With CASH LA, Advocates Are Proving That Listening to Lived Experience and Providing Direct Cash Assistance Can Keep Young People Housed
Across seven states, one idea has kept 95% of participants housed: direct cash payments. Now, Los Angeles is joining the movement with CASH LA, a new targeted Direct Cash Program spearheaded by Point Source Youth (PSY). The initiative will provide more than 100 young people at risk of homelessness with financial support to help them stay housed and move forward.
“In Los Angeles, we are working now to double the program’s size and prevent even more youth from experiencing homelessness,” Larry Cohen, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Point Source Youth, said in an interview with Invisible People.
The Los Angeles expansion is in partnership with LA Emissary and Arming Minorities Against Addiction & Disease (AMAAD).
CASH LA builds on the success of PSY’s Targeted Housing Assistance Program, which showed strong results in New York City. Early findings from the nationwide pilot demonstrate that direct cash payments helped stabilize housing for 623 individuals across seven states—Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Texas. Participants also report improved job prospects, educational opportunities, and the ability to relocate to more affordable areas.
“As we finish our first phase in seven states, we are working to expand the program in 10 communities within the next year,” Cohen continued. “We are seeing tremendous support from the philanthropic community, local partners, and city and state officials, all eager to cost-effectively prevent young people from experiencing homelessness, which will in turn save public funds by providing the right support, at the right time.”
In addition to receiving a one-time cash payment tailored to each participant’s needs, individuals meet with a trained provider to create a customized Housing Action Plan. The plan helps individuals identify housing solutions, create a housing plan, establish a budget, and outline actionable steps toward achieving housing stability.
To qualify for the program, participants must be between 18 and 30 years old, facing an imminent housing crisis but not yet homeless meaning they are not currently living in a shelter, sleeping outside, or staying in a car. Participants must also meet with a provider within 30 days to create a Housing Action Plan and budget.
How Lived Experience Shapes Real Solutions
CASH LA centers the expertise of young people with lived experience of homelessness. By involving those who have navigated the crisis firsthand, the program can better identify root causes and design effective, youth-driven solutions to prevent homelessness in Los Angeles.
Funding for CASH LA comes from LA Emissary’s Young Adult Pooled Fund (YAPF). In this youth-led initiative, young people spearhead fundraising efforts and support innovative programs serving their peers.
According to a Point Source Youth press release: “The [YAPF] identified direct cash programs as a priority in its efforts to prevent and end youth homelessness across Los Angeles County … Three youth consultants with lived experience of homelessness have co-led the project after receiving feedback from other youth during focus groups.”
This commitment to youth leadership is echoed by LA Emissary Director Leanndra Martinez, who emphasized that empowering young people isn’t just part of the program—it’s the driving force behind it.
“At LA Emissary, we center young adults with lived experience as co-decision makers in addressing youth homelessness,” Martinez said. “The CASH LA pilot was designed with power-sharing and collaboration at the forefront, empowering young people to design solutions that reflect their real, immediate needs. By centering young people, we shift the paradigm and in doing so, we rebuild the system so it’s truly effective for our community.”
Why Economic Insecurity Drives Youth Homelessness in LA
California is home to nearly a quarter of the nation’s total homeless population and roughly two-thirds of all people living unsheltered in the United States. The crisis is most visible in Los Angeles, where the cost of living and shortage of affordable housing make stability increasingly out of reach.
For young people just entering the workforce or securing housing for the first time, these pressures are even greater. Without established credit, rental history, or high-wage employment, many are just one missed paycheck away from losing their homes.
“The main driver of homelessness in California is economic insecurity,” Martinez said. “CASH LA provides much-needed relief in the form of flexible cash assistance to young people at risk of becoming homeless.”
Martinez added that limited earning potential and steep housing costs leave young adults particularly vulnerable to financial hardship.
“They often haven’t had a chance to build credit and work history, and often are working lower wage jobs, so it’s hard to compete for housing,” she explained. “CASH LA allows them to stabilize their current housing before becoming homeless, so this is a critical part of the strategy to prevent inflow into homelessness.”
How CASH LA Builds Trust and Autonomy Among Youth
For many young people in Los Angeles, homelessness doesn’t begin with a lack of motivation—it begins with a lack of options. The AMAAD Institute, one of CASH LA’s partner organizations, works directly with youth navigating the intersection of housing instability, race, and identity.
Timiah Lenard, Youth Development and Diversion Program Manager at AMAAD, said youth homelessness in Los Angeles is far more widespread than most people realize and prevention programs are scarce.
“Youth homelessness is more prevalent than people think,” Lenard told Invisible People. “Right now, there are no programs in our city to help prevent youth homelessness before it starts.”
CASH LA aims to change that by giving young people more control over their housing decisions.
“In the community that we serve, housing is mostly reliant on government aid,” Lenard explained. “[That means] the community has no autonomy on how or where they live. CASH LA gives young people back the ability to have a say in their housing situations. We have already seen participants use their funds to move into better living situations than they were brought up in.”
For many of the young adults AMAAD serves, particularly LGBTQ+ youth of color, this approach is a lifeline.
“This program offers a pathway to stability that meets them where they are,” Lenard added. “It honors their unique goals and circumstances, and gives them the power to shape their own futures.”
Young people are often overlooked in the conversation around homelessness in LA, mainly because they make up a hidden population. As Martinez noted, their pathways into homelessness are distinct from those of older adults.
“They often are exiting foster care and the justice system, dealing with family rejection, or coming from families that are experiencing poverty and can’t support them,” Martinez said.
What sets CASH LA apart is its willingness to listen. By centering experts with lived experience and letting young people define their needs, the program is rewriting what prevention looks like in Los Angeles.
Preventing Youth Homelessness Before It Begins
Homelessness disrupts lives at any age, but for young people, it can shape the course of adulthood before it’s even begun. Facing high rents, low wages, and the lingering effects of trauma, many are forced to navigate a system that was never built for them.
If we genuinely want to prevent youth homelessness, we must start by listening to those who have experienced it firsthand. Their insights reveal what’s missing—stability, opportunity, and choice—and how to build systems that offer those things before crisis strikes.
Programs like CASH LA and Point Source Youth’s Targeted Housing Assistance Program show what’s possible when we put trust and resources directly into the hands of those most affected. The real solution begins with believing people when they tell us what they need to move forward.
“Any way that we can prevent people from experiencing the trauma of homelessness is an incredible win and needs to be replicated,” Martinez said.