LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A homelessness prevention program that helps foster youth is expanding in Los Angeles.
The Mayor’s Fund’s homeless prevention program, “We are LA,” now includes youth transitioning out of the foster care system, who are at higher risk of ending up on the streets.
Esmeralda Barajas said she began in foster care at age 8 and still remembers the day she was released from the system.
“When I turned 18, my world fell apart,” Barajas said. “I gave birth to my first child and had so many complications and illnesses that I nearly lost my home and was unable to work.”
That’s when the Children’s Legal Center stepped in and paid Barajas’ rent for a month, which she says made her life easier by allowing her to pay back others and save up for rent.
Mayor Karen Bass and the Mayor’s Fund want to provide similar support to all foster youth who leave care.
“When you look at homeless people, there are a lot of different categories,” Bass said. “One category that’s rarely mentioned is young people in the foster care system, who are cut off at age 18 or 21.”
The program partners with the Children’s Law Center and the Right Way Foundation to provide housing opportunities and other resources to young people up to age 24 who have left the foster care system.
“We need benefits, jobs and housing for people leaving the system,” said Conway Collis, president of the Mayor’s Fund.
The program pairs young people with welfare navigators who can provide housing assistance and food stamp assistance.
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