Incentives and support facilitate stable housing for youth transitioning into adulthood

Santa Fe, NM – The Children, Youth & Families Department and the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority are working to ensure stable housing for young adults, thanks to an innovative program specifically designed to benefit young adults who’ve experienced barriers to housing. The Landlord Collaboration program creates incentives for property owners and managers to lease to older youth and young adults who struggle to secure rental housing.

The key, CYFD has found, is the landlord who can step up to help end youth homelessness.

The program provides extra supports and protections for landlords who are willing to rent to this population of young people. Those supports include:

• Financial assurances for landlords to mitigate risk for potential damages to their property with reimbursements available up to $2,500 for incurrences beyond those covered by deposit
• Up to $1,000 for lessors to make improvements to their properties for HUD compliance
• Up to the equivalent of one month’s rent for vacancy losses reimbursable to the landlord if repairs are required
• Regular check-ins between housing liaisons and both parties to provide early –identification and resolution to any issues arising during the tenancy.

The young-adult participants also benefit from access to resources for success such as case management, life skills support services, and housing specific supports including assistance with navigating the leasing process. 

Additionally, qualified lessors benefit from access to a regular pool of tenant candidates.

To qualify for the program, lessors must be willing to rent to vulnerable young people between the ages of 18 to 24.  For now, this program is available to young adults affiliated with service providers in certain pilot areas of the state, including the 14 Northern counties of NM and the Albuquerque Metro area.

“This program holds great promise for improving outcomes for youth in transition. Providing young New Mexicans who are starting a path toward independence with the additional supports they require in the form of facilitated housing, case management and other resources is foundational for their future success,” said CYFD Cabinet Secretary Barbara J. Vigil.

“Programs such as these provide substantive tools to young adults for supported transitions into adulthood,” Vigil said. “They represent the type of meaningful collaborations at the community level that are critical for the health and well-being of New Mexico’s older youth.”

New Mexico landlords or property managers who wish to join in the effort to house vulnerable young adults can find more information on the program’s website.