Good River Partners
The City of Austin and LifeWorks engaged HR&A and Good River Partners to support development of Dismantling the Foster Care to Homelessness Pipeline in Austin, Texas, a landmark 10-point plan to create 2,000 new housing opportunities for young people. Our work responded to a significant increase in youth homelessness in Austin over the past five years.
In 2025, the City of Austin and LifeWorks launched a task force that brought together partners from the City, Travis County, the State of Texas, community, philanthropy, affordable housing development, public housing authorities, advocacy organizations, and academia to create new momentum, unlock new investment, and sustain regional coordination to end the foster care to homelessness pipeline in Austin. With support from HR&A and Good River Partners, the task force developed a comprehensive strategy addressing the housing needs of young people impacted by the child welfare system.
The resulting 10-point plan provides a roadmap to create greater housing opportunity for foster youth, positioning Austin to serve as a national model in its work to make sure no dollar is left on the table that could be used to address the housing needs of young people impacted by the child welfare system. This landmark plan demonstrates the clear-eyed commitment and creativity needed to end the foster care to homelessness pipeline through coordinated regional action.
- Austin’s youth homelessness has quadrupled since 2020; how the city plans to reduce it — Yahoo News
- Task force unveils 10-step plan to keep foster kids from homelessness — CBS Austin
- City of Austin unveils plan to break homelessness cycle for foster kids — KVUE
- Austin unveils 10-Step plan to tackle foster care to homelessness pipeline — KVUE
