Pierce County Human Services (PCHS) has been awarded $3.5M to fund services for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness. The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Pierce County is one of 14 communities across the country to receive funding from HUD’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP), which supports housing solutions such as rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and host homes.
PCHS partnered with the Pierce County Youth Action Board (YAB) to complete the application, leaning on the young people’s lived experience and expertise to guide the work. The YAB is comprised of advocates and youth and young adults with lived experience of homelessness and provides oversight on community projects that impact youth and young adults in Pierce County.
“Our partnership with the Youth Action Board brought lived experience and great creativity to our application,” said Heather Moss, Pierce County Human Services director. “I’m grateful for their hard work and dedication in applying for these dollars. This funding will bring more services to more young people and allow us to address disparities among youth. We look forward to working with the CoC and other local partners to write the community plan, develop services and invest the grant into the county.”
Last year’s Homeless Point-in-Time Count found roughly 500 youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in Pierce County. Almost 300 of them were under the age of 18. Homelessness has severe and wide-ranging impacts on those experiencing it, but especially for youth and young adults. They are more likely to experience significant mental health issues, have an increased risk of substance abuse and be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. The constant stress and trauma from unstable living conditions negatively impacts their education and access to health care, among other things.
Next, PCHS and the YAB will develop a community plan to determine what services these dollars will fund.
Pierce County’s Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness identified youth and young adults as a targeted population with unique needs, who are shown locally or nationally to have poor outcomes in the homeless system. To learn more about homelessness in Pierce County, visit www.piercecountywa.gov/homelessplan.
