The federal Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) awards funding to communities to develop and implement coordinated plans to prevent and end youth homelessness. It encourages communities to rethink our adult-centric homelessness systems and design approaches specifically tailored to the needs of young people, including those impacted by foster care, the criminal legal system, trafficking, family conflict, and systemic inequities.

What is YHDP?

Through competitive funding and technical assistance, YHDP supports communities to:

  • Develop and implement coordinated community plans to prevent and end homelessness for youth ages 18 through 24.
  • Increase access to safe and stable housing for young people.
  • Improve partnerships across youth-serving systems.
  • Center youth with lived expertise in planning and decision-making.
  • Build long-term infrastructure for sustainable change.

YHDP began in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 when Congress first set aside a portion of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care funding for communities to create targeted approaches to prevent and end youth homelessness.

  • Coordinated Community Plans

The first activity a new YHDP community takes on is developing its Coordinate Community Plan (CCP). The CCP is developed in partnership with youth and cross-system community partners and details the state of youth homelessness in that community and how they will use their YHDP funding to address it.

Learn More About YHDP Communities:

If you are a Round 7 or 8 community and you would like your CCP included on this page, please email it to nn4youth@nn4youth.org.

Research, Tools, and Evaluations

Research and evaluations of YHPD models have shown that participating communities are successful in:

  • Developing more equitable and responsive youth-centered systems.
  • Expanding access to youth-specific housing and services.
  • Increasing collaboration across systems, including housing, child welfare, education, and behavioral health.
  • Elevating the leadership of Youth Action Boards (YABs) comprised of young people with lived experience.

Results from YHDP communities have influenced national policy and continue to shape innovative approaches to ending youth homelessness nationwide. Read the YHDP research, tools, and evaluation reports to learn more.

Do you have YHDP-specific research, tools, or evaluations, that you want us to add to this page? Email them to nn4youth@nn4youth.org.

Limitations

Despite the success of YHDP communities, YDHP’s impact remains limited.

  • Annual funding for YHDP is low.​​​​​ Funding for new YHDP communities is a small set aside within the large bucket of Continuum of Care (CoC) funding (see current funding levels). NN4Y advocates to maintain and increase federal investment in YHDP and to ensure the YHDP funding remains as a set aside for youth even after the demonstration period ends.
  • YHDP renewal funding is not fully protected.​​​​ If a YHDP community, in consultation with their YAB, decides not to renew, replace, or reallocate their current YHDP, then that money will be recaptured by HUD and added to the bucket of funding for new YHDP communities. This is good—it keeps YHDP funding in the YHDP bucket. However, if a YHPD community applies for renewal funding but is not successful, that funding is redistributed to other subpopulations, shrinking the overall YHDP bucket.
  • YHDP projects don’t always score well by HUD’s metrics.​​​ The criteria HUD uses to evaluate its programs is designed for those that serve single, older adults experiencing chronic homelessness. These metrics are inappropriate for youth and youth-serving programs, and so youth-serving programs often receive low scores from HUD, even if they produce positive, appropriate outcomes for youth. This negatively impacts YHDP projects’ chances to be renewed competitively.
  • YHDP projects are constrained by the limitations within the CoC structure.​​ Through statute and regulation, the CoC program is designed to serve single, older adults experiencing chronic homelessness. This causes access challenges for youth—who tend to experience homelessness differently than older adults—including the narrow definition of homelessness, eligibility requirements, and prioritization of services for older adults experiencing chronic homelessness.
  • Minors are often left out of services funded through YHDP. YHDP programs predominantly provide housing and supportive services for young people ages 18 through 24, largely leaving out minor-aged youth

  • Limitations are advocacy opportunities!

NN4Y works with Congress and HUD to continue improving YHDP and other programs to prevent and end youth, young adult, and young parent family homelessness. Sign up for our listserv to stay notified of advocacy updates and opportunities.