US: From foster care to secure housing: How vouchers help young adults build self-sufficiency
Route Fifty – May 15, 2024
The number of adults living at home is at an all-time high, with about 45% of people ages 18 to 29 reporting they stay at their parents’ home largely because the nationwide affordable housing shortage makes it too expensive for many young adults to move out. It’s a workable solution for many-particularly those who don’t mind hanging out with mom and dad. But for the more than 20,000 adolescents transitioning out of foster care annually, it’s a different story. A 2021 analysis of adolescents who were surveyed at age 17, 19 and 21 found that homelessness among those transitioning out of the foster system was greater among older survey respondents. Twenty-one percent of respondents aged 17 reported they were homeless at one point during their life, and for those who were 21, 26% said they were unhoused in the last two years.