On Jan. 24, Washington’s Office of Homeless Youth (OHY) in the Department of Commerce announced $4.8 million in grants to 19 organizations to help prevent and address housing instability among young people.
Grants are intended to fund school-based interventions, crisis interventions to help youth and families resolve conflict, and to provide support to youth seeking protected health care services.
“Our goal is to meet young people struggling with housing stability where they are, whether that’s at school, in a shelter, or through their interaction with the health care system,” said Office of Homeless Youth Executive Director Kim Justice. “These grants will help provide the specialized supports they need.”
Grants awarded through the following programs are effective through June 30, 2025:
Homeless Student Stability Program-$1,646,100: Funding to bring housing and education systems together to link students experiencing homeless and their families to stable housing and community resources across the state. The program was expanded in the 2023-25 budget to provide additional housing support for the nearly 40,000 students experiencing homelessness, over 5,000 of whom are experiencing unaccompanied homelessness.
Building Changes was contracted by the OHY to conduct a competitive procurement to award grants through the program. Applications were evaluated by young people with lived experience, housing providers, school system partners, and other community stakeholders.
Programs being funded in King County include:
Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services, King County, $84,574
Neighborhood House, King County, $199,520
YWCA Seattle, King County, $200,000
Community Support Teams, $1,405,800: Funding to convene Community Support Teams for youth accessing shelter, for the purpose of identifying supports focused on resolving family conflict and obtaining and maintaining long-term stable housing.
Programs being funded in King County include API Chaya, King County, with $302,500 of grant funding.
Protected Healthcare Grants, $1.8 million: Funding to provide a broad range of support and services to youth seeking gender-affirming and/or reproductive health care.
Programs being funded in King County include:
Seattle Indian Health Board, King County, $350,000
United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance (UTOPIA) Washington, King County, $260,000
The Community Support Teams and Protected Healthcare grants are new programs, resulting from legislation passed during the 2023 legislative session (ESSB 5599 and HSB 1406). The OHY conducted outreach and listening sessions prior to releasing the competitive funding applications, to learn from communities about how the grants could be most impactful to the young people they intend to serve. The office engaged young people with lived experience across the state to develop application questions and content, and review, evaluate and score applications for these grants.
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