Cash Assistance and Tailored Support Help NYC’s Homeless Youth Stay Housed, Save Money, and Build Stability
In the U.S., many parents provide financial assistance to their adult children, primarily to help with rent.
Collectively, parents spend about $500 billion a year helping their adult children, a privilege that can translate into better health, educational opportunities, and future financial stability. However, there are significant racial and ethnic disparities in parental financial support due to structural inequalities in economic resources. For young adults who do not have access to parental support, financial hardship can soon turn to homelessness.
Nationwide, barely 1% of young adult households are able to secure a housing voucher. That number alone reveals how severely under-resourced our systems are when it comes to supporting youth who are homeless or on the brink.
According to a recent policy brief by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, “only one-third of young adults who enter local homelessness systems obtain entry to a permanent housing program, and those who get housed wait on average 4 to 5 months.”
“When young people do manage to secure housing vouchers, they face insurmountable challenges (lack of credit history, discrimination, and lack of consistent employment income, among others) in using the vouchers, especially in tight housing markets where landlords have little incentive to house this population,” the brief continues.
Evidence shows that current solutions to addressing youth homelessness are not only inadequate but also fall short of reaching an impact at the population level. This means there are too few federally funded housing and rental assistance programs that youth and young adults can access. Regarding those that do exist, many programs come with high barriers to entry, including disability status, age restrictions, very rigid income limitations, and other restrictions for immigrants, those with prior convictions, and student status.
Understanding the Cash Plus Model for NYC Youth: From Crisis to Surviving to Thriving
“New York City is facing a deep affordability crisis, and young people experiencing homelessness are feeling it acutely,” Larry Cohen, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Point Source Youth, told Invisible People. “The question we have to answer is: how do we provide real solutions to an affordability crisis that’s happening right now?”
Cohen shared Point Source Youth’s “simple and effective” approach: direct cash and tailored housing support for up to 2 years, which “provides a financial foundation while young people pursue education, job training, and other income support.”
“On top of that, we offer an additional one-time enrichment fund of $3,000–$5,000 to cover essential upfront costs like first and last month’s rent, moving expenses, or transportation,” Cohen continued. “This combination of direct cash, financial coaching, and supportive services helps young people move into safe, stable housing immediately—not months or years later. It recognizes what we all know to be true: housing stability starts with having the resources to pay for housing.”
Similar to the Housing First approach, the Cash Plus model begins by addressing housing insecurity directly. Once a young person has a stable place to live, services are layered around them to help maintain that stability and support their individual needs—everything from food access and mental health care to childcare, education, job training, disability support, and financial literacy. For young adults navigating independence for the first time, these needs can be especially complex.
The Cash Plus Model has two core components:
Cash: Bi-monthly cash payments plus a one-time “Enrichment” payment equal to three months of rent.
“The fund is designed to support an exit from homelessness or coping with a housing crisis,” Cohen said. “For example, paying for first or last month’s rent, a security deposit, furniture, paying off arrears, debt, a car, or insurance, among other things.”
Plus: A suite of youth-focused services designed to help young adults secure and sustain stable housing. These supports include:
- landlord connections
- help with leasing up
- roommate conflict
- utility setup
- moving fees
- ongoing housing navigation
“Housing navigation is a central part of the youth-directed services that support a housing outcome,” Cohen said.
Beyond housing logistics, the organization provides additional supports to help young adults move from crisis to stability and eventually to thriving, including:
- Financial coaching (goal-based budgeting, bolstering credit, connections to longer-term asset-building opportunities)
- social-emotional support
- life-skills development
- behavioral health resources
- education and career services
- links to other public benefits
Trust Youth Initiative (TYI) Cash Plus Pilot Program Findings
“Overall, 95% of young people told us that receiving direct cash improved their lives, which really underscores how powerful it is to trust youth to make their own financial decisions,” said Cohen.
Point Source Youth launched the Trust Youth Initiative, the first-ever privately funded Cash Plus pilot program for young adults in NYC in 2022.
According to the study’s findings, TYI’s Cash component included two payments of $550 per month for 24 months, and Enrichment Funds, a one-time lump-sum payment of $3,000. Participants could access Enrichment Funds any time during the 24-month period to cover a significant expense, such as paying the first or last month’s rent or putting down a security deposit. Supportive services were provided to all 29 participants over the 24 months, primarily via text message or email.
According to the study, “staff recorded 5,843 points of contact with the 29 participants over the 24-month program period. During this process, staff documented all supportive services they offered or provided to participants during each touchpoint. Housing navigation/support and general check-ins were the most frequently offered or provided supportive services, followed by other specialized services tailored to the unique needs of young adults. These specialized services included career and education support, resources related to meeting basic needs, and mental health support.”
At the end of the NYC Trust Youth Initiative (TYI) Cash Plus Pilot Program, the following results were recorded:
- Nearly all participants agreed or strongly agreed that the cash improved their life circumstances (96%)
- The program enabled them to secure safe and stable housing (92%)
- The program supported them in achieving their goals (90%)
- Nearly all young adults agreed or strongly agreed that the program positively impacted their lives (93%)
- Supportive services were affirming (93%)
- The program helped them focus on education, training, and work (97%)
- The majority agreed or strongly agreed that the supportive services helped them navigate their journey (89%)
- Participants felt more prepared for the future (89%)
Young adults enrolled in the NYC Trust Youth Initiative (TYI) Cash Plus Pilot Program were more financially stable, were housed longer, and had more savings than those receiving regular services through the Human Resources Administration (HRA) or ACCESS HRA NYC.
“Direct cash and tailored support have proven to be more effective than any other approach we’ve seen,” Cohen said. “Six months after the program ended, only 8% of young people who received cash experienced homelessness, compared to 25% of those who didn’t.”
Additionally, the study found that:
Housing voucher application rates jumped to 90% by month 12 for TYI-enrolled young adults. However, the high level of voucher applications is likely correlated with the influx of Federal housing vouchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the cost of housing in NYC and the lack of available rentals, in the end, many TYI young adults (56%) found vouchers alongside cash to be a critical solution for long-term, stable housing.
By month 30, 19% of TYI participants had savings of $500 or more, while only 6% of services-as-usual participants had savings of $500 or more.
This study found that the current services provided by the Human Resources Administration (HRA), or ACCESS HRA NYC, and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) are not enough to prevent or address youth homelessness in NYC. It also demonstrates how effective direct cash can be not only in preventing homelessness, but also in making the experience of homelessness as short as possible and preventing a repeat experience.
“No young person should have to say, ‘I don’t want a shelter; I want a safe place to live,’ and be told that option isn’t available,” Cohen said. “The solution is simple: trust young people and provide them with the cash and support they need over time to build stability and access their creativity and ingenuity in resourcing a solution to their housing crisis.”
“At Point Source Youth, we’re sharing data from the Chapin Hall study with city leaders to show how direct cash and housing assistance outperform traditional shelter models, and provide a scalable, cost-effective solution for many young people experiencing homelessness,” he concluded.