Building Program Capacity to Support Youth at Risk of Homelessness (YARH): Phases I-III

Youth and young adults with child welfare involvement face significant challenges in their transition to adulthood, which increases their risk of becoming homeless. To build the evidence base on what works to prevent homelessness for those who have been involved in the child welfare system, the Children’s Bureau funded a multiphase grant program, referred to Youth at Risk of Homelessness (YARH).

YARH has two main goals: The first was to support communities in designing comprehensive service models intended to prevent homelessness among youth and young adults involved in the child welfare system. The second is to test one of these models to build the evidence base on promising strategies that support these youth.

• Phase I: In September 2013, the Children’s Bureau awarded 18 grantees two-year planning grants to develop a comprehensive service model that identified the changes needed in the local child welfare system.
• Phase II: In September 2015, the Children’s Bureau awarded implementation grants to 6 of the 18 Phase I grantees.
• Phase III: In 2019, YARH continued to provide important information to the field by supporting organizations from Phase II in evidence-building activities, including providing evaluation technical assistance; assessing sites’ readiness for summative evaluation; and designing and conducting a federally led evaluation of at least one comprehensive service model.