We need more housing support & autonomy for older foster youth

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OPINION – For young adults just starting out on our own, finding our first apartment is a significant rite of passage, and a chance to finally make grown-up decisions about where we live and with whom. Growing up in the foster care system, I know what it’s like to feel voiceless over decisions affecting our own lives, and why transitioning into living independently takes on extra importance – but also brings extra challenges.

In California’s super-inflated housing market, some well-intended rules meant to support foster youth transitioning into adulthood have the unintended consequence of making it harder to find housing and work against the state’s goal to reduce the number of foster youth funneled into homelessness as adults. Lawmakers have a chance to ensure more youth have safe transitions, rather than wind up on the streets, by passing AB 1314 in the final few weeks of the legislative session.

To address the challenge of youth homelessness, California provides funding to support youth ages 18-21 through supervised, transitional housing offered by local non-profit organizations across the state. It’s a bridge program that offers a safe environment where youth can learn the life skills needed to succeed living on our own.

Still, outdated rules these non-profits must abide by make it challenging to sustain enough housing to support all the youth who need help avoiding homelessness. For example, in some parts of the state, rules may dictate that youth can’t leave the county where they were placed in foster care, limiting their opportunities to attend school or work. While no one bats an eye when youth growing up in family homes go onto college dorms with multiple roommates, some transitional living programs are required to ensure former foster youth have their own bedrooms, or even bathrooms.  And while having a personal suite may sound nice, it’s often not practical in California’s pricey housing market, leading to a shortage of transitional housing slots open to youth.

Some rules placed on transitional housing programs also reflect outdated views about gender and sexuality. Some programs don’t allow overnight guests or enforce curfews. While these restrictions are well-intended, for youth who’ve longed for a voice in decisions about our lives, it’s a slap in the face to have more restrictions piled on compared to youth our age who grew up outside the “system.”

That’s where AB 1314 comes in. It will ensure that decisions about sharing bedrooms, bathrooms, and units together are led by the youth and shared by the non-profit housing provider and the county overseeing the program. But this issue is bigger than sharing bathrooms and dealing with difficult schedules. This is about preventing homelessness, a cause the Legislature and administration have long rallied for.

Foster youth already experience disproportionately higher rates of homelessness when compared to their non-foster youth peers. In fact, 65% of youth aging out of the system report they lack safe and affordable housing on their own and 31-46% of young people who have experienced foster care become homeless by the time they’re 26.

As a foster youth advocate, I commonly hear from youth who experienced outdated restrictions that forced them out of supportive, transitional housing. Some are parents prevented from living together with their co-parent, some are siblings of different genders, and some identify as transgender and are forced to choose between living as their authentic self and having a roof over their head. These restrictions lead to homelessness as it’s near impossible for newly emancipated youth to find housing in a state where even many dual -income families can’t afford a small apartment.

AB 1314 standardizes regulations for foster youth transitional housing throughout the state to ensure as many youth as possible are housed, supported and prepared to begin their lives as independent, successful adults.

Beyond allowing for agencies to house more youth, especially in expensive parts of the state, AB 1314 also reinforces the purpose of the state’s transitional housing program – to empower youth to grapple with the kinds of real-world decisions we’ll have to make for the rest of our lives.

Celeste Walley is a former foster youth who is now the Permanency and Youth Engagement Advisor at California Alliance of Child and Family Services’ Catalyst Center.