Through the Youth Diversion Infrastructure Project (YDIP), Building Changes and A Way Home Washington are partnering to reduce homelessness for young people exiting child welfare or foster care systems, juvenile detention and rehabilitation centers, behavioral health facilities, and other publicly funded systems of care. Funding for the project comes through a grant from the state Office of Homeless Youth made possible by House Bill 1905. An important win during the 2022 state legislative session, House Bill 1905 bolsters Washington’s commitment to ensuring that no young person exits a publicly funded system of care into homelessness.
YDIP consists of flexible funding and Diversion supports to help young people secure safe housing. Flexible funding can be used to help young people cover housing expenses such as application fees, security deposits, rent, utility assistance, and eviction prevention. Diversion is an approach that utilizes creative problem-solving conversations to generate person-centered housing solutions and includes flexible funding to make those solutions happen, when needed.
Providers—including homeless youth services providers, school McKinney-Vento liaisons, behavioral health providers, and tribes and native-led organizations—can obtain flexible funding for eligible young people they serve through YDIP “fiscal administrators” in five communities across the state:
- Comprehensive Life Resources in Pierce County
- Council for the Homeless in Clark County
- Yakima Neighborhood Health Services in Yakima County
- Blue Mountain Community Foundation/Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington in Walla Walla County
- Volunteers of America in Spokane County
Building Changes manages and supports YDIP fiscal administrators, and A Way Home Washington provides Diversion training and overall technical support for project participants.
Download the project overview to learn more about how YDIP works, including eligibility requirements and key contacts.
