Young people leaving foster care, juvenile detention, behavioral health facilities, and other public systems of care face a heightened risk of homelessness, especially in the months following their exit. Black, Indigenous, and other young people of color and LGBTQIA2S+ young people are disproportionately represented among those who exit into homelessness.
In 2018, Washington set a goal that no young person should exit a publicly funded system of care into homelessness. That commitment led to the Youth Diversion Infrastructure Project (YDIP), administered by Building Changes in partnership with the Department of Commerce’s Office of Homeless Youth. After more than three years, we’re bringing what we learned into the next iteration: InvestYES, or Investing in Youth Exiting Systems.
What We Learned from YDIP
YDIP gave young people flexibility to find housing that worked for them and allowed them to get help through community organizations they already trusted. Those are important parts of YDIP that we want to keep.
We also saw room for improvement. Young people sometimes connected to YDIP well after leaving a system of care, and partners in child welfare, legal, and behavioral health systems weren’t always familiar with the program or how to refer them. And because YDIP focused on one-time payments to address immediate housing barriers, it didn’t address other needs that can come up over the following months, from education and employment to basic needs and community connections.
What Will Be Different
InvestYES is designed to connect with young people earlier and stay with them longer. Young people can connect to the program within 90 days of exiting a system of care, and we’re strengthening links between those systems and community organizations so young people have a clearer path.
Flexible funds will still be available to address immediate barriers to a housing plan. Participants can also receive a stipend of $750 per month for up to 12 months while continuing to work with trusted community partners on goals they set for themselves, whether that’s housing, education, employment, or other needs.
What Comes Next
InvestYES launches this fall. Fiscal Administrators will manage funding across three regions, and we’ll work with them to identify Regional Partners who already have relationships with young people and systems of care.
The program will serve young people under 25 experiencing homelessness or housing instability who are within 90 days of exiting, or having exited, a publicly funded system of care. This includes foster care, juvenile and adult correctional facilities, and inpatient behavioral health, psychiatric, and substance use disorder facilities.
As InvestYES gets underway, we’ll keep listening to young people and community partners and adjust based on what we hear. Our goal is to help young people find and keep housing as they leave systems of care, while supporting the other needs that come with that transition.
