WV BoS CoC Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program
The WV BoS CoC was selected as a Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) community in September 2021 and awarded $2,612,432 to address youth homelessness that is specifically tailored to the needs of youth and young adults (YYA), including funding for housing units, wrap-around services, and housing support staff and resources. The goal of the YHDP is to support selected communities, including rural, suburban, and urban areas across the United States, in the development and implementation of a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness.
Participation in YHDP will allow the WV BoS CoC to take lessons learned and expand youth navigation resources across the CoC. Our YHDP team has strong youth leadership, a commitment to creating equitable services for marginalized populations, a desire for innovation and flexibility in our approaches to resolving housing crises, and an unwillingness to support failing systems and strategies—all of which will be necessary to achieve our vision. Through the YHDP process, the CoC and its partners are collaboratively designing a system that will:
- Identify and engage youth and young adults at-risk of and experiencing homelessness;
- Minimize the inflow into the homeless system by intervening to prevent the loss of housing and diverting youth from the homeless system back to family and natural supports whenever possible;
- Provide immediate access to low-barrier shelter and crisis services;
- Deliver effective housing assistance and services without preconditions that create sustainable solutions and avert cycles of recurring homelessness; and
- Utilize data to measure and improve the homeless response system and catalyze impactful change.
To learn more about the YHDP planning processing in the WV BoS CoC, check out our Coordinated Community Plan (CCP):
Following the development and HUD approval of the CCP, the CoC solicited for YHDP applications through a competitive funding process. Project applicants were rated and ranked by an external ranking committee comprised of youth with lived experience utilizing the following scoring criteria:
WV BoS CoC YHDP Project Rank:
Selected projects will now move into the final phase of the funding application and apply in e-snaps individually for youth-specific housing and supportive services projects. These selected projects will be eligible to apply for CoC funding in FY 2023.
FY2019 & FY2020 YHDP New Detailed Instructions
FY2019 & FY2020 New Project Application Navigational Guide
