SUNTORY COLLECTION

Feds send $10M San Diego County’s way for youth homelessness

It was the latest round of funding aimed at heading off long-term encampments.

Feds send $10M San Diego County’s way for youth homelessness + ' Main Photo'

The federal government is giving the San Diego region nearly $10 million to help homeless youth, the latest round of funding aimed at preventing homelessness from either happening in the first place or lasting for decades.

Many officials believe more needs to be spent on the front end of a crisis that has grown every month for more than two-and-a-half years.

We’re committed to ending youth homelessness in our region, Tamera Kohler, CEO of the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, said in a statement, and this grant will certainly help us achieve that goal by funding new housing options and related services.

Another program announced last month aims to keep dozens of former foster kids off the streets and private donors have boosted aid for adults who recently became homeless, although prevention and so-called diversion funding generally receive far less support than shelters and other more visible projects.

The San Diego City Councils ongoing budget negotiations will help shape whether that changes next year.

The task force applied for the newest grant with the YMCA of San Diego County and Our Time To Act, a nonprofit largely made up of students from area high schools and colleges. All too often, youth and young leaders are tokenized, Nicole Lillie, the groups executive director and a recent graduate of UC San Diego, said in a statement. We look forward to an authentic, intergenerational partnership.

The nonprofit will help guide what types of housing are eventually supported with the $9,754,764. The grant was given by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

San Diego Countys most recent point-in-time count was a mixed bag when it came to youth homelessness. The annual tally found that the number of young adults without a steady roof (839) was up but that the population of homeless children (956) was down.

Yet both totals are almost certain undercounts. The California Department of Education, which uses a different tracking method, reported more than 17,800 homeless students in the county during the last academic year.