Virtue Visionary Case Study #1
Youth-Led Systems Change Model in Hamilton County
Expanding Access to FYI Housing Vouchers for Foster Youth
Problem
In 2024, leaders of a county youth advisory board discovered that Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) housing vouchers were largely inaccessible to eligible youth, despite the program existing specifically to prevent homelessness among young people aging out of foster care.
The issue surfaced when Youth Advisory Board coordinators attempted to help youth obtain vouchers and found that no clear process existed for accessing them locally. Information about the program was fragmented across agencies, and even professionals within the system were unsure how young people could formally obtain the resource.
Further investigation revealed that although Hamilton County were eligible for up to 50 FYI vouchers, only three were being utilized.
This gap represented a critical missed opportunity, particularly given that 40–50% of youth aging out of foster care experience homelessness within 18 months of leaving care.
Youth Investigation and Systems Mapping
Beginning in June 2024, youth leaders began investigating the issue to understand why the vouchers were not being used.
Youth leaders:
• Researched federal guidance from HUD
• Reviewed best practices from the National Alliance to End Homelessness
• Collected informal data from Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) and Hamilton County Job & Family Services (JFS)
• Identified confusion around eligibility, referrals, and agency coordination
Through this work, youth leaders discovered that no formal referral structure existed between the child welfare system and the public housing authority, creating a bottleneck that prevented eligible youth from accessing the program.
Two youth leaders worked alongside Jay Brown and partners within the Ohio Youth Advisory Board to advance the issue.
Cross-System Collaboration
Over the course of nearly a year, youth leaders coordinated more than ten cross-agency conversations to address the gap.
These conversations included engagement with partners at the:
• Hamilton County Job & Family Services
• Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority
• Ohio Department of Children and Youth
• COHHIO (Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio)
• National Center for Housing and Child Welfare
• Congressional offices
Youth leaders helped bring stakeholders together, share research findings, and continue advancing the issue until a structural solution emerged.
System Change
In March 2025, Hamilton County Job & Family Services and the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve coordination around FYI vouchers.
However, the agreement alone did not immediately create access for youth.
Youth leaders continued working with agencies to clarify roles, identify referral pathways, and ensure the agreement translated into a functional process for identifying and referring eligible youth.
By June 2025, a clear operational referral pathway was established between the child welfare system and the housing authority.
Outcome
Once the referral structure was operational:
• FYI voucher utilization increased from 3 placements to 25 youth housed
• Hamilton County reached its maximum allocation of available vouchers for the fiscal year.
Under federal program rules, counties may qualify for up to 50 vouchers after achieving 90% utilization of their current allocation, positioning Hamilton County to expand access further in the future.
Why This Matters
This initiative demonstrates how youth-led governance can identify hidden system barriers and translate lived experience into operational change.
By bridging gaps between agencies and coordinating cross-system partners, youth leaders helped transform an underutilized federal program into a functional housing pathway for young people transitioning from foster care.
Role of Youth Governance
Youth leaders:
• Identified the problem through lived experience
• Conducted policy and systems research
• Coordinated cross-agency conversations
• Sustained advocacy across local, state, and federal partners
• Ensured policy agreements translated into real access for youth