INDIANAPOLIS (July 2, 2024) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a $1.5 million award to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) that will benefit youth and young adults (YYA) who live with homelessness and housing insecurity throughout Indiana.

The Youth Homelessness System Improvement (YHSI) Grant aims to create a seamless and coordinated system of care for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness within the Indiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (CoC) and in collaboration with the Indianapolis CoC. The grant will allow IHCDA to improve identification of youth in need and make it easier for youth to navigate available services. The grant will also make it possible to:

• Focus on systemic change by funding projects that create and build capacity for Youth Action Boards
• Collect and use data on at-risk youth and youth experiencing homelessness
• Develop strong leaders within a community and improve the coordination, communication, operation and administration of homeless assistance projects to better serve youth, including prevention and diversion strategies

"Together with partners like the Indianapolis Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP), the Indiana Department of Health, the City of South Bend and the Youth Services Bureau of St. Joseph County, IHCDA will be able to leverage YHSI grant funds to greatly improve response systems for youth homelessness in Indiana," said Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch, Indiana's Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. "This is a major step forward for our youth and these funds will make an immediate impact in communities across the state."

The grant application requested support for the following projects:

• Establishing viable local and state partnerships between youth focused and homelessness-focused organizations
• Improving capacity, effectiveness, and YYA leadership
• Improving the BoS CoC coordinated entry system (CES) to address youth-specific homelessness
• Improving data collection and coordination between organizations working with youth at-risk of and experiencing homelessness
• Assessing, addressing, and improving equity in youth homeless response systems

For more information, contact Kristin Garvey, Director of Homeless Services: [email protected]