Key Issues in Supportive Housing for Transition Age Youth

1. Key Issues in Supportive Housing for Transition Age Youth CiMH MHSA Webcast Training Series Thursday, July 28, 2005

2. Presenters Emily Sutton, Team Leader Daniel’s House Darin Lounds, Program Officer Corporation for Supportive Housing

3. Outline for Presentation • Fast Facts • Designing Supportive Housing for TAY • What Youth Say They Want • Case Study: Ellis Street Apartments • Portals TAY Program • Case Studies • Community Building Strategies

4. Publications / TAY Resources

5. CSH Publications @ www.csh.org Youth Supportive Housing • Assessment of the need for housing for youth - Including discussions of why youth are homeless, the characteristics of runaway and homeless youth, and the foster care system and homelessness. • Overviews of current funding and legislative issues, existing models (especially transitional housing), and public policy recommendations

6. CSH Publications @ www.csh.org Youth Supportive Housing • Brief summaries of existing projects - Including Independent Living Programs, permanent or “trans-permanent” supportive housing for youth, the Foyer model of housing in Europe, and supportive housing for youth with special needs. • Recommendations for funding programs and changes to systems that impact homeless and foster care youth.

7. CSH Publications @ www.csh.org Housing Youth: Key Issues in Supportive Housing • Explores issues specific to permanent housing, with an emphasis on the nuts and bolts of designing and operating supportive housing targeted toward young people.

8. CSH Publications @ www.csh.org Housing Youth: Key Issues in Supportive Housing • Focuses on the strengths, needs and development issues of homeless youth and young adults to help inform decisions about housing models, service packages, staffing, property management, tenant selection, and funding.

9. CSH Publications @ www.csh.org Housing Youth: Key Issues in Supportive Housing • Provides a comparison of transitional and permanent supportive housing model • Resources for funding supportive housing for youth and young adults. • Profiles of existing permanent supportive housing for youth and young adults. • Sample policies and agreements, including policies on drug and alcohol use, house rules, and lease agreements.

10. Fast Facts As of March 2004, there were 547,000 children in foster care in the United States Of those children, 43% were African-American, 36% were White, 15% were Hispanic, 1% were American Indian/Alaskan Native, 1% were Asian/Pacific Islander Each year, more than 20,000 young people age out of foster care. Nearly 25% of emancipated youth become homeless 2-4 years after leaving foster care. More than one-third of runaway youth had been in foster care in the year before they took to the streets

11. Fast Facts California is home to 1 out of every 5 of the nation’s foster children—the highest in the nation. Only 57% of California counties offer transitional housing programs for emancipated youth, and the total number of beds is just over 1000. Therefore, even if all the transitional housing in California were made available, no less than 1 in 4 youth would still be emancipated into homelessness each year. More than 1 in 5 youth who arrived at shelters came directly from foster care, and that more than 1 in 4 had been in foster care in the previous year.In fact, 40 percent of those in federally funded homeless shelters were former foster youth.

12. Designing Supportive Housing for Youth

13. Designing Supportive Housing for Youth • Using MHSA in Supportive Housing • Community Services and Support money can be used to fund services and rental subsidies • Capital money can be used for bricks and mortar development or to capitalize operating reserves

14. Designing Supportive Housing for Youth • Infuse an understanding of adolescent development into program design and practice. • Recognize tenants as young adults with full rights and responsibilities. • Embrace a youth development framework.

15. Designing Supportive Housing for Youth • Acknowledge that youth are inherently in transition. • Anticipate aging in place. • Provide a mix of relevant and responsive services.

16. Designing Supportive Housing for Youth • Plan staffing to achieve service objectives. • Establish property management to reflect youth concerns. • Welcome youth culture.

17. What Youth Say They Want

18. What Youth Say They Want • Allow youth in the program to become adults by making decisions for themselves—and suffering or enjoying the consequences. • Don’t treat youth like they are still in foster care - for example, allow them to have guests. • Allow youth to mess up.

19. What Youth Say They Want • Don’t set rules that expect people to screw up. Make rules that encourage youth to do well. • As much as possible, make all rules and expectations clear. • Let youth contribute to rule-making.

20. What Youth Say They Want • Don’t make the program rules too restrictive so you lose the youth who are most vulnerable and need the most help. • Youth with mental health issues need extra attention and flexibility from housing staff. • The most vulnerable youth have access to the least resources, and are most likely to end up homeless.

21. What Youth Say They Want • Don’t have a zero tolerance policy. Everyone should have a chance to make mistakes and learn from them. • Make sure your program does not contribute to homelessness. If you have to ask a youth to leave, work with them to find another alternative.

22. What Youth Say They Want MHSA Youth Focus Group, April 6, 2005 San Francisco • Most Youth responded that they would like to live alone, at the very least have their own room with a lock. If unit sharing were necessary, they would like some control over choosing their roommate. • Most Youth preferred voluntary, or at least low-demand, services provided near, but not co-located, with the housing. • There were mixed responses to clean & sober housing requirements. Most agreed that focus should be on behavior, not just use, and most did not think eviction for use alone was productive in keeping Youth housed.

23. What Youth Say They Want MHSA Youth Focus Group, April 6, 2005 San Francisco • When asked whether or not they would prefer to live in a building that was only for people with a mental health diagnosis, most Youth responded No. • “Diversity is important- people should not be set-aside” • “Diversity is important- too much stress with just one type around” • “Diversity is important- we shouldn’t ostracize people, age diversity would be good too” • “Older folks serve as role models, same age creates peer pressure”

24. Case Study: Ellis St. Apartments Partnership between San Francisco’s Larkin Street Youth Center and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation • Permanent, affordable housing (private studio units), coupled with an array of support services for 24 homeless youth and young adults. • Many of the youth are dually or triply diagnosed; set-aside of 6 units for youth who are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS • Services staff office and resource center on the ground floor • The building was rehabbed and re-opened in Dec 2001

25. Case Study: Ellis St. Apartments • On-site, voluntary services include: case management, employment services, residential guidance and independent living skills training. • Many off-site services also available to tenants • On-site resource center- job search and business center • Meets practical needs, and has also proven to to provide an entry to more intensive service engagement for many tenants • Harm reduction approach towards substance use, abstinence not required for tenancy. No use is allowed in common areas.

26. Case Study: Ellis St. Apartments • Section 8 Rental Subsidies • 60% of tenants work; 85% have some income through either employment or entitlements • “Need More” phenomenon • Housing Outcomes • 37% of units turned-over in first 2 years: only 3 were negative outcomes; most were positive, ie Youth entered school, moved back home, or moved in with friends. Youth coming to Ellis St. from transitional programs were more likely to have “positive move out” experiences

27. Case Study: Ellis St. Apartments • Financing • Services originally funded through CA SHIA. • Rental subsidies provided through McKinney Section 8 Moderate Rehab program • Additional financing through HOPWA and the LIHTC program More info on Ellis Street and other TAY Supportive Housing is available at www.csh.org and our “Housing Youth: Key Issues in Supportive Housing; September 2003” publication.

28. Portals TAY Program • The Portals TAY Program enrolls youths 18-22 years old, emancipating from child social services system with a diagnosable qualifying Axis I mental illness. The population is drawn from the Central port of Los Angeles, which has one of the greatest concentrations of homeless mentally ill individuals in the county.

29. Portals TAY Program Portals TAY Program has a 6-bed housing site located in Hollywood, as well as an outpatient program. Currently, Portals TAY program provides a full range of mental health services and supportive services to more than 60 members annually including: • ·    Housing Support Services • ·    Intensive Case Management • ·    Mental Health Treatment and Psychiatric Services • ·    Life Skills Training • ·    Job Preparation and Development • ·    Educational Assistance

30. Case Studies • Transitional Housing- Where Do Youth Transition To? • Developmental and Daily Living Skills

31. Community Building in Housing • Tenant College • Member Council

32. Tenant College Portals “Tenant College” was developed to address the unique needs that TAY have when faced with a more independent living situation. The Tenant College Curriculum includes the following: • Financial Literacy • Housekeeping Skills • Energy Conservation • Cooking Nutritious Meals • Leisure Time Management • Socialization Skills • Self-Determination

33. Tenant College Members attend monthly meetings and are given materials and packets such as “Landlord and Tenants Rights and Responsibilities” “Subsidized Housing in Los Angeles” and are provided with other resources designed to increase their knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a “good tenant”

34. Member Council • In an effort to promote member involvement, feedback and build a sense of community, weekly “Member Council” meetings are held that are designed to: • Provide an arena for residents to voice concerns • Resolve conflicts • Identify solutions, and give feedback • Make decisions about house rules, visitors policy and consequences for violations of these policies

35. Member Council • Goals: • Member Council will be a self-governing body that is facilitated and coordinated by members • All members will attend this required, weekly meeting • Staff maintain their role “silent” a participant • This has been an excellent arena for starting discussions on “what is a community?” and facilitating dialogue with members regarding “what is a safe community?” and “what is my role in creating one?”

36. Member Council • Benefits We Have Seen: • Engaging youth to come up with their own consequences, rewards and rules, empowers youth towards gaining mastery over their lives and community. • The “power struggle” which can occur between residents and staff is lessened significantly as community members are held to rules and standards that were developed by the community collaboratively, rather then being “mandated” by staff. • Provides an arena for potential new members for the housing to be brought in to allow youth to ask questions of the new member and thereby give their approval or disapproval for this person to move into the community.

37. What We Have Learned Youth are often shocked to learn that they will be asked for landlord/rental “references” when applying for an apartment, or that they are held responsible for the actions of their guests while on the property. • Youth often get themselves into trouble by having high traffic through their apartment which causes conflicts with roommates, neighbors and landlords.

38. What We Have Learned Youth often lack the appropriate boundary setting skills or awareness of how to keep themselves safe from being taken advantage of by friends. Often youth will attempt to “help out” a friend by allowing him/her to stay at their apartment for long periods. • Property Damage is a common occurrence

39. Housing Models Single-Site vs. Scattered-Site?

40. Housing Models Single-Site vs. Scattered-Site?

41. “A Home of My Own” I dream of a home A home of my own Where plants grow tall Near a beautiful waterfall I dream of a home A home of my own Where I can come and go And no-one can say no I dream of a home A home of my own Where I can relax by a fireplace Feeling secure and safe I dream of a home A home of my own Where my cat can play And I can say… I have a home A home of my own -Amber Morino