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youth homelessness task forces: organizing local communities to meet youths’ needs

26 th Annual Conference October 2014. youth homelessness task forces: organizing local communities to meet youths’ needs. NAEHCY’s Unaccompanied Youth Projects. Working with youth, service providers and community members to develop creative strategies to support unaccompanied youth.

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youth homelessness task forces: organizing local communities to meet youths’ needs

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  1. 26th Annual Conference October 2014 youth homelessness task forces:organizing local communities to meet youths’ needs

  2. NAEHCY’sUnaccompanied Youth Projects • Working with youth, service providers and community members to develop creative strategies to support unaccompanied youth. • Started as a 3-year project, 9 communities • Studies show that coordination among youth services can greatly improve outcomes. • 339 at-risk youth programs spread across 12 different federal agencies • No one agency or organization can meet all the needs. • Yet no one has the time to organize a community-wide effort for youth or work on the strategies generated.

  3. Unaccompanied Youth Project:Where, and Why? • Rural, suburban, urban • NRS and school district data • Community infrastructure • Political significance • Northeast TN, Guilford County NC, San Antonio TX, San Diego and Sacramento CA, Laramie County WY, Detroit and Oakland County MI, Southern CT

  4. Unaccompanied Youth Project:What’s the Overall Goal? • Identify what youth need to reach their goals • Identify creative strategies to meet those needs through interagency cooperation • Identify new partners to energize efforts and contribute new resources.

  5. Task Force Membership • NAEHCY is working with youth, schools, service providers, city and county government, faith community, legal services, and community members to develop creative strategies to support unaccompanied youth. • Leadership and active participation of youth and young people are critical! • This requires deliberate focus: Where and when do you meet? How do you initially engage youth? What projects will they choose to invest in?

  6. Step One: Gather Informationto Identify Local Priorities • We surveyed adults. • Service providers and community members • We surveyed youth • Unaccompanied homeless youth ages 14-25 • Through service providers and schools • Gave us guidance and legitimacy

  7. What do Youth Need? • Food • Transportation • Clothes and hygiene supplies • Employment • Medical and dental care • Safe, stable housing

  8. What are the Greatest Barriers to Youth Seeking/Receiving Services? • Fear of referral to police, parents, foster care • Transportation • Parental consent / Paperwork reqs. • Lack of services

  9. Step Two: Choose 1-2 Tangible Priorities to Start Work • Tangible: You’ll know when you’ve achieved it. • Short-term: You can achieve it within a few months. • Reasonable: It should be doable with little to no funding and with a small core team. • Meaningful: It should make a difference to young people and other task force members. • Leadership: Know that at first, you will need to have a major role, but enlist partners from day one.

  10. The Experiences ofThree Task Forces • Sacramento, California • Laramie County, Wyoming • Detroit, Michigan

  11. Sacramento:What are some of your most exciting achievements? • Active Youth Council • A2B Bike Giveaway: gave 50 bikes to youth • Including homeless youth in local efforts to end homelessness • New County funding for 6-bed TAY shelter

  12. Sacramento:What or who are some keys to those successes? • Youth Inclusion • We provide snacks! • Regular meeting schedule • Efficient discussions that lead to actionable results • Focus on sustainability, diffusion of labor

  13. Sacramento:What key people/agencies keep the task force moving and productive? • Local Continuum of Care • McKinney-Vento liaisons • Statewide youth advocacy organization (CCY) • EDs from youth-serving orgs (Wind, Tubman House) • Local electeds

  14. Sacramento:Who are some key people/agencies missing from the group? • Law Enforcement • Local Businesses • Child welfare

  15. Sacramento:When you first were getting started, what were some of the biggest challenges?  How did you address them? • Sustainability • Encouraging others to take ownership & leadership • Youth input • Youth Council: Your Voices Matter!

  16. Sacramento:At this stage in the task force, what are the biggest challenges? In terms of structure: • Consistently enlisting youth as partners in action • Keeping the momentum In terms of the issues: • Increasing housing capacity along a continuum • Reversing the trend of criminalizing homelessness

  17. Laramie County Community PartnershipStrong Families Action Team, Homeless Youth Initiative What are some of your most exciting achievements? • July 2013 – Facilitated a retreat with 25 representatives from non-profit, school, and State government – Retreat ended with three main goals: • Outreach and communication to homeless youth regarding resources and to the community educating the need • Safe stable housing – possibly using Host Home Program • Access to medical and behavioral health care • October 2014 Halloween Youth Resource Fair • 2013-2014 School Year Youth Task Force • September 2014 - Implemented Host Home Program – partnership with Catholic Charities of Wyoming • Broke down silos with our broad coalition

