It's not enough to treat the symptoms — young adult homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration. We're providing the solution: intervene early, teach the skills, and support community integration.
By age 26:
The systems these young adults rely on don't give them the foundation they need to transition into independent, successful lives. Too often, it becomes a generational pattern — one Waypoint is built to break.
What it costs Michigan taxpayers to incarcerate one person — and up to 17% of people in state and federal prisons come out of the foster care system.
MI House Fiscal Agency, 2023; 17% via U.S. DOJ, cited by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.The lifetime cost to society of allowing one young person to age out of foster care without support — incarceration, lost earnings, and homelessness.
Common Sense Institute, 2023.A randomized controlled trial of supportive housing in Denver found, per person: $6,876 less in annual public-service costs, 38 fewer jail days, 40% fewer emergency-room visits, 40% fewer arrests — and 77% stably housed after three years.
Urban Institute & University of Colorado Denver, 2021 — randomized controlled trial.Early intervention changes the trajectory — for young adults, and for the communities they'll help build.