Vancouver Housing Authority is among three housing authorities in the state to receive about $2.5 million in funding for housing assistance vouchers intended to help children in foster care.
Family Unification Vouchers are meant to reunite foster children with their families and caregivers as well as house young adults (ages 18 to 24) who have aged out of the foster system. Vancouver got $565,155 for 60 new vouchers, in addition to the 43 it already has.
The King County and Seattle housing authorities each received $966,042 for a combined 136 vouchers. The state awards were part of the federal agency announcing that 3,093 Family Unification Vouchers totalling $29.9 million would be awarded to housing authorities across the country through the Family Unification Program.
“Strong, stable families are the key to strong, vibrant communities,” Jeff McMorris, regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in a news release. “Family Unification Vouchers help families reunite and re-stabilize and resume building for a better future.”
Housing authorities will work with local welfare offices to identify youth at risk of homelessness and families for whom a lack of adequate housing is the primary reason their children are in foster care.
