Cash Assistance
The State of Youth and Young Adult Homelessness
For too long traditional housing resources have struggled to adapt and meet the needs of young people on the brink of or currently experiencing homelessness. We need innovative solutions and partnership across sectors to address the crisis of youth and young adult homelessness.
Why it Matters
4.2m
youth and young adults experience homelessness each year
92%
of young people housed using the Homelessness Prevention and Diversion Fund in Washington state remained stably housed after 12 months
40%
Washington saw a 40% reduction in unaccompanied youth and young adult homelessness from 2016 to 2022
Youth homelessness is an urgent crisis, but a solvable problem
Providing cash assistance to young people on the verge of falling into homelessness works. By harnessing the power of a young person’s trusted relationships, initiatives like the Homelessness Prevention and Diversion Fund (HPDF) and Direct Cash Transfers as Prevention (DCT-P) assist young people on their journey to long-term stable housing.
Leveraging the power of partnership to solve critical issues
Innovative approaches seeded through philanthropy and scaled and sustained through public funding have led to breakthroughs showing huge promise. A recent report released by A Way Home Washington revealed that youth homelessness decreased by 40% over six years in Washington State, thanks in large part to solutions like cash assistance.
Helping young people find solutions that work for them
By centering young people in a community and providing trusted adults the skills and tools needed to address housing—focusing on prevention, collecting better data, and investing in creative solutions such as cash assistance—positive progress is being made.
Funding innovative ideas to provide proofs of concept
Providing proofs of concept of innovative ideas encourages public funding down the line. As an example, the Homelessness Prevention and Diversion Fund (HPDF) was initially funded in part by the Foundation and has inspired the national rollout of a similar initiative across seven cities to end youth homelessness.
