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<br />Youth
<br />Homeless youth living on their own are not always counted
<br />with adult individuals and families and Attention Home, the
<br />local organization serving homeless youth, does not send
<br />homeless youth through the VI-SPDAT or to The Panel,
<br />therefore these individuals are not always represented in the
<br />numbers given above.
<br />The County Department of Human Services tracks youth in
<br />the Chafee program. The Chafee program is federally funded
<br />to provide ongoing supports to youth that have emancipated
<br />from foster care from age 15 — 21 with possible case management
<br />( 15 — 21) and living stipends of 30% of living expenses (ETV
<br />voucher 18 — 21) when engaged in vocation and/or educational
<br />goals. Chafee is a voluntary program that can only support
<br />individuals after the age of 18 if they are in care on their 18t''
<br />birthday. Boulder County serves an average of 50 Chafee youth
<br />at any time.
<br />In March of 2016, there were a total of20 in temporary housing
<br />situations or without housing: 12 Chafee youth temporarily
<br />housed through the Boulder County HSP program, six who
<br />were living on couches with friends or family or in cars, and
<br />two living in transitional housing in Longmont at the Inn
<br />Between. Data from 2012 provided by Boulder County Human
<br />Services staff show a similar number of homeless youth in need
<br />of a permanent housing solution. A survey of youth existing
<br />from the foster care system shows that finding, securing, affording
<br />and keeping permanent housing is a problem for this population.
<br />In addition to the 20 youth currently in need and counted
<br />through the Boulder County Chafee and FUP, McKinney Vento
<br />Homeless Act requires school districts to collect data about
<br />homeless students. In the St Vrain School District, in 2015
<br />there were 34 unaccompanied homeless high school students
<br />counted throughout the district. The Boulder Valley School
<br />District did not count any unaccompanied youth in the district
<br />in 2015. There were 403 homeless students counted in the
<br />Boulder Valley School District in 2015, 119 of whom are
<br />homeless high school students. Depending upon their family
<br />status, these young adults may become young homeless
<br />individuals as they reach legal age and graduate from school.
<br />In 2015, Attention Homes Runaway and Homeless Youth
<br />Programs served 742 unduplicated youth. Of those youth
<br />experiencing homelessness, 38% are "at -risk" of homelessness
<br />meaning that they are unstably housed, couch surfing, etc. -A
<br />a full 41% are literally homeless, meaning that they are living
<br />on the streets, in a shelter, safe haven, or in a place not meant
<br />for human habitation, a car, etc. Of the literally homeless
<br />(N=257), 174 are chronically homeless (not officially verified).
<br />100% of the Transition Age Youth (18-24 years old) that
<br />Attention Homes works with have experienced trauma. Trauma
<br />from living on the streets, abuse and neglect in their homes,
<br />being ostracized by family or community, assault and relationship
<br />violence or simply feeling disconnected and alone. As a result,
<br />Attention Homes utilizes a relationship based approach to
<br />service engagement and case management. While specific
<br />traditional and nontraditional clinical interventions and
<br />treatments are integrated into the agency service approach, the
<br />primary intervention is to create healthy relationships in
<br />partnership with youth. Attention Homes' relationship (case
<br />management) approach is a developmentally appropriate, client -
<br />centered, collaborative, strengths based and trauma informed
<br />approach. One of the most significant protective factors for
<br />youth that have trauma histories is a sense of belonging and
<br />community. Resultantly, Attention Homes intentionally focuses
<br />on fostering a community where all are welcome, safe and invited
<br />to contribute.
<br />Youth in need of Permanent Supportive Housing come with
<br />individual and complex barriers and issues that may include,
<br />and are not be limited to: abuse and neglect, identifying
<br />LGBTQ,, emerging or chronic mental and behavioral health
<br />concerns, substance use and eating disorders, lack of education
<br />and employment skills, minimal healthy coping mechanisms
<br />or support systems, poverty, survivors of domestic violence and
<br />commercial sexual and labor exploitation (trafficking) and aging
<br />out of foster care. Understanding the trauma that youth have
<br />experienced and incorporating a trauma informed approach
<br />creates an environment and community where youth are safe
<br />to pursue their goals and resolve the trauma of their past.
<br />Family Chronic Homelessness
<br />While most permanent supportive housing programs have
<br />historically concentrated on individuals, the largest group of
<br />chronically homeless persons, national research indicates that
<br />permanent supportive housing is effective for some homeless
<br />families as well, those with long histories of homelessness who
<br />face the greatest challenges to stability and self-sufficiency.
<br />These families have adult household members with mental
<br />health and substance abuse problems, were older than sheltered
<br />mothers, suffer from extreme poverty and unemployment.' In
<br />Boulder County, Sister Carmen Community Center, Emer-
<br />gency Family Assistance, Our Center, Safe Shelter of St Vrain
<br />and Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Non-violence (SPAN)
<br />serve homeless families. Each has identified families that
<br />struggle to maintain housing without intensive supportive
<br />services, and who often cycle back through homelessness mul-
<br />tiple times. These families would benefit from a Permanent
<br />Supportive Housing solution.
<br />A study by the Corporation for Supportive Housing of 100
<br />families living in supportive housing units found that after one
<br />year after enrollment, two programs had nearly all residents still
<br />housed, and others have between 65 — 70% housed. While
<br />families still struggled with economic independence, reunifi-
<br />cation rates for those who had lost children were very high, and
<br />income rose slightly. The services for families in need of Per-
<br />manent Supportive Housing differ in part from those needed
<br />by chronically homeless individuals in need of Permanent
<br />Supportive housing. Families benefit from childcare, income
<br />support, education and job training, employment assistance,
<br />case management, services designed for children, and housing
<br />advocacy. The families also need the same services as individ-
<br />uals: health, substance abuse, mental health and trauma services.
<br />7
<br />6 Supportive Housing Research FAQs: Is Supportive Housing
<br />Effective for Families? Corporation for Supportive Housing.
<br />7 Is Supportive Housing Effective for Families? Corporation for
<br />Supportive Housing, 2007.
<br />For these reasons, Boulder County has developed a Continuum
<br />of Care that addresses the deeper wrap-around support needs
<br />for homeless families. Families struggling with chronic home-
<br />lessness in Boulder County are referred to the Community
<br />Housing Resource Panel for housing supports. When approved
<br />for a housing resource, it is accompanied with intensive case
<br />management services similar to those listed above. The follow
<br />case -management housing resources on the Panel that can be
<br />accessed based on eligibility and availability are:
<br />Short Term Housing (requires child welfare open case
<br />status);
<br />Family Unification Program (requires risk of removal of
<br />children based on housing as the primary factor in the
<br />removal decision)
<br />Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) (requires home-
<br />lessness by McKinney Vento definition, plus school -aged
<br />children)
<br />Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) (families who appear
<br />to be cycling through the system and are literally home-
<br />less).
<br />A 5th resource on the Housing Panel is the Housing Stabiliza-
<br />tion Program (HSP). This also includes intensive case man-
<br />agement services, however HSP is awarded to households who
<br />seem like they will successfully self -sustain within 12 months
<br />of the HSP award by the Panel instead of these more limited
<br />resources.
<br />Even with these supports in place, there is a need for PSH for
<br />families within Boulder County. The FUP, TBRA and ESG
<br />resources are meant for scattered site housing -choice vouchers.
<br />With the tightening rental market, families awarded these
<br />vouchers are sometimes unable to lease up due to poor rental
<br />histories, past evictions, and other disruptions in their lives from
<br />mental health and substance use issues.
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