PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — With a lack of safe and affordable housing being one of the primary reasons preventing families from reuniting with their kids in foster care, the recently approved $1.5 million in the state budget will allow Youth & Family Advocates (YFA), a child welfare agency serving 6,000 kids in West-Central Florida, to put families first in the fight for affordable housing.
YFA is planning to break ground early next year on its Speer II housing complex in New Port Richey, which will feature 50 new units with one to three bedrooms.
It’s designed to serve 110 families, children and youth aging out of foster care. The goal is to assist families at risk of separation or foster care because of housing challenges, and minimize the trauma of family separation, according to YFA officials…