Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced the City of New York has been awarded a $15 million grant as part of the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP). This funding, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will support a wide range of new housing and service interventions to prevent and end youth homelessness. New York City, through its Continuum of Care, a cross-sector coalition of homeless housing and shelter providers, consumers, advocates, and government, will work with a broad array of partners, including youth themselves, to develop a coordinated community plan to prevent and end youth homelessness.
“New York City’s recovery will be driven by all of us, especially young New Yorkers,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This $15 million award will help us build on our efforts to prevent and end youth homelessness for good. I’m proud of all of the city leaders and youth partners whose deep collaboration has led to this exciting opportunity.”
“We are thankful to HUD for this $15 million grant, which will help us create new solutions to address youth homelessness that build on our existing investments in youth beds, drop-in centers, pilot programs for cash transfers and more,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Melanie Hartzog. “I am also thankful for our partner agencies and the youth advocates who consistently collaborate to ending youth homelessness once and for all.”
“The City is excited to receive $15 million in federal funding to turn the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program into real world solutions. Mayor de Blasio has prioritized this issue, as demonstrated by the Administration’s commitment to supportive housing, youth beds, the Youth Homelessness Taskforce, and specialized services for the LGBTQI community. We thank the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, our community partners, and, most importantly, the young people who will help us develop innovative and effective strategies to reduce youth homelessness,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives J. Phillip Thompson.
The de Blasio Administration has made multiple new investments to help youth experiencing homelessness transition off the streets and into permanent housing, including through the creation of hundreds of new youth beds at the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), an expansion of twenty-four-hour DYCD youth drop-in centers in every borough, an investment in public private partnership to pilot a Direct Cash Transfer Project, an allotment of roughly 1,700 permanent supportive housing units through the NYC 15/15 initiative, the creation of the Youth Homelessness Taskforce, the appointment of a Senior Advisor for Youth Homelessness and an investment to design a mobile tool to better connect youth with resources and services. This award will build on those commitments. Projects will have a particular focus on especially vulnerable youth in New York City such as LGBTQ youth and youth of color who experience homelessness at disproportionate rates.
“DYCD is proud to be the lead agency of this coordinated community planning process to develop a plan aimed at ending youth homelessness in the City. We look forward to engaging with stakeholders across all sectors, particularly the young people whose lived experiences will add a critical voice to the work. DYCD thanks HUD, our agency and community partners, and the young people of the Youth Action Board who will continue to be invaluable members of our team as we move forward,” said DYCD Commissioner Bill Chong.]
“Addressing the challenge of homelessness requires an all hands-on deck approach at every level of government, and we are pleased that our federal partners recognize the importance of collaboration in achieving our shared mission of supporting some of our City’s most vulnerable youth,” said DSS Commissioner Steven Banks. “This latest federal grant will advance the City’s ongoing efforts to connect youth experiencing homelessness in New York City to the resources and services they need to get back on their feet, including by funding the development of several new transitional and supportive housing facilities. As we emerge from this unprecedented crisis, we thank our federal partners for this important funding, which will help ensure that youth in our City can access opportunity and safe, stable housing.”
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