{"id":2471,"date":"2023-10-17T11:02:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T18:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/?p=2471"},"modified":"2026-01-30T14:38:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:38:35","slug":"hsa-new-income-pilot-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/hsa-new-income-pilot-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Ventura County Human Services Agency Announces New Income Pilot Program for Former Ventura County Foster Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2471\" class=\"elementor elementor-2471\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-636dcd4a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"636dcd4a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;jet_parallax_layout_list&quot;:[]}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-56b7a5e0\" data-id=\"56b7a5e0\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6f43607b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6f43607b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Contact: Robin Godfrey, Public Affairs Strategist, (805) 798-7008, <a href=\"mailto:Robin.Godfrey@ventura.org\">Robin.Godfrey@ventura.org<\/a><\/p><hr \/><p>VENTURA, Calif.\u2014Today, the Ventura County Human Services Agency (HSA), in partnership with Ventura County-based nonprofit James Storehouse, opened the application period for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesstorehouse.org\/vcthrive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VC Thrive<\/a>, a supplemental income pilot program serving former foster youth between the ages of 21 and 26 with low incomes. The 18-month program provides monthly stipends of $1,000 to 150 eligible individuals.<\/p><p>Many young adults aging out of foster care with limited resources and support networks face challenges that make it difficult to achieve their goals for education, employment, housing and overall well-being. By providing a supplemental monthly income to help cover necessities such as food, housing and utilities, VC Thrive aims to enable participants to focus on pursuing educational and career opportunities that will put them on a path toward self-sufficiency and a greater quality of life.<\/p><p>\u201cThis is an amazing opportunity to break the cycle of poverty experienced by many young adults transitioning out of foster care,\u201d said HSA Director Melissa Livingston. \u201cInvesting in them is not only an investment in their future but in that of the broader community. We encourage everyone who is eligible to apply.\u201d<\/p><p>To be eligible for the VC Thrive income pilot program, participants must:<\/p><ul><li>Be a former foster youth between the ages of 21 and 26 who aged out of care in Ventura County (eligible youth can apply up to 90 days before their 21st birthday or 30 days after their 26th birthday);<\/li><li>Currently reside in California; and<\/li><li>Have an annual household income that falls at or below the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hcd.ca.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/grants-and-funding\/income-limits-2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HUD low-income limit for Ventura County<\/a> (i.e. $74,400 for single-person household, $85,500 for two-person household, etc.).<\/li><\/ul><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesstorehouse.org\/vcthrive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Visit the VC Thrive website<\/a> for more details and a link to the application. The application will close on Feb. 29, 2024, or as soon as 150 eligible applicants have been enrolled in the program.<\/p><p>The VC Thrive supplemental income pilot program is made possible by an over $1.5 million grant from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdss.ca.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State Department of Social Services<\/a>, $1.5 million in County funding, and $2,700 in private funds. After a competitive bidding process, HSA selected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesstorehouse.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James Storehouse<\/a>\u2014a Newbury Park nonprofit with extensive experience supporting current and former foster youth\u2014to administer the program.<\/p><p>\u201cI am so proud that James Storehouse is part of VC Thrive. These young people need our support as they pursue their education and employment goals. This program won\u2019t just help them survive; it will help them to actually thrive,\u201d said James Storehouse Executive Director Stacy DeWitt.<\/p><p>James Storehouse is helping HSA conduct outreach about VC Thrive to young adults exiting the foster care system and is responsible for reviewing applicants\u2019 eligibility for the program, enrolling the selected participants, and managing the onboarding process.<\/p><p>Anyone needing assistance with their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesstorehouse.org\/vcthrive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VC Thrive application<\/a> can call James Storehouse at (805) 499-7161 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.<\/p><hr \/><p><strong>About the Ventura County Human Services Agency (HSA)<\/strong><\/p><p>HSA provides high-quality public services that offer support, hope and opportunity for improved well-being. <a href=\"https:\/\/venturacounty.gov\/human-services-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Visit us online<\/a> to learn more about our services; and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VenturaCountyHumanServicesAgency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vchumanservices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/vchumanservices\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">X<\/a>.<\/p><p><strong>About James Storehouse<\/strong><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesstorehouse.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James Storehouse<\/a> is a 501(c)(3) community-based nonprofit established in 2012. Located in Newbury Park, Calif., James Storehouse partners with local public and private child welfare agencies. From cribs to college, James Storehouse supports children in foster care, youth aging out of foster care, children who have been commercially sexually exploited, children \u201cat-risk\u201d of removal, and all of their caregiving families.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contact: Robin Godfrey, Public Affairs Strategist, (805) 798-7008, Robin.Godfrey@ventura.org VENTURA, Calif.\u2014Today, the Ventura County Human Services Agency (HSA), in partnership with Ventura County-based nonprofit James Storehouse, opened the application period [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.venturacounty.gov\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}