Child Welfare Housing Assistance for Youth and Families – Washington Association of Child Advocate Programs

Folks:

Q & A DOCUMENT TO THE COURTS MAILING LIST:

This email message (below) went out yesterday morning from the Administrative Office of the Courts to the courts mailing list. It is a Q&A document that Julie Summers and Kelly Warner-King wrote at the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), and Cole and I at DCYF edited, to give some basic Q&A information to the courts about the recent legislation, in response to common questions.

FOLLOW UP FROM JULY 17^TH MEETING WITH STAKEHOLDERS:

As many of you will recall, Cole and I held a stakeholder’s meeting on July 17^th to talk about DCYF implementation of SSB 5256 (link below), and the accompanying budget provisos for families, youth exiting foster care, and youth exiting Juvenile Rehabilitation. Thanks to those who attended the meeting in July, and asked great questions.

Here’s some of what we heard in July (with additional context notes):

DCYF should keep equity at the forefront, and use targeted universalism to address the needs of families far from opportunity [including in rural, tribal (in coordination with DCYF’s Office of Tribal Relations) and trauma-impacted communities];
DCYF should work closely with its partners in the state-level “umbrella” child welfare housing-related Memorandum of Understanding (between DCYF, the Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), and other non-profit Housers) to maximize alignment between federal child welfare housing voucher programs, state child welfare housing assistance programs, and related efforts at the Office of Homeless Youth, the Office of Public Defense, and other partner organizations.
DCYF should use current resources recently provided by the Legislature to establish a floor of services in all regions toward establishing a statewide system of child welfare housing support, and should take steps to measure needs and current impacts in all communities, so that additional resources in future years can be targeted to address differences in need, and specifically to invest in equity;
DCYF should gather data and create a funding formula to be used to inform its 2024 Report to the Legislature and budget decision package request for the 2025 Legislative Session;
DCYF should take steps now to gather information to inform equity planning (NOTE: Cole suggested that the agency release a Request for Information in order to see which community organizations have interest in offering housing supportive services as DCYF continues to put the statewide system in place);
DCYF should work in 2023 to prevent gaps in service, honor pre-existing organizational relationships with Public Housing Authorities, and to build its capacity to reach new communities;

NOTE: Because of the limitations on current dollars, DCYF may need to focus on regional coverage first, and seek resources to get to the county level as a next step;

DCYF should recognize community needs, community capacity, and community readiness;
DCYF should focus on the things that DCYF does well and needs to do better – finding eligible clients, getting release of information forms signed, helping clients gather vital documents, gathering statewide data, training and maximizing the capacity of DCYF staff in all Regions; knowing the responsibilities and limitations of the state role and the roles of our partners;
DCYF should keep our clients at the center, and our partners’ needs in our mind, as we work to help Public Housing Authorities increase their utilization rates, and help DCYF clients find housing, whether they are connected to PHAs or not;
DCYF should take initiative to reach out directly to property owners and real estate interests to identify, designate, and create more housing for our clients, and to participate in community-level efforts to increase the volume and quality of affordable housing options;
DCYF plans to meet with youth-serving organizations to further discuss the details of the Foster Care Housing Assistance Program (FCHP) funded in the budget. Members of the family stakeholder group should be invited to that meeting if interested;
DCYF should hold regular stakeholder meetings between now and 2025.

Here’s what we plan to do in response:

DCYF has executed contracts for family housing supportive services in Regions 4 and 6;
DCYF is pursuing contracts for each of the remaining four regions (within appropriated funds), to establish a common floor of services;
DCYF will develop a funding formula based on differential regional need for the 25-27 biennium;
DCYF is working to provide services at the regional level this fiscal year, and will work to seek further investments to expand services to the Public Housing Authority/County level in future biennia, based on need and equity data;
DCYF has drafted a Request for Information solicitation that will go out this fall to determine which organizations are interested in providing housing supportive services in current and future years. DCYF may additionally submit a Request for Qualifications or Proposals in future years if additional funding is available;
DCYF will develop a formula and strategic approach to data, exploration of which would include (but not be limited to): equity and impact data; availability of Family Unification Program vouchers and Foster Youth to Independence vouchers and other Housing Choice Vouchers by PHA jurisdiction; numbers and types of child welfare cases by county; family mobility; homelessness data; urban/rural factors; the availability of housing and specifically affordable housing; housing vacancy rates; landlord outreach and incentives; and other factors.

Here’s what DCYF has done so far:

Established partnerships in many counties around the state with both youth and family serving organizations in the child welfare housing arena (many of which are described in Memoranda of Understanding for FYI and FUP);
Offered case management directly to youth and families, and connected clients with regional staff and contractors;
Participated in conversations directly with judicial officers;
Executed contracts for FY 24 in Regions 4 and 6 for family housing supportive services;
Drafted contracts for FY 24 in Regions 4 and 5 for youth housing supportive services;
Circulated the latest statewide PHA-DCYF “umbrella” MOU FINAL DRAFT via Andrew Calkins and Lisa Wolters with the Public Housing Authorities;
Co-presented with the Bremerton Housing Authority and local partners about youth housing to HUD Region 10 (recording available in September);

Here’s what DCYF has in process this fall:

Setting/confirming dates for quarterly stakeholder meetings (SSB 5256 stakeholders, family housing stakeholders, and youth stakeholders) between now and June of 2025.
Setting a date for the statewide “umbrella” child welfare housing MOU signing with the HOUSERS;
Preparing to post the Request for Information solicitation document in September;
Contract conversations are happening now in each region where MOUs are in place for FY 24 for both youth and families housing supportive services;
DCYF is gathering information for Q & A documents, training, communications, and tool-kit information, in partnership and based on conversations with AOC, PHAs, OPD, and other organizations, with target audiences that include youth, families, DCYF staff, judicial officers, and others. DCYF is working with AOC on the planning for child welfare housing information-sharing with the courts;
DCYF is preparing information to clarify how to best align federal voucher and state assistance services with those offered by tribal governments, or to reach tribal community members served by state systems;
DCYF is reaching out to property owners and realty companies statewide and in regions and counties to share what’s working, and learn more about their processes and needs;
Posting job announcements for the 3.0 FTE new Regional Housing Liaisons/Consultants to support the existing part-time Regional Housing Leads;
Planning for regional housing staff coverage in future years.

Here’s what DCYF is planning to have by the end of the year:

Regional providers identified for family housing supportive services and youth supportive services and navigation mapping;
3.0 FTE staff (1.0 FTE to serve 2 regions each) Regional Housing Liaisons/Consultants hired and in training;
Meetings with leaders and caseworkers in all six DCYF Regions to provide updates and answer questions;
Delivering with AOC information sharing sessions for the courts.

Here’s what you can do to help:

PLEASE HELP DCYF PROMOTE THE Request for Information solicitation by sending it to the community organizations you work with, when it comes out in September.
Please let Cole and I know what questions you have (or what I forgot to address), and if you would like to meet. We’ll be having conversations with many partners as we take these steps between now and the end of the year.