Youth advocacy group urges state to invest in affordable housing for the well-being of children

A central Indiana youth advocacy group wants the state to invest in more affordable housing for Hoosier families. The Marion County Commission on Youth said a lack of housing and other basic needs can cause a negative domino effect for children.

A family's access to things like transportation, employment, child care and housing plays an important role in the well-being of children, said MCCOY's president Liz Coit.

Indiana has more dual status youth compared to other states. That means that children in foster care or involved with Child Protective Services are also often in the juvenile justice system.

Coit said children are often not returning home to a stable environment, causing them to be removed. She said when children don't have steady housing this can place children in a situation to make poor choices that lead them into the juvenile system.

"Where did this path start for this child? Probably because their parents were affected in some way," Coit said. "Also somewhere those basic needs weren't being met. And put this child in the situation where they're making poor choices — or forced to make poor choices, probably in some cases."

Coit said Indiana should look at models other cities are using to create affordable housing so more families in the state can have stability.

"We do not want our children living on the street. We do not want our children removed from their homes, if we can give them a safe home to be in," Coit said.

Timoria is our labor and employment reporter. Contact her at tcunningham@wfyi.org