More than halfway through the 100-day challenge to reduce youth homelessness, local groups and stakeholders have already met some of the program’s goals.
On June 29, Santa Barbara County was one of six counties chosen to participate in the challenge—the others are Kings, Tulare, Monterey, San Benito, and San Bernardino counties.
Each area has specific goals to meet based on its unique needs and demographics. The Santa Maria/Santa Barbara County Continuum of Care along with 20 local stakeholders created goals that included: housing 50 youth, assigning a navigator to the youth identified on a real-time list of people experiencing homelessness, and making a housing retention plan for 75 percent of the youth who accept individual case management.
Challenge stakeholders meet once a week for a progress check-in and to discuss resources, county Community Development Division Housing Programs Specialist Lucille Boss told the Sun.
The last check-in was Aug. 27, which also marked 59 days into the challenge. Boss said the efforts of all those involved have housed 22 individuals so far.
“I will say only a handful of them have been directly because of these efforts; the others have been because of the work that we’re already doing,” she said.
The groups assigned a housing navigator to 100 percent of the youth on the list of people experiencing homelessness. Boss said a housing navigator follows up with the unhounsed youth and helps them through the process of finding and keeping permanent housing. All of the youth who have accepted case management and are housed also have a housing retention plan.
Through the program, collaborating agencies also designed a letter for landlords to raise awareness about the program and tackle the stereotypes that come with renting to young adults.
“We know it can feel risky accepting younger tenants; however, we are committed to helping them succeed,” the letter states.
According to the letter, the agencies are committed to assisting the prospective tenants financially and preventing problems through home visits.
There are 41 days left in the challenge, but Boss said there’s a sustainability workshop through this program because “once the 100 days are up, we don’t want the work to stop.”
This program has helped establish new partnerships throughout Santa Barbara County that didn’t exist before, she said, and are vital to continue reducing and ending youth homelessness.
This article appears in Sep 3-10, 2020.