A group of four legislators have introduced a bill that would make it easier for youth in foster care to be eligible for and connect with federal housing vouchers.
The Housing Opportunities for Moving to Empowerment (HOME) for Foster Youth Act would amend the Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) program, which was designed by former foster youth and brought into existence by former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson during the first Trump administration. The goal is to connect youth exiting foster care into adulthood, between the ages of 18 and 21, with an affordable housing option that can last as long as five years.
The House bill “doesn’t create a new program or spend another taxpayer dollar,” said co-sponsor Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican from Iowa, in a statement. “It simply cuts through the bureaucracy so the housing assistance Congress already approved can reach the foster youth it was intended to serve.”
This legislation would do three specific things:
- Double the length of the window to connect to FYI vouchers to 180 days, in both directions, giving foster youth six months before or after their exit to apply.
- Remove the value of a federal education voucher for foster youth from income eligibility calculations on FYI vouchers.
- Strikes language that refers to foster youth needing to be homeless or at risk of homelessness in order to qualify for the vouchers.
That last piece is necessary because of confusion about how dire a foster youth’s circumstances must be to qualify, said Ruth White, executive director for the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare.
“This language is being misread to mean that foster youth must be homeless, unemployed, or already in crisis to qualify, turning a prevention program into a failure requirement,” White said in a statement.
The FYI vouchers are available nationwide, and the process starts with making a youth in foster care aware of their availability, then applying. The vouchers are issued by public housing authorities, and are meant to be recyclable: Once a former foster youth is no longer eligible for it, that voucher becomes available again.
The HOME for Foster Youth Act aims to clean up aspects of the voucher program that advocates for foster youth say have limited access to the vouchers. A report by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that in 2022, only 31% of FYI vouchers are currently utilized.
Interviews with public housing associations for that report surfaced other challenges with the FYI program. Several state associations cited a youth’s lack of financial history and credit; youth failing to complete the process; and landlords being reluctant to rent to younger applicants.
The HOME for Foster Youth Act was introduced by Reps. Nunn, Democrat Joyce Beatty of Ohio, Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska, Democrat Greg Landsman of Ohio, and Republican Mike Carey of Ohio.
