News  Massachusetts Receives $1M in Federal Funding for Youth Homeless Programming

BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration is celebrating $979,960 in Youth Homelessness System Improvement grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last month, HUD awarded the Youth Homelessness Improvement grants to 26 states. This funding will support the efforts of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Homeless Youth Services as they work to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring for youth and young adults. 

“This funding will help ensure every young person in our state is safe and supported,” said Governor Maura Healey. “By collaborating across state agencies, Homeless Youth Services is bringing in critical federal dollars to strengthen the safety net for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness.”

The funding will be administered by both EOHHS and EOHLC and is a significant step forward in helping the state agencies better coordinate efforts on ending youth homelessness. Both agencies and youth and young adults participated in the application process. 

"The Healey-Driscoll administration is committed to the prevention and intervention of homelessness among our youths,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “We are working to ensure every young person has the opportunity to thrive in Massachusetts.”  

The funding will support the state’s youth and young adult program efforts in the following ways: 

• Enhance the design, alignment, and accuracy of the data systems that work with youth and young adults at-risk of and experiencing homelessness. Successful implementation will improve statewide housing outcomes for youth and young adults, including Black, indigenous and people of color and LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults.
• Build a more robust statewide community of Youth Action Boards and youth and young adults partnering with Homeless Youth Services and EOHLC on preventing and ending youth and young adult homelessness with a sustainable infrastructure that supports regular collaboration, connection, learning, leadership development and action, including deconstruction of any barriers to thriving. 
• Reduce the time youth and young adults experience homelessness.

“Having a safe and stable place to call home can do wonders for a young person’s mental and physical health,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh. “Not having to worry about where they are going helps them do everything else they might need to do to thrive. It will take many dedicated community partners to completely end youth homelessness in this state, and we are grateful this funding opportunity helps us, and our partners, address this problem.”

“Home is a stabilizing force that empowers our young people and enables them to succeed,” said Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. “Without housing it’s harder to maintain a job and nearly impossible take care of your physical and mental health. We are grateful to HUD for these critical funds and I applaud Secretary Walsh and her team for their work to end youth homelessness. It’s going to take all of us to ensure our young adults have access to affordable and stable housing.”

"We know that preventing and ending youth homelessness takes a full community effort that requires support from all of our partners,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “HUD’s YHDP and YHSI grants will provide communities with necessary funding to address this issue head on and help build more seamless systems to help youth find stability, opportunity, and success.”

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