News release
Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, announced this week that more than $2 million in funding from the Housing Navigators Program will go to child welfare services in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
A program of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the HNP funds housing specialists (“navigators”) to serve in counties across the state. These navigators will help young adults aged 18 to 21 locate and maintain housing. The HNP was designed to prioritize and benefit the foster youth population in particular.
“Support for foster youth has been a legislative focus of mine for years,” said Wilk. “They often struggle after leaving the system and data unfortunately shows that California’s housing and homelessness challenges disproportionately impact them. I am very pleased to see an HCD program that recognizes the needs of our foster youth.”
The Senate Republican legislative package to ACT on combating homelessness, which calls for Accountability, Compassion, and Treatment, acknowledges that former foster youth can be at a greater risk for homelessness. A study found that “close to 31% of transition-age foster youth experience homelessness” in California.
