Retention Strategies “Lunch and Learn”

1. Retention Strategies “Lunch and Learn” Oakland, CA June 24, 2013

2. Webinar Technical Details • Call-in number is (914) 339-0024 and access code is 194-101-880. • To submit live questions, click on the “Questions” panel, type your question, and click “Send” • Presentation materials and audio will be posted at www.cacollegepathways.org

3. b2b Learning Community

4. b2blearning community is a college/CBO partnership between Beyond Emancipation and Laney College, Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) to support current and former foster youth to enter, persist and succeed in post-secondary education. Currently a cohort of 25, b2b students receive up to two years social, emotional and academic support. b2b Learning Community

5. Beyond Emancipation Beyond Emancipation’s (B:E) mission is to support Alameda County’s current and former foster and probation youth to make successful transitions to adulthood and living independently. B:E’s programs focus on the areas in which current and former foster youth need the most support and have the most potential to help them achieve self-sufficiency: housing, education and career development. b2b Learning Community

6. Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) Laney College’s Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) is a state-funded program whose primary goal is to encourage the enrollment, retention and transfer of urban students. EOPS is committed to the development of the intrinsic agency of students through the acknowledgement of the challenges they face, and facilitate the successful completion of their goals and objectives in college. EOPS offers academic and support counseling, financial aid and other support services. b2b Learning Community

7. What is purpose of b2b? • Nurture students’ belief in their ability to be successful scholars and professionals (academic identity; hope for the future) • Achieve better persistence and completion outcomes within community college • Create pathways to certificate programs, college completion and meaningful, livable wage work b2b Learning Community

8. Roles of Partners • The collaboration supports students comprehensively by merging two institutional areas of expertise: Social Services and Academic Support. • BE’s coaching/case management approach connects youth to resources; promotes their self awareness; and supports them to problem-solve barriers to educational success, develop skills and build community • EOPS offers academic support in the form of financial assistance, academic counseling, peer advising, student agency development b2b Learning Community

9. Goals and Objectives • Support foster youth attain their educational goals • Develop agency and leadership among foster youth at Laney College • Ensure participants have financial, practical and emotional support needed to enter, persist and complete 2-year degree • Support students to build skills, experience and relationships needed to sustain a healthy trajectory b2b Learning Community

10. Goals and Objectives, continued • Facilitate reform that results in greater campus responsiveness and sensitivity to foster youth • Develop inter-agency collaboration between community based organization and community college • Identify professional development opportunities and increase institutional responsibility b2b Learning Community

11. Transactional and Transformational Design Elements • Support to navigate the complicated college entrance and financing process • 1 week campus based summer orientation • 4-semester dynamic cohort; 1 cohort class per semester • Paid campus and community based internships • Academic counseling and tutoring • Intensive 1:1 coaching/case management b2b Learning Community

12. Design Elements, continued • Social activities during school break • Assistance with financial aid and school fees • Food pantry • Laptop loner program • Cohort coaching • Graduation and transfer assistance b2b Learning Community

13. Cohort Coaching emphasizes team building and peer coaching skills and supports students to: • develop an increasing sense of choice and perspective • consider the impact of their choices on their future goals • increase their relational capacity to support one another and build community. b2b Learning Community

14. Student Outcomes: • Institutional Connection: how well are b2b participants connected behaviorally to college? (i.e. class attendance, preparation etc.) • Interpersonal connection: how well are b2b participants connected affectively to college? (e.g. relationships with staff, instructors, peers; belonging, etc) b2b Learning Community

15. Student Outcomes: • Academic Identity: does student academic identity change and how is it related to academic success? (e.g. importance of college; consider self good student) • Academic Persistence/Completion: do b2b participants persist and complete? (e.g. course completion, college degree, transfer to 4-year college, employment, etc) b2b Learning Community

16. Program Data • At the end of the 2012-2013 academic year: • 20 current & former foster & probation youth were active in b2b (24 started in fall) • 7 students completed 2 full years in the program; 2 of the 7 graduated with their AA degrees • 4 of the 7 completing students are continuing at Laney; 2 are transferring to a 4-year university and 1 is looking for full time employment with her AA degree • The 13 students who completed 1 year of the program are continuing in b2b during the 2013/2014 school year b2b Learning Community

17. Important Features • B:E serves as a front door into Laney; and Laney serves as doorway into B:E • Significant investment of time for cultural exchange: language and culture of community-based organizations and academic institutions • Both partners bring resources • B:E staff based 2/3 time on campus • Dedicated classroom space for convening cohort • Program supports for the whole person: coaching, mindfulness, community building, etc. b2b Learning Community

18. Now What??!! As the program matures, we are engaged in the following: • Address challenges related to sustainability: adequate allocation of resources to institutionalize b2b within Laney College • Address challenges related to scale: balance need for intensive support with available resources • Data-driven, evidence-based outcomes and evaluation: integrating data across institutions • Broaden collaboration to include foundations, other CBO’s, CSU’s, UC’s, etc. b2b Learning Community

19. Q & A b2b Learning Community

20. www.ahomewithin.org www.fosteringrelationships.org

21. Relationship-Based Practices™ Trainings to support the emotional well-being of foster youth and those who care for them A Home Within www.ahomewithin.org

22. A Home Within is a national organization that provides pro bono mental health services to current and former foster youth. We achieve this by building networks of volunteer mental health professionals who provide direct, pro bono services and professional training. Our work also promotes public awareness and advocates for the emotional needs of foster youth. www.ahomewithin.orgwww.fosteringrelationships.org

23. The single most important factor influencing a positive outcome for children and youth is a lasting relationship with a caring, attuned adult. A Home Within www.ahomewithin.org

24. Relationships • Many foster youth have learned that relationships are • Temporary • Hurtful • Frightening • They incorporate this into their view of themselves and others. • Relationships beget relationships.

25. Relationships • Some of these ideas can be confirmed in our current system: • High turnover • Unmanageable