The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) offers support in several programs to provide housing vouchers to eligible young people in our care. We work with a variety of partners to ensure that these youth experience supported transitions into safe, stable, and appropriate housing when they leave our care. As part of this, DCYF's Adolescent Programs division is rolling out a new housing program.
The Child Welfare Housing Assistance Pilot Program (SB 5718) aims to provide housing assistance to parents reunifying with a child. To implement this bill, DCYF is contracting with Reliable Enterprises in Centralia to provide housing support services. Services are provided for eligible families with a dependent child whose primary remaining barrier to reunification is a lack of appropriate housing. These services include housing vouchers, rental assistance, navigation, and other support services.
Our first client family was placed into an apartment in November 2020 and a second family will be housed soon. DCYF is working closely with regional staff, other agencies, and partners to create an outreach plan to generate referrals for the program.
Currently, the pilot is being implemented in Lewis County with plans to expand to all of Region 6 in the future and, we hope, other regions down the line.
Please reach out to Adolescent Programs with any questions at dcyf.adolescentprograms@dcyf.wa.gov.