Should WA expand ‘cost-effective' program to mitigate youth homelessness?
As youth homelessness has reached record highs in Washington in recent years, a local advocacy group says one pandemic-era program could be the most cost-effective way to mitigate the issue.
According to some of the most recent data available from the the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Washington recorded 42,436 homeless students in 2023, more than double the amount the state recorded more than a decade before in 2010. Pierce County school districts represent some of the largest populations of students experiencing housing instability.
According to a recent report from the Washington-based homeless advocacy group, NorthStar Advocates, a program known as the Homelessness Prevention and Diversion Fund (HPDF) has helped over 1,700 youth and young-adult households in Washington find and maintain stable housing since being implemented in 2020.
In one year spanning 2023 and 2024, 93% of those assisted by the HPDF program maintained housing a year later.
HPDF works by making flexible one-time funding available for youth and young adults who are on the brink of becoming homelessness. The funding can be used in a variety of ways, with no one-size-fits-all approach.
According to the report from NorthStar Advocates, HPDF was used to provide rental assistance, housing deposits, housing application fees, utility payments and transportation costs.
The report noted, in one instance, HPDF was used to assist a mother fleeing a domestic abuser. The mother and her infant were able to leave an unsafe situation by moving quickly to reunite with family out-of-state. The fund's flexibility allowed her to move out in the early morning by covering her taxi and airfare.
In 2024, HPDF assisted a young adult whose car was damaged in a flood. She worked a night-shift job and bus lines were not available for her to commute to work.
'After her car was flooded and her insurance wouldn't cover the cost of repairs, she was at risk of losing her job and therefore her housing.' the report noted. 'The HPDF was able to pay for a one-time repair to her car so they could maintain their housing.'
NorthStar Advocates say assistance through HPDF not only prevents people from becoming homeless, it also is cheaper than alternative programs that assist the unhoused.
In 2024, the average cost per household through HPDF was $2,659 which is lower than the cost of emergency shelter projects, which cost an average of $4,318 per household and less than one third the cost of Rapid Re-housing, which costs an average of $10,114, according to the Washington State Department of Commerce.
Young people diverted by the HPDF spent significantly less time experiencing homelessness when compared to other interventions as well.
According to data from the Department of Commerce from 2023, processing of HPDF requests took an average of four days, while those in emergency shelters stayed an average of 40 days. Those in rapid re-housing programs stayed in the program an average of 114 days.
HPDF diversion funds can be accessed by any homeless service-providing organization in the state. It only requires service providers to attend certification training. As of May 2024, 776 providers were certified to access the fund.
Between 2023 and 2024, 62 service providers in Pierce County were trained to use HPDF funds.
NorthStar Advocates is calling for the state to increase its HPDF investment and for all 39 counties to use the program to mitigate youth homelessness.
When the program was established in 2020, Yakima, Walla Walla, Spokane and Pierce counties were the only participants. At that time, HPDF received $1.5 million b-iannually in public funding.
Through legislative advocacy, the HPDF's public funding pool increased to $5 million bi-annually in 2023. Ten counties currently utilize the program.
'HPDF continues to be utilized at high rates, and in many cases, is the only diversion fund specifically for youth and young adults in communities,' NorthStar Advocates stated in their report. 'As such, the HPDF is pivotal for WA's efforts to prevent, reduce, and end [youth and young adult] homelessness.'
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