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Executive awards $530,000 for housing and employment services to reach homeless youth and young adults
Summary
The grants help advance King County’s Health and Human Services Transformation Plan by funding work to improve health and social outcomes for a very high-risk population. Each of the proposals funded will help homeless youth achieve and maintain housing and long-term stability.
Story
King County Executive Dow Constantine awarded $530,000 in grants to help homeless youth and young adults achieve stable housing, employment, and reunite with their families. United Way of King County is also partnering with King County to provide $112,000 in additional funding dedicated to these efforts. “Our community is working together so that every young person is able to have a safe place to call home, with access to the education and employment he or she may need to build a strong future,” said Executive Constantine, who also serves as co-chair of the Governing Board of the Committee to End Homelessness that oversees regional efforts to end homelessness in King County.
The grants help advance the County’s Health and Human Services Transformation Plan by funding work to improve health and social outcomes for a very high-risk population. The grants were made through a competitive process, with funds appropriated by the King County Council in the 2014 County budget.
“Getting kids off the street and helping them become self-sufficient improves their lives immediately. It also has long-term benefits by stopping the cycle into homelessness. I’m inspired by the partnerships in our region that have united together to help these kids,” said Metropolitan King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, chair of the Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee.
Each of the proposals funded will help homeless youth achieve and maintain housing and long-term stability.
| Focus | Agency | King County | United Way | Total Awarded |
| Housing stability | YMCA | $130,000 | $130,000 | |
| Clear path to employment | Friends of Youth/Youthcare | $91,500 | $51,000 | $142,500 |
| YWCA | $158,500 | $51,000 | $209,500 | |
| Northwest Network | $10,000 | $10,000 | ||
| Family reunification | Catholic Community Services | $150,000 | $150,000 | |
| Total | $530,000 | $112,000 | $642,000 |
“We want to live in a community where no one is forced to take refuge on the street, especially our youth,” said Jon Fine, president and CEO of United Way of King County. “We know for young people that providing a path to employment is critical. That is why we are so happy to direct a portion of our investments in ending homelessness to these proven programs that do just that.”
The January One Night Count found 779 homeless and unstably housed youth and young adults from nearly every zip code in King County. Of these, 124 young people reported spending the night sleeping outside. Despite their struggles to meet their basic needs, 70 percent of young people surveyed said they were looking for employment. The funding for housing and employment services will provide the way out of homelessness for youth motivated to find independence like other young adults their age.
Montrai Williams, participant with The Mockingbird Society’s Youth Advocates Ending Homelessness, is grateful for the employment programs, and particularly for the funding focused on helping lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people.
“As a homeless LGBTQ youth, I was an outcast in a community of outcasts, which made surviving out there a lot harder. A job was the quickest way out,” said Williams. “I am excited to see a proposal moving forward for an employment program that allows homeless LGBTQ youth to have paid internships helping other LGBTQ youth get off the streets. It provides the support a lot of youth like me don’t get.”
Housing stability
Funding for housing stability will interrupt the recurring cycle of homelessness by offering flexible rental assistance for youth at risk of becoming homeless. Education and employment funding is being provided to agencies to develop internship and mentoring programs and facilitate job placement in non-subsidized employment. Help finding jobs was the most important intervention requested by homeless youth when asked what they needed to achieve and maintain independence.
Family reunification
Funding for family reunification will include interventions that help to reconnect homeless youth, when safe, to their family or other appropriate adult. These efforts will include a trained therapist to support the youth and family.
The funding awards support the Comprehensive Plan to Prevent and End Youth/Young Adult Homelessness, approved in 2013 by the Committee to End Homelessness (CEH) and the King County Council.
Contact info
To learn more about ending youth and young adult homelessness, contact Mark Putnam, CEH Director at 206-263-9001 or Megan Gibbard, King County Youth/Young Adult Homelessness Program Manager, at 206-263-2974.
For information on United Way of King County’s efforts to address youth homelessness, contact Jared Erlandson, Public Relations Manager, at 206-461-3742.
