NCO Extends Age for Transitional Housing

When Deborah Carr launched the transitional housing program for  in 2000, she said very few people believed there were homeless youths living in DuPage County.

Carr, the residential program director for NCO, knew different. She was the one taking the phone calls from social workers, counselors or the police, trying to find housing for homeless young adults.

In just the last few weeks, the program, which provided transitional housing to young men and women 18 to 21, was recently extended to provide housing for males up to the age of 24, she said.

One big reason for the need is the economy, she said. Carr noticed the increase in demand over the last two years.

“I found over the years that 24 is the new 18,” Carr said. “I don’t know many 18-year-olds ready to take care of themselves, regardless of family support.”

And, many kids are thrown on the street once they turn 18, whether they have graduated from high school or not, especially with the downturn in the economy, she said.

Carr said she was receiving a lot of calls from people trying to find housing for adults 21 to 25. She kept statistics on these kind of of calls, and over a year and a half she had received about 40 requests.

“I didn’t have anywhere to send them other than the shelter,” Carr said.

Even with the extension in age range, Carr has a waiting list.

“If I have someone living in a car versus those who are couch surfing, I am probably going to take the one in the car,” she said.

NCO Youth & Family Services is based in Naperville and provides a number of services including counseling, crisis intervention, substance abuse education and prevention, a group home for boy and transitional housing.

The transitional housing sites are in Aurora and Downers Grove. In Downers Grove there is a female program serving 10 and a male program serving 10. In Aurora, the program serves four.

Carr contacted the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds the male program in Downers Grove and they responded within weeks, allowing NCO to extend the age range to 24.

Because the funding sources vary from site to site, the extension is only offered to the HUD-funded site right now, she said.

In some cases those needing transitional housing may have been living on their own, but had problems that led them to be homeless, Carr said.

Others may have been kicked out of the house. And it’s not unusual for some youths to live with grandparents who then move into senior housing, leaving the grandchild without a home.

The Illinois Department of Human Services funded a 2005 University of Illinois report on homeless youth, which found that as many as 25,000 youth are homeless annually in Illinois, according to the Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness.

The organization also cites research that estimates that about 5 percent to 7.7 percent of youth experience homelessness each year.

The transitional housing program through NCO is voluntary, so the young adults who sign on want to be there, Carr said. The average stay is between nine and 12 months. They must stay at least six months.

Through the program the young adults learn life skills, she said. All of the residents must have jobs and have to earn a G.E.D. or obtain a diploma.

“We are trying to provide stability,” she said. “They know what to expect there. They have the opportunity to come home to the same home, the same apartment, their own room. Some have been bopped around so much they haven’t had that. … And they can feel safe.”

Young women can stay in the transitional housing up to 18 months, men for up to 24 months.

While programs used to look at what was lacking or wrong in the youth’s lives, Carr said the the current program tries to look at what skills and strengths the young adults have.

The goal is to empower them, reinforce the importance of taking responsibility and teach them not to use their past as an obstacle to achieving in the future.

Since 2000, NCO has provided about 300 young people with transitional housing, she said.

Funding is always a need for the organization, but Carr said she is seeking mentors and volunteers, including people to help with GED preparation and driving practice.

Because most of the residents do not have a drivers license, getting a license and a car is important. Without the ability to drive it is hard to find a job, Carr said.

“Every single kid that comes in, whether they stay two years or less, leaves with something, whether that is a Link Card or a GED,” she said. “They have more tools in their toolbox and that starts the day they walk in the door. A seed gets planted and helps them do it on their own.”

To learn more about NCO Youth & Family Services visit the website.