Great Expectations: Coaching Youth from Foster Care into Adulthood

1. Great Expectations: Coaching Youth from Foster Care into Adulthood Tamara Harrington Project New Futures / Alternative Schools Network – Chicago Tobin Marsh Casey Family Programs / EmPLOY Project – Seattle NAWDP Youth Symposium 2010

2. Poor outcomes for foster alumni • 25,000 youth age out each year • Struggle to maintain stable housing, continue schooling, obtain employment and create healthy relationships • One study: 45% earning income over a 3 year period • 1 out of 4 experience homelessness in first year • 1/3 of alumni have incomes below poverty level • Birth rates for girls are double rate of peers. • Most lack permanent supportive adult relationships

3. Casey Family Programs • Seattle-based operating foundation devoted to children & youth in foster care • 2020 Strategy: reduce # of children in foster care by 50% by 2020 • Goal that all children grow up in safe and loving permanent families • Building allies for improving child welfare

4. Casey’s EmPLOY Project • 2005-07: DOL’s Foster Youth Demonstration Project • Six transition centers in inner city South Los Angeles, Pasadena, Houston, New York, Detroit and Chicago • Youth 16-24 in and from foster care • Intensive case management for employability, education, jobs, housing, independent living • Different service delivery models, combining elements of child welfare, education and workforce development • Three continue to operate, including Chicago’s Project New Futures

5. PROJECT NEW FUTURES

6. Project New Futures (PNF) • PNF aims to strengthen and support youths’ general transition skills through life skill and job skill preparation while promoting college education and viable employment can be reality • Provide pre and post exit services • The project collaborates with 17 community based alternative high schools, using a mentor based model • Providing transitioning preparation skill building • We offer post graduation support

7. Process: Equipping young adults with the necessary tools for success in the workforce, college, and healthy living situations

8. PNF Services • College Planning Exploration and Preparation • Employment Readiness Activities/programming to increase sustainable employment and increase employability amongst our youth • Transition Support PNF staff assist with the development of adding support in the youth’s immediate and future situations aligned with college/vocational and employment programs

9. PNF Services Cont. • Social Network/Resource Facilitation Providing youth with community information and support to broker services and empower them to make better decisions

10. THE ROAD FROM PNF LEADS TO OPPORTUNITY PNF Avenue Good Decision Making College Vocational Employment Community Resources Healthy Relationships

11. Lessons • Have clarity of funder(s) expectations • Know what you want your outcomes to be • Know what information you want to collect and how often • Know how many clients you want to serve and evaluate each year • Clear understanding of intertwining case management and mentoring • Team input • Quality Assurance

12. Lessons Cont. • Do your research • Curriculums are key • In-School Support/Staff dedicated to Transitioning Only • Consistency • Discharging youth

13. Challenges • Lack of follow through from youth during high school and after • “I’m Grown” attitude • Motivation • Not having a stable location for out-of-school youth to come • Working with the students and not for them • Providing very different reports for several entities

14. Challenges Cont. • Taking youth through dependency to interdependency to independence • Discharging youth • Prioritizing youth needs based on a tier system

15. Quality Services Highly Motivated Transition Specialist Some Motivation More Motivation Low (No Motivation)

16. Successes • Youth have obtained bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, and professional certifications • Youth have obtained mentor jobs within the alternative schools network • Youth have obtained salary paying positions and have health benefits • Youth are more prepared to navigate workforce and college • Youth are more equipped to deal with everyday stressors and continue to work and/or attend school

17. PNF Success Story Yolanda became a teenage mother while still in high school. Graduated at the age of 19 and continued on to a 4 year University and graduated with a B.S. in Psychology. “If I didn’t have Ms. H in my life, I would not have graduated. I wanted to make her proud…and somewhere along the way I believed I deserved it and wanted it for me too”. “Although none of my birth family was confident I would graduate, the faith Ms. H had and the support of my son’s father, and my dedication is what got me to graduation day”. Frank graduated from high school and attempted 2 different semesters in college, never completing one. After completing employment training through PNF, he received an internship. “I never held a job for longer than a couple of weeks before now”. After the 8-week internship Frank job searched for two weeks until he received a call from his internship placement at the Office of Public Guardian with a part-time offer. That was a year and a half ago…He is currently a full-time employee with benefits. Darius graduated at the age of 18 and just lived life for about a year. Darius dreamed of going to a 4 year university (he was accepted), but his brother who was one year older than him and 1 year behind in school did not. His brother was in and out of the justice system. Darius went to community college for one year. His brother was soon released and had no where to go. Darius allowed him to live with him in his ILO apartment. After his brother’s vandalism, disrespect, and Darius’s need to be loyal to him, Darius had enough. He formulated another plan and with the strength to move on, Darius enlisted in the Army, is happy and doing well.

