04/07/2015

Stable Homes, Brighter Futures: 2nd Year Evaluation Report

CSH is pleased to share the 2nd year report of our Stable Homes, Brighter Futures initiative, a three-year demonstration project to better understand supportive housing for youth and young adults, ages 18-24, also known as transition age youth (TAY).  With support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and The California Wellness Foundation, the Stable Homes, Brighter Futures initiative contributes to broader systems-level efforts to:

  • Increase the capacity of organizations in Los Angeles County to develop and operate high-quality supportive housing for transition age youth in areas of high need.
  • Create a safety net of housing and services for TAY that includes health, mental health, education, and employment.
  • Collaborate with government agencies and partner organizations to secure adequate and coordinated public funding mechanisms.

While the first-year report provided a level of initial baseline data and immediate impacts of supportive housing, this second-year report provides a more comprehensive understanding of the service needs of TAY in supportive housing, factors associated with their level of risk of long-term homelessness, the longer-term impacts of living in supportive housing, and a descriptive look at TAY who exited supportive housing.

It’s clear that supportive housing providers are serving young people who face significant barriers to accessing and retaining housing:

  • More than half of the youth were literally homeless prior to living in supportive housing, and 40% of those youth were homeless for over one year.
  • About 70% of youth in supportive housing report mental health challenges that interfere with their daily living and ability to live independently.
  • 18% of youth in supportive housing self-reported substance abuse challenges.
  • supportive housing providers are serving young adults who have incomes significantly below the poverty threshold and have lower levels of educational attainment compared to the general youth population.

This report also explores the impact of supportive housing from the perspective of preventing adult chronic homelessness.  Through the utilization of the TAY Triage Tool, a predictive tool that identifies a young person’s risk of experiencing five or more years of homelessness, the report provides a snapshot of how many youth and young adults in supportive housing were on a trajectory to becoming chronically homeless adults.

  • 72% of youth in supportive housing had at least one lifetime experience that doubled their risk of experiencing 5 or more years of homelessness.
  • 10% of youth tenants were at a high risk of experiencing long-term homelessness, as indicated by the endorsement of 4 or more experiences itemized on the TAY Triage Tool.
  • Youth who reported mental health challenges were at a high risk.
  • Youth who experienced the foster care and juvenile justice systems were at a high risk.

The report offers recommendations that not only reflect data findings, but also reflect discussions with providers learned through our TAY Learning Community, and the voices of TAY tenants.

“They try to get us out of survival mode and do little events to learn how to deal with life… learn how to be around other people besides ourselves.” - Youth Tenant, Age 21

Overall, this second year report presents quantitative and qualitative data that inform how the supportive housing model has evolved to serve homeless youth and young adults, and how it can further adapt to improve the operation of, and service delivery in, supportive housing for youth and young adults.

To download the full report, click here.

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