IDHS Homeless Youth Grant

IDHS Homeless Youth Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Illinois Department of Human Services: Division of Family & Community Services
Amount: US $100,000 - US $800,000
Last Updated: May 13, 2025

Summary

The IDHS Homeless Youth program provides essential services for youth aged 14-23 facing homelessness, including emergency shelter, case management, and transitional living support. Focused on safety and independence, the program aims to meet immediate needs while fostering self-sufficiency through education and vocational training. Providers must ensure culturally appropriate services for marginalized youth, promoting partnerships with community organizations. This holistic approach helps youth transition from crisis to stability, ensuring that basic needs are met and pathways to successful living are established.

Overview

Homeless Youth (26-444-80-0711-02) Notice of Funding Opportunity Executive Summary: The Homeless Youth program serves those youth who are 14 to 23 years of age who cannot return home and/or lack the housing and skills necessary to live independently. The program strives to meet the immediate safety and survival needs of youth (food, clothing, and shelter) and to provide services that help homeless youth transition to independent living and become self-sufficient. Services to be provided will include emergency shelter, outreach/case management and transitional living. The services available to youth in these programs include: housing, food, needed goods, and assistance in obtaining and maintaining available support and services in the community, educational services, basic life skills, employment and/or vocational training. The program also ensures necessary service referrals to CCBYS, Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Prenatal and Parenting. The Homeless Youth (HY) program is a holistic model designed to increase the safety of youth ensuring that their basic survival needs are met while also providing safe and stable housing; education and employment services, and the life skills necessary to become self-sufficient. The primary service delivery approach includes assessment and individualized case management. The model include requires all of the following basic program components: Outreach/Case Management (OR/CM)Outreach programs are designed to identify homeless youth to ensure that their basic safety, survival and immediate needs are being met, and to provide, when possible, case management and other services designed to assist the youth in making healthy lifestyle choices.Emergency Shelter/Interim Housing (ES/IH)Emergency Shelter/Interim Housing programs provide temporary housing and services to homeless youth on a 24-hour basis for up to 120 days. These programs are designed to ensure that basic safety, survival and immediate needs are being met, to reunify the youth with his/her family, when possible or to transition them from homelessness to self-sufficient living.Transitional Living (TL)Transitional Living programs provide housing and services to homeless youth for up to 24 months. Programs are designed to transition youth from homelessness to self-sufficient living; and/or to reunify the youth with his/her family, when possible. All Homeless Youth providers will have the capacity to address the immediately identifiable needs of homeless youth through an emergency safety assessment/care plan that will identify and address immediate needs such as safety, food, clothing, shelter, medical, etc. through direct interventions and appropriate referrals. Providers will have one or more facilities located in areas frequented by and/or easily accessible by homeless youth where Outreach services will be made available. Outreach/Case Management services will include maintaining the capacity to provide case management services to youth not housed in the program at any given time. All providers will have the capacity to provide homeless youth access to age-appropriate emergency/interim shelter available on a 24-hour basis for a maximum of 120 days. All projects will have a Transitional Living Program component that will provide stable, safe living accommodations for youth for a maximum of 24 months. These accommodations may be host family homes, group homes, supervised apartments, etc. Supervised apartments are either agency-owned apartment buildings or "scattered-site" apartments, which are single-occupancy apartments rented directly by youth with support from the agency or rented directly by the supporting agency. All services and supports should be crafted and provided ensuring marginalized communities -youth of color, LEP youth, LGBTQ+ youth, youth with disabilities and/or mental/behavioral health conditions- are being served in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applications from existing projects / providers are eligible to compete with applications for new State awards. Successful applicants under this NOFO may be eligible to receive two subsequent one-year grant renewals for this program.Eligible Applicants are limited to those public and private nonprofit community-based organizations subject to 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the tax code (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) or 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(4)). In addition to the above non-profit community-based organizations, eligible applicants are inclusive of units of local government, public schools, districts and Regional Offices of Education.Applications will only be eligible for consideration that propose programming that includes ALL three required program components (Outreach/Outreach Case Management; Emergency Shelter/Interim Housing; and Transitional Living).The applicant must meet the Registration pre-qualification, and any other mandatory Requirements listed in this funding opportunity.Must be in "good standing" with the Illinois Secretary of State if the Illinois Secretary of State requires the entity's organization type to be registered.Applications will only be eligible for consideration that propose programming that includes ALL three required program components (Outreach/Outreach Case Management; Emergency Shelter/Interim Housing; and Transitional Living).Successful applicants must hold all necessary licensees for the program model proposed.

Ineligibility

Pre-Award costs prior to the start date of the grant agreement are not allowable for this award.Applications will NOT be considered eligible that propose fewer than 4 daily program slots/beds in any of the 3 required components.Applicants must be prequalified; therefore, applications from entities that have not prequalified prior to and on the due date of this application will NOT be reviewed and will NOT be considered for funding.Must not be on the Illinois Stop Payment ListMust not be on the Sam.gov Exclusion ListMust not be on the Medicaid Sanctions List (DHFS Provider Sanctions List)