Good news for California! Gavin Newsom announces $56 million boost for young adults

California is reaffirming its dedication to vulnerable young adults with a new infusion of capital. Governor Gavin Newsom, in conjunction with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), announced a total of $56 million. This funding will provide additional housing programs and support services for young people at risk of experiencing homelessness, especially those youths transitioning from foster care or probation systems to independent living.

The investment Newsom announced is part of a larger approach that has yielded promising results in California. Since 2020, California has assisted 14,048 young adults through similar funding. This intervention has contributed to a decline in youth homelessness and a smaller increase in unsheltered homelessness than in 44 other states.

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Which California housing programs, announced by Newsom, will receive the new grants?

The $56 million, managed by HCD’s Transitional Age Youth (TAY) programs, is divided among three key initiatives designed to provide comprehensive housing programs and ongoing support to young adults:

• Transitional Housing Program (THP): Receives $33.3 million. This program helps county child welfare agencies identify and manage housing resources and improve coordination of support services for beneficiaries. The program will expand to 52 counties.
• Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program (HNMP): Allocated $13.7 million. This program funds training for social workers in child welfare and probation officers to act as specialized housing navigators with extensive knowledge of resources available to dependent youth. A total of 51 counties benefit from this allocation.
• Supplemental Transitional Housing Plus Program (THP-SUP): Granted $9 million. These funds assist young adults who aged out of foster care starting at 18 and live in the six California counties with the highest apartment rental costs.

Which California counties will receive the funds?

The distribution covers a wide geographic area within California, ensuring the housing program and support reach a significant number of young adults. Counties accepting and benefiting from these grants, depending on the program category, include:

Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba.

Note that 52 of the 56 eligible counties accepted the THP funds; 51 of the 56 counties accepted the HNMP funds; and all 6 eligible counties accepted their THP-SUP allocations.

Progress and outlook on youth housing support in California

California’s commitment to fighting youth homelessness, led by Governor Gavin Newsom, the HCD, and others who have stayed strong, is demonstrating results. The state is making a difference for older youth who are homeless. The Point in Time Count for the age group who are served by the TAY programs has been steadily decreasing: 11,403 in 2020, then 9,908 in 2022; and then 8,569 in 2024. It's important to note these numbers demonstrate the impact of housing programs and supportive assistance.

Data shows that there are about 9,871 young adults between 21 and 24 in California who age out of foster care at age 18, with an additional approximately 3,000 young adults transitioning out each year.