Housing support for young adults; federal housing vouchers.

The department, community-based care lead agencies, and housing authorities created under s. 421.04 shall take any action required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to administer the federal Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) initiative and other federal programs and vouchers offered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, which may include the department, the community-based care lead agencies, and their subcontractors doing any of the following:

(1) Entering into a memorandum of understanding or a letter of intent with all of the housing authorities within their service areas.

(2) Providing or securing supportive services for participating youth for the duration of the FYI initiative voucher.

(3) Providing a written certification to the housing authority verifying the youth’s child welfare history.

(4) Identifying youth eligible for an FYI initiative voucher within the community-based care lead agency’s caseload and communicating their eligibility to the youth.

The department, community-based care lead agencies, and their subcontracted service providers that administer housing funds for young adults in the child welfare system shall document actions taken to facilitate a young adult’s acquisition of a residential lease, which may include, but are not limited to, providing assurances to a landlord that funding will be provided on a monthly basis through a housing voucher. This section applies to entities that serve young adults receiving postsecondary educational services and support or aftercare services under s. 409.1451 or young adults receiving continuing care under s. 39.6251.