At the May 29th Fostering Promise Youth Housing Summit in Santa Clara County, Will Spencer, Region IX Administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), recognized Simone Tureck Lee, JBAY’s Director of Housing & Economic Mobility, for her leadership in preventing homelessness among California’s former foster youth.
Every year in California, approximately 3,000 young people exit foster care. As they face a slew of major life transitions—from adolescence to adulthood, into post-secondary education and financial independence—these youth must also navigate one of the most competitive and expensive housing markets in the country, often without family support.
The HUD award honors the work JBAY and partner organizations have led statewide over the past several years to increase former foster youth use of Housing Choice Vouchers by 130%, the result of greater coordination among local housing authorities and service providers to access federal resources available through the national Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) initiative and Family Unification Program (FUP).
Designed by youth in 2019, FYI simplified the distribution of federal rental subsidies to occur on an as-needed basis rather than tied to an annual funding cycle. Under the new structure, if a young person notifies a child welfare agency of a housing need, the agency can send a referral to the housing authority. Within 60 days of submitting a request to HUD, the young person could then receive a voucher that will subsidize their rent for up to five years.
“In the world of housing services, that’s impressive,” said Tureck Lee. “It’s a common sense homelessness prevention tool for young people transitioning to adulthood without family support—those we know face a heightened risk for homelessness. We believe this resource should be available in every community in California.”
In addition to partnering with other advocacy organizations to spread the word about the distribution changes, JBAY successfully advocated for the allocation of state dollars to fund the county-level support services required alongside the vouchers, increasing the state’s Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program from $5 million to $13.7 million annually.
Last year, JBAY partnered with the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare to lead a community of practice focused on FYI/FUP vouchers. The 15 participating counties collectively boosted the number of youth served through housing vouchers by 81%; ten of those counties did so by utilizing the on-demand request process for the first time.
Today in California, more than half of housing available for former foster youth comes through FYI/FUP. As of 2024, FYI/FUP vouchers are up 136% from 2021, now available to well over 2,000 youth.
Amid enacted and proposed cuts to vast swaths of the social safety net, the FYI housing voucher program remains a rare example of stable federal commitment to addressing homelessness among former foster youth. FYI received level funding to the tune of $25 million in fiscal year 2025, and is slated to receive the same amount in 2026.
Going forward, JBAY will continue to collaborate with HUD and state and local partners to increase the housing support available to former foster youth in California, and assist communities with maximizing this funding.