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Six Immediate Steps for THP-Plus Stability
**NOTE: This resource has been updated and can now be found here and here. (August 24, 2020)
Youth Law Center, in partnership with John Burton Advocates for Youth and Bay Area Legal Aid, has developed a resource to promote housing stability among youth in California’s Transitional Housing Program-Plus (THP-Plus). THP-Plus programs provide transitional housing and supportive services for former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 24, and sometimes up to age 25. THP-Plus is a time-limited program, and youth participants have contacted YLC expressing fear and uncertainty about losing their housing during the current public health emergency, when alternative housing options and transitional supports are scarce.
YLC strongly believes that all California counties that contract with THP-Plus providers should take immediate action to maintain youth in THP-Plus housing whenever possible, expand housing capacity for transition age youth, and continue transition planning services to ensure that THP-Plus participants do not exit their programs at extreme risk of homelessness. Youth in THP-Plus are tenants under California law and are entitled to the same protections.
This resource, Six Immediate Steps Counties Can Take to Ensure Housing Stability and Maximize Participation in THP-Plus During COVID-19, describes funding streams and promising strategies that counties should utilize in administering their THP-Plus programs during the current state of emergency and for a reasonable time afterward. Please share this resource widely to any counties, programs, and advocates for whom it would be helpful. For questions about this resource, contact Sabrina Forte, Staff Attorney, at sforte@ylc.org.