The state Department of Human Services has received more than $1 million in housing funds from the federal government to help young people just out of foster care.

The money, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will be used for foster children turning 18 without a permanent family who find themselves in tenuous living arrangements or substandard and overcrowded living conditions.

"Our focus in seeking this federal funding is on youth aging out of the foster care system," state Department of Human Services director Lillian Koller said. "These youth on O'ahu will now have a better chance of getting stable housing and be much more likely to avoid homelessness."

About 150 young adults leave the foster care system every year as they turn 18. The bulk of them, about 127 a year, are on O'ahu, the department said.