There's No Place Like a Host Home

Host homes benefit...

The youth-serving agency:

• The model is a flexible housing alternative for youth-serving agencies that have little money to build or maintain basic shelters.
• Host homes provide practical residences for agencies in rural areas, where apartment buildings for transitional living programs are scarce.

The host home family:

• Host homes allow adults to be role models to the youth they house, ensuring that the next generation has the skills to become successful.
• The agency pays the host family for room rental and partial utilities - a welcome support to families who may already be caring for the youth.

The youth:

• Youth continue to be part of a home, where they can maintain a sense of belonging and pick up critical life skills.
• The host home model provides youth with an ongoing connection to the youth agency, which in turn provides linkages to and support from other services, like health care, job training, and mental health counseling.

Youth may reap other unforeseen benefits of living with a family. For example, host home families may help youth with transportation to jobs or to school-a fringe benefit that is especially important in rural areas.

Native American youth, in particular:

• The host home model could prove comfortable for Native American youth because it is based on kinship care, a system used by many Tribes.
• If host home family members are Native American, they can help Native American youth connect with their culture.
• The youth-serving agency can provide linkages to a youth's Tribe, reservation, and culture.