Foster Youth Housing Vouchers Are An Underused Safety Net

Millions in housing vouchers aimed at supporting youth aging out of foster care have gone unclaimed leaving this population at heightened risk for trafficking and exploitation.

The Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) voucher, established in 2019, offers rental vouchers to youth ages 18-24 and who have recently left foster care or will leave soon and are homeless or at risk of homelessness.  Unlike traditional Section 8 vouchers, FYI vouchers are available on-demand, without the long waiting lists. These vouchers provide rental assistance for 36 months, with extensions available for an additional 24 months.

Despite a national housing crisis, however, a review by HUD’s Office of Inspector General found that only about 31% of available FYI vouchers were in use. The remaining 69% went undrawn.

Why are FYI Vouchers being Underutilized?

Underutilization of vouchers is happening for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, lack of awareness of these vouchers’ existence among frontline child welfare workers and child advocates and limited participation in the program among certain counties and their local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs).

In addition, according to Ruth White, who directs the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, language in the law is “being misread to mean that foster youth must be homeless, unemployed, or already in crisis to qualify, turning a prevention program into a failure requirement.” Similarly, some jurisdictions have misinterpreted the law to require that youth participate in a Family Self-Sufficiency program which is not required for the initial 36-month voucher. In practice, these requirements can delay assistance until after a young person has already lost stable housing, the point at which risk is highest, or prevent the procurement of FYI vouchers altogether.

A bipartisan fix before Congress

A bill introduced this spring would address some of these barriers. The Housing Opportunities for Moving to Empowerment (HOME) for Foster Youth Act, introduced by a bipartisan group of five House members, does not create a new program or add federal spending. It adjusts the existing FYI program in three ways:

• It removes the requirement that a young person be unhoused to qualify, allowing housing authorities and child welfare agencies to arrange a lease ahead of a young person’s exit from care.
• It doubles the application window to 180 days on either side of that exit, up from 90 days, giving case managers more time to find housing and sign a lease in tight rental markets.
• Requires inter-agency coordination between HUD and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to modernize and streamline the program.

What more can be done?

Ideally, a prevention-oriented approach would secure housing before a young person exits care and offer it universally to all children aging out of the foster care system. In 2022, the District of Columbia did just this with passage of D.C. Law 24-309. Preserving Our Kids’ Equity Through Trusts and Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Amendment Act. This law requires the District of Columbia Housing Authority to participate in the FYI voucher program. It also requires DC’s Child and Family Service Agency to provide a housing plan to ever youth at least 90 days before they age out of foster care, and that if such a plan does not contemplate the youth receiving a housing voucher, it must include a thorough explanation as to why the aging-out youth is not at risk of homelessness, is prepared for independent living, or is otherwise not in need of a primary residence for independent living.

Homelessness is a risk factor for exploitation

The reality is, wWhen a fully funded housing resource goes unused at that rate, our society loses an opportunity to prevent homelessness and potential exploitation before it occurs, and to reduce the revictimization of young people who have already survived trafficking.

Every year, more than 15,000 youth age out of the foster care system. Unlike other youth entering adulthood, former foster youth are often abruptly forced into independence without any emotional or financial safety nets. Lack of any sort of rental history, credit, or co-signers makes securing housing incredibly difficult. In fact, research indicates that of youth aging out of the foster care system, approx­i­mate­ly 22% to 30% become home­less dur­ing their tran­si­tion to adult­hood.

Homeless and forced to navigate adulthood alone, traffickers prey on these youth, taking advantage of their struggle to meet their basic needs, their loneliness, and their isolation. Research indicates that some of the tactics used by traffickers include posing as residents, sending others inside to pose as residents, and loitering in the areas outside shelters to find potential victims. According to research on youth experiencing homelessness, roughly 20% of youth who experienced homelessness have been trafficked.

For policymakers, child welfare systems, public housing authorities, and anti-trafficking organizations, the FYI voucher is an existing, funded, and authorized resource that is currently underused. Increasing awareness of the program and reducing   administrative barriers  to  access represent practical, immediately available opportunities to strengthen trafficking prevention efforts.