KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A Poplar Bluff, Mo. public housing agency is among 38 public housing agencies sharing more than $3.4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
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The Ripley County Public Housing Agency will receive $4,312 of the $3,424,046 million being sent to 38 Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) for 257 vouchers and administrative fees to provide housing assistance to young adults who left foster care or are transitioning out of foster care and are experiencing, or at risk of experiencing homelessness.
The funding was awarded through HUD’s Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative. PHAs in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska collectively received $194,318 to fund approximately 26 vouchers.
“HUD is committed to helping young adults focus on their goals and dreams and there is no better way to do that than by ensuring that youth transitioning from foster care have a place to call home,” said Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “Teaming up with housing authorities across the country helps us to meet the needs of youth who have aged out of foster care and get them into safe, sustainable and affordable housing so that they can thrive.”
“The best way to combat youth homelessness, is to make sure that these young people never become homeless in the first place,” said HUD Great Plains Regional Administrator Ulysses Clayborn. “These funded organizations will now be better able to assist young Americans in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, to build a more stable life and help them to focus on the achievement of lifegoals and remove the fear of becoming homeless again.”
The FYI initiative aims to prevent youth who have been involved in the child welfare system from ever experiencing homelessness. FYI makes Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) assistance available to PHAs who have a partnership with public child welfare agencies (PCWA). Under the program PHAs can provide housing assistance to young adults between the ages of 18 years and not more than 24 years old who left foster care or will leave foster care in the next 90 days and are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Through the Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) initiative, HUD is investing in a community response to homelessness faced by child welfare involved youth.
“The FYI program represents the combined effort of federal, state, and local agencies to build communities of support for young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood,” said Rich Monocchio, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public and Indian Housing. “These awards demonstrate our collective commitment to ensuring that young people have the opportunity to build a future free from housing insecurity.”