatives aimed at helping young people who are leaving the foster care system, a group that is especially at risk of losing secure housing.
There are around 10,000 young people in California who aged out of foster care at 18 or older. About 3,000 more join them each year. There is a lot of information about the problems these young people have. A lot of people have trouble finding a safe place to live, and studies suggest that teens who leave the foster care or probation system are much more likely to become homeless than their classmates.
In fact, almost 10% of the state’s homeless people are young people who are 24 years old or younger and are not with anyone. For a lot of people, having uncertain housing makes it hard to continue their education.
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The state’s Transitional Age Youth (TAY) programs help solve this problem by giving young people a place to live and other resources. The increased funding includes $33.3 million for the Transitional Housing Program (THP), which helps young adults find and keep housing with the aid of county agencies.
The Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program (HNMP) will get another $13.7 million. This program is meant to teach social workers and probation officers how to help young people find housing options better. The Transitional Housing Plus Housing Supplement Program (THP-SUP) will give a total of $9 million to six counties with the highest rental expenses. This money will help young adults who have aged out of foster care even more.
Officials from the state stressed that these grants are based on local need. Counties get money based on how many youngsters leave foster care or probation. Most of the counties that were eligible accepted the prizes, but a handful did not because they didn’t have enough cases or staff. Any funds that are turned down will be sent to counties that need them more.
These state programs have helped more than 14,000 young adults find housing and get the resources they need since 2020. The most recent statistics reveals that the number of young adults who are homeless is steadily going down. The Point in Time Count went from more than 11,000 in 2020 to just over 8,500 in 2024.
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Officials argue that California’s most vulnerable young people need to keep getting money and work closely with the state and counties to keep this momentum going and give them a real opportunity at independence and stability.
