Young people are key part of strategy to tackle homelessness in 2025, Pierce County says
Pierce County is planning to make significant steps to address homelessness among youth in 2025 thanks to grant funding and assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The department says a large part of the new initiatives will be incorporating input and perspective from young people who have experienced homelessness.
According to Pierce County, the most recent annual survey of those living unhoused found roughly 500 youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in the county. Almost 300 of them were under the age of 18.
Tacoma Public Schools is recognized to have the highest number of McKinney-Vento students in the state. The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.”
According to TPS spokesperson Kathryn McCarthy, the district served 2,685 students through McKinney-Vento programming during the 2023-2024 school year. Of those, 414 were considered “unaccompanied youth.”
At the end of 2024, Pierce County was selected by HUD to be a part of its 100-Day Challenge program. The 100-day challenge is a national initiative through which HUD provides technical assistance to local governments through third-party consultants.
The program is intended to inspire innovative solutions to youth homelessness through community collaboration and is designed to create a sense of urgency by putting a 100-day timeline on the planning process.
“What is really great about the 100-Day Challenge is it brings the community together in a full collaboration,” Human Services Program specialist Valeri Almony told The News Tribune in an interview. “You really look at where the gaps are, what is working, what is not working, trying something new and not being scared to fail.”
According to Almony, Pierce County previously took part in the 100-Day Challenge in 2018 and found housing for 176 young people in 100 days.
She said one of the lessons learned is that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and it requires strategic and personalized plans that fit each individual’s needs and goals.
Almony said some strategies to assist young people out of homelessness included reunification with families, finding them host homes, as well as finding landlords willing to work with young people — a demographic that can be perceived as risky to landlords due to their lack of credit history and limited work experience.
One of the crucial early events in the 100-Day Challenge will take place on Feb. 4 when youth service providers, members of the system of care and representatives from the Youth Action Board will come together to set goals.
“How can we find out what we need in the community and what we need to do to stop creating our own barriers so we can house as many people as possible,” Almony characterized the challenge.
Devon Isakson, social service supervisor with Human Services, told The News Tribune this year’s 100-Day Challenge will be centered around gathering buy-in and support from young people.
“That’s what makes this different from some other opportunities that come along in the homeless service space,” she told The News Tribune in an interview. “This is really an opportunity to elevate the voices of young folks with lived experience and say, ‘Hey, what can we do different, what can we do better?’”
The goal, according to Isakson, is to get their help in designing a system that is actually going to meet their needs.
Chloe Matsunaga and Elaina Darrington are both members of the Pierce County’s Youth Action Board, a group that brings youth perspective and experience to help advise the region’s homelessness response.
In an interview with The News Tribune, Matsunaga said one of her focuses will be to raise awareness for resources available to young people. She said, in her experience, people are not aware of programs and services, or how to access them.
Darrington told The News Tribune she believes there needs to be more resources and supports for the various stages of their “housing journey.” She said some people might need assistance even after they have been housed.
“Maybe I am a young person and I just had a baby, and I need to know how to be a good parent,” she said in an interview. “And that’s helping someone else’s future story, right? So, maybe looking at it as more of a stop-gap for causing more generational harm.”
In October, Pierce County was awarded $3.5 million from HUD for what is known as Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP), which supports housing solutions such as rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and host homes to mitigate youth homelessness.
Isakson said the county is in a unique position as the first county to ever be awarded these two initiatives at the same time. She said the plan developed during the 100-Day Challenge and the input gathered from the Youth Action Board will help inform how the county applies the grant funding from YHDP.
Matsunaga told The News Tribune that she is hopeful the initiatives will make progress in creating a system that provides sustainable results.
“I, personally, am very excited for the YDHP project because of all the involvement that they are having with the [Youth Action Board],” she said. “And I know me and my fellow [Youth Action Board] members all have very different experiences which we bring to the table.”
The 100-Day challenge is scheduled to officially launch in March, and the applications for YDHP funding are planned to open in May.