18. PNF Success Story • Darius graduated at the age of 18 and just lived life for about a year. Darius dreamed of going to a 4 year university (he was accepted), but his brother who was one year older than him and 1 year behind in school did not. His brother was in and out of the justice system. Darius went to community college for one year. His brother was soon released and had no where to go. Darius allowed him to live with him in his ILO apartment. After his brother’s vandalism, disrespect, and Darius’s need to be loyal to him, Darius had enough. He formulated another plan and with the strength to move on, Darius enlisted in the Army, is happy and doing well.

19. Thank You

20. Common challenges for transition centers • Disconnected youth not in school drop out of high school. • Hustle and drama of street life is seductive to youth culture. • Many youth lack motivation. No shows. Don’t pursue referrals. • Hard to keep track of youth over time. • Sense of entitlement is common in youth from the system. • Attracting youth to the program – and retaining them. • Lack of mental health resources. • Pregnancy, parenting and child care. • Unstable housing and transportation problems. • Connecting youth to private sector employers. • Low expectations among staff: “Truth is that many of our youth just aren’t college material.”

21. What makes projects like PNF work? • Competent leadership • Staff who care deeply • Youth-friendly place • Positive peer community • Connections to local resources and opportunities • Key programmatic supports • Transition planning and follow-through • The arts of hand-holding and high expectations and accountability

22. Engaging young people • Love is the first motion. • Meeting them where they’re at. • Be real. How do you engage?

23. Case Manager“Life Coach” Older youth want to be neither “a case” nor “managed” by anyone. Programs need to feel different than “the system.” Names matter: Transition Specialists Life Coaches Adolescent Worker Mentors “TRAVEL AGENT”

24. “Where you going?”&“How are we going to get you there?” Lessons from the six EmPLOY sites

25. Relationships matter most. • Life Coaches • meet youth where they’re at • invested in where youth are going • Focus on the individual needs of each youth • Creative engagement methods • Create a youth-friendly environment • Safe and welcoming • Interactive: staff to youth and peer-to-peer • Learn the unique needs / circumstances of target population • EmPLOY: foster care experience • Ethnic communities • LGBT youth

26. Motivation through individualized support • First, take care of immediate needs • Build trust • A future-oriented conversation • Individual Transition Plan • Sense of urgency – make something happen quickly! • Cash Incentives • Celebrate achievements • Foster strong peer community with fun activities • Opportunities for youth participation and peer leadership

29. Three things that help youth get and keep an unsubsidized job in the private sector Job Developer on-site Paid work experience Job retention support

30. Supports that help youth finish high school and continue education Individualized support and tutoring Education specialist on staff Partner with alternative school or GED

31. Build collaborative partnerships with other service providers • Youth need diverse resources and opportunities • Co-enrolling youth in other programs • Co-locating different services under one roof • Referrals that make a person-to-person connection The art of a good referral

32. Hand-holding and high expectations:a craft and a balance • Hand-holding • Walk side by side to connect young person to referrals, programs and resources • Sense of partnership – “I’ve got your back” • Communicating high expectations • Holding youth accountable

33. Community-based program with a clear youth development framework that everyone believes in.

34. Cross-system collaboration Personal relationships are the key to success On-site meetings with all funders Address challenges as a team SUSTAINABILITY IS THE GOAL

35. Signs of Success • Connection to supportive adults • Complete high school or GED • Complete a program – any program • Retain unsubsidized job in the private sector • Retention in college or trade school • Healthy intimate relationships • What else?

36. Systemic obstacles • Workforce one-stops tend to avoid enrolling youth who are not work-ready and experienced. • Foster care and many youth services don’t adequately prepare youth for world of work. • There is little coordination between systems serving the same populations.

37. Be a Solution Reach out to build personal connections with colleagues in other systems. Eye on the prize: What’s best for the young people?

38. Thank You Tamara Harrington Project New Futures Manager Alternative Schools Network 773-728-4030 x154 tharrington@asnchicago.org www.asnchicago.org Tobin Marsh Casey Family Programs 206-378-3388 tmarsh@casey.org www.casey.org