HUD Announces $5M in Effort to End Youth, Family Homelessness 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has earmarked $5 million for the new Family Unification Program (FUP) voucher assistance for youth and families who lack safe and adequate housing.

HUD said in a release that these funds will “help strengthen coordination among public housing authorities (PHAs), public child welfare agencies (PCWAs), and Continuums of Care (CoCs) and increase access to supportive services for those who need them.”

“This Notice of Funding Opportunity will help strengthen states and localities’ ability to care for families, youth, and individuals with no place to call home,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “At HUD, we know that housing is critical in ending homelessness, and this funding opportunity helps us continue our mission of getting people into more permanent and stable housing. In addition, this funding will allow PHAs to effectively administer the Family Unification Program for youth and families who need it.”

The FUP program through which PHAs partner with PCWAs and COCs, providing housing vouchers to two groups: 

• Families the lack of adequate housing is a primary factor in the imminent placement of the family's child, or children, in out-of-home care; or the delay in the discharge of the child, or children, to the family from out-of-home care
• Youth at least 18 years and not more than 24 years of age (have not reached their 25th birthday) who left foster care, or will leave foster care within 90 days, in accordance with a transition plan described in Section 475(5)(H) of the Social Security Act, and are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless at age 16 or older.

HUD states that there is no time limit on FUP vouchers issued to families. FUP vouchers issued to youth are limited to 36 months unless the youth meets the requirements to receive an extension of their voucher assistance under the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities (FSHO) amendments. 

HUD also recently announced a second set of communities set to receive grants and housing vouchers to address homelessness among people in unsheltered settings and in rural communities. This announcement includes $171.2 million in grants for 115 new projects in 29 Continuum of Care (CoC) communities, and adds to the first set of grant awards announced in February. This will bring the total value of grants to $486 million to 62 CoC communities. In addition, HUD is inviting 139 Public Housing Authorities who partnered with grantee communities to accept approximately 3,300 Stability Vouchers.

“Housing with supportive services is what solves homelessness, but people in unsheltered settings and in rural areas have not had access to those solutions,” added Secretary Fudge. “The combination of these grants and vouchers will help and give the communities tools they need to help people who are living on the streets, in encampments, under bridges, or in rural areas obtain permanent housing.”