Homeless Youth and Young Adult Demonstration
SBCHC partners with The Way Home to end youth homelessness
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) chose Spring Branch Community Health Center (SBCHC) as one of eight agencies in Houston to coordinate with The Way Home in a multi-agency effort to address youth and young adult homelessness in the Houston region.
The award is part of the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP), which HUD designed to support selected rural, suburban, and urban communities across the US in developing and carrying out a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending homelessness among youth and young adults (YYA). The program begins with a 2-year “demonstration period” for the agencies to build capacity, activate their programs, and show how a coordinated community approach can reduce youth homelessness. HUD announced in September 2022 an award of approximately $10.4 million for Houston to build systems to prevent and end youth and young adult homelessness, the fourth-highest award in the nation that year. This whole award is being disbursed to select homeless youth-serving agencies, including SBCHC, by the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, Lead Agency to The Way Home — the collective effort to prevent and end homelessness in Houston and throughout Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties, Texas.
“This new project will knock down known and unknown barriers for youth experiencing homelessness in Houston,” said Kenny Easley, a member of the project’s youth advisory board (YAB). “In the past, youth experiencing homelessness sometimes had to go off on their own tracks because the system didn’t always work for them. Now, we’ll be able to show them, ‘You’re not alone. You’re cared for.’”
Other agencies receiving funds through the The Way Home collective award disbursement are
- Covenant House Texas.
- Grace Place.
- Houston reVision.
- SEARCH Homeless Services.
- Temenos CDC.
- The Montrose Center.
- TLC Health & Wellness.
From late 2021 into spring 2022, the Coalition worked with a youth advisory board (YAB), youth-serving agencies, and other nonprofit and community stakeholders to draft a comprehensive community plan to prevent and end youth homelessness. Approved by HUD in April 2022, the plan outlines how to end homelessness for youth (minors under the age of 18) and young adults (ages 18-24) who are not accompanied by a parent or guardian. Youth and young adults with lived experience of homelessness participated in every meeting, provided input and expertise throughout, and held authority over approval for the final plan. Collective Action for Youth recruited and will continue to support the YAB.
“The process is really giving us our voice back,” said Easley.
The SBCHC project offers individuals, age 17-24, access to crisis housing and/or assistance moving to medium-term rapid rehousing units for up to 36 months, tailoring particular housing solutions to each youth’s individualized needs. The program includes a Transitional Housing component to serve YYA who need intensive support to resolve an immediate crisis and stabilize their situation before moving to permanent housing. In addition to direct housing services, SBCHC’s YHDP connects YYA to educational and employment assistance, as well as services supportive of their social, emotional, health, and other needs.
Currently, SBCHC’s program has 19 participants who were in crisis situations, and who will soon enter the Transitional Housing phase. The YouthPlus program has had two successful move-ins this month. Both clients have faced barriers to this point, as both ladies were experiencing homelessness in addition to trouble finding stability due to their rental history and criminal history. Despite their trials, both clients have been consistent with case management, follow-ups, and appointments. Both ladies were able to sign a lease and collect the keys to their new homes.
“We are very pleased to be able to focus on assisting Homeless Youth in the Spring Branch Service area,” said Marlen Trujillo, PhD, CEO of Spring Branch Community Health Center. “At SBCHC we understand that Housing is a vital part of the overall health and wellness of our community. We want to ensure we are doing our part to provide housing support as well as the other wraparound services for youth in our area.”
Homelessness among YYA often arises from many underlying factors such as poverty, family conflict and rejection, sexual abuse, involvement in the child welfare or juvenile justice system, and lack of employment. YYA experiencing homelessness have the added challenge of undergoing physical, emotional, psychological, and social development as they move towards adulthood. Having little or no work experience and often leaving their education incomplete because of their homelessness, many have not developed basic life skills. Needs are particularly acute for especially vulnerable youth: those with behavioral health issues, HIV+ individuals, LGBTQ+ persons, survivors of domestic violence, and pregnant or parenting young people.
Through their YHDP initiative, SBCHC will link YYA to service providers who address basic needs, such as local assistance ministries and The Houston Food Bank, through case management tailored for participants’ particular challenges. By focusing on a limited number of YYA clients, each case manager will develop trusting, caring relationships to respond quickly to clients’ prioritized needs, while respecting client autonomy and focusing on realistic goals.
For information about The Way Home and the Houston Coalition for the Homeless, please contact Catherine Villarreal at (832) 531-6043, email: cvillarreal@homelesshouston.org, or visit www.thewayhomehouston.org and www.homelesshouston.org.