First Place for Youth

An additional 135 at-risk Bay Area foster youth annually will avoid homelessness and live in safe, affordable apartments provided by First Place through this project. Beyond the stability of housing, the life trajectories of these youth will be transformed through our individualized support services to help them build the skills they need for long-term self-sufficiency. With our continued success, fewer and fewer young adults aging out of foster care will ever experience homelessness or poverty. Our approach is not only effective and grounded in knowledge and compassion, but what we do is cost-effective as well. Our cost per participant includes housing and is approximately $3,333 per month and the return on investment for this cost is exponential: young people finishing high school, enrolling in post-secondary education, securing jobs and embarking on career paths that lead to financial independence. In comparison, the cost of doing nothing is enormous: according to a 2013 national study, the lifetime cost for three of the adverse outcomes often faced by foster youth (early pregnancies, criminal justice involvement, and low education attainment) is roughly $7.8 billion for each cohort of youth aging out of foster care annually. That translates to roughly $300,000 per foster youth and does not include the costs of homelessness or other adverse life experiences. Our solution means a shrinking population of homeless youth, savings in public funds, and progress toward a safer, better Bay Area for all. Additionally, as we continue our longtime practice of sharing findings and service recommendations with fellow providers and key policymakers, the foster care transition experience will be improved for youth across the state and the country.