John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) is committed to reducing homelessness among youth in California. But is it working?
According to a new report, the answer is yes! The report found that over 11,000 homeless youth have been assisted by California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance & Prevention (HHAP) program, one that JBAY helped establish. More specifically, JBAY successfully advocated for a requirement that 8% of HHAP funding be directed to unaccompanied homeless youth.
JBAY Youth Advocate Alexis Barries knows the importance of programs like HHAP. No such assistance was available after she aged out of foster care. Instead, she experienced homelessness and lived in her car for three months.
But Alexis didn’t give up. She worked full time and saved enough to secure housing. And each step of the way she kept working to help young people like herself. In 2018, Alexis was appointed to California’s Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council. In this position, she helped pave the way for HHAP.
According to the newly released report, Alexis’s hard work and determination is paying off for youth today. The report surveyed local communities to determine if they think that HHAP is an effective strategy to address youth homelessness: a full 85% of respondents believe it is.
In addition to a survey, the report interviewed local stakeholders about the impact of HHAP. A city representative interviewed believes HHAP has been helpful, “These funds have greatly assisted homeless youth in our city by expanding sheltering and program capacity. We have had a 45% rate of rehousing from these programs, which is better than other sheltering programs.”
A county representative agreed, “The state-mandated youth set-aside is helpful because youth as a percentage are such a smaller population, and jurisdictions could otherwise deemphasize youth.”
JBAY hosted a webinar sharing the findings of the report on April 21st, attended by over 200 people. On the webinar, Director of Housing and Health Simone Tureck Lee laid out JBAY’s strategy moving forward. “Our goal is to make an ongoing investment in HHAP funding for youth. Permanently funding the HHAP program will help ensure jurisdictions have the resources needed to address homelessness moving forward.”