On March 24, 2022 the US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) issued their Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), providing instruction on how communities across the US can apply for $72 million to prevent and end homelessness. The YHDP is one of the first dedicated federal initiatives that funds permanent housing programs for youth, and focuses on building local coordinated systems for responding to youth homelessness.
The deadline for communities to apply is June 28, 2022, after which HUD will award funds to up to 25 communities nationwide. Once HUD announces the selected recipients, the communities will have 6 months to develop and submit a Coordinated Community Plan detailing a vision, list of goals, objectives, action steps, and new projects, among other things, that will meet the need to prevent and end youth homelessness.
For the next several months, as a broad range of stakeholders focus their attention on the NOFO and its goal to build local and national momentum to address youth homelessness, My Dog Is My Home is launching its new blog with a series dedicated to youth experiencing homelessness with their animal companions. By spotlighting the voices of youth with lived experience, research, and programs, we hope this series both expresses the need for pet-friendly services and provides a roadmap for serving youth and their animals together in homeless services.
To begin, watch this video about Judie - a young person who struggled to find services that would accept her and her dogs together: https://youtu.be/Rm2U6KaqSkE.