  18. Laramie County Community PartnershipStrong Families Action Team, Homeless Youth Initiative What are some of your most exciting achievements? • New Initiative • Boarding/Rooming House

  19. Strong Families Action Team, HYI What or who are keys to those successes? • Youth willing to express their opinions • Collaboration and the support of the Laramie County Community Partnership • Community Donations: • Meeting Rooms – City of Cheyenne & Wyoming Department of Health • Incentives for Youth Resource Fair • Employees time to attend coalition meetings • Funders • United Way • Wyoming Business Council • Wyoming Institute of Population Health • Catholic Charities of Wyoming • NAEHCY • Strength and determination of the Strong Families Action Team

  20. Strong Families Action Team, HYI What key people/agencies keep the task force moving and productive? • Strong Families Action Team: • United Way • Wyoming Institute of Population Health • Wyoming Department of Education • Laramie County School District #1 • Wyoming Family Home Ownership Program • Wyoming Department of Workforce Services • Bethany Christian Services • City of Cheyenne • WYhealth • Faith Nurses • Bank of the West • Wyoming Citizen Review Panel • Military One Source • Realtor Association (new)

  21. Strong Families Action Team, HYI What are some key people/agencies missing from the group? • Laramie County Department of Family Services • Juvenile justice • Residential centers • Local law enforcement

  22. Strong Families Action Team, HYI At this stage, what are your biggest challenges?  Strategies to address those challenges? • Funding • Working with the Realtor Association • Bank representative on committee • Securing grants • Partners that have sustainable funding i.e. Catholic Charities of Wyoming • Wyoming Business Council opened another source of public funding due to Strong Families request for a technical grant

  23. Strong Families Action Team, HYI Challenges (cont.) • Liability • Creatively designing program • Meet with DFS to clarify roles • Support from NAEHCY • Location of property • Collaboration with Realtors and Banks • Staffing • Partnering with University of Wyoming for a graduate intern from the Social Work program • Volunteers from the faith-based communities

  24. Michigan Task Force:Some of your most exciting initiatives ? • Jobs Skills Training Pop-Up Workshops Underway • Adopting a Soft Skills Training Curriculum to present in the community • In the process of applying for a local community grant to support this project • Location Underway: Osborn High school, Alternatives for Girls and Community and Schools • Clothing: Partnership with Goods360 underway • Clothing drive project underway • Transportation project underway: Carpooling • Solicited letters to providers of drivers training to see if youth could receive discounts

  25. Michigan initiatives (cont.) • Social Media Presence • Facebook Page • Live Website with job updates and resources coming soon • Links to clothing banks and housing resources for homeless youth on live website • Youth Council Initiative • Tigers Game • Advocacy • Task Force advocated on behalf of citizens amid Detroit’s Water Crisis

  26. Michigan Task Force :What or who are some keys to those successes? • Youth Voice • Strategic Relationship Building • Youth Advocates • Core group of task force members • Not giving up!

  27. Michigan:What key people/agencies keep the task force moving and productive? • NAEHCY • Matrix Human Services • Detroit Public Library • Vista Maria • Osborn High School • McKinney Vento Liaisons from Detroit Public Schools and EAA and Community and Schools • Oakland County Public School’s staff • South Oakland Shelter • Youth Advocates • YOUTH VOICE!!

  28. Michigan:Who are some key people/agencies missing from the group? • Business Leaders • Community Members • Transportation Authority • Homeless Liaisons • DHS Workers • Faith Community • Colleges and Universities • College Students • Policy Makers • Youth Serving Agencies

  29. Michigan:When you first were getting started, what were some of the biggest challenges?  How did you address them? • Weather • Rescheduling meetings • Securing Meeting Locations • Scheduling meetings at rotating locations in advance • Community Participation • Local visits and pop ups • Youth Council: Your Voices Matter!

  30. Michigan:At this stage, what are some of your biggest challenges? Strategies to address them? • Recruiting Youth • Assistance with transportation • Incentives: Food, Outings • Youth Council Initiatives • Attendance on Conference Calls • More frequent reminders • In-person meetings • Consistent Meeting Attendance • Schedule meetings ahead of time • Share task so members will feel involved

  31. Michigan:Current challenges and strategies (cont.) • Sustainability • Apply for grants • Research • Assigning internal leadership • Obtaining match funding for projects from partners • Key Leaders at the table • Bring Awareness : Increase Social Media Presence and Marketing Material

  32. From Local to State to National • Task Forces have been instrumental in: • Passing 8 state laws in CA • Passing 1 state law in TX (so far) • Getting bipartisan support for the Homeless Children and Youth Act

  33. Contact Information • Patricia Julianelle • pjulianelle@naehcy.org • (202) 436-9087

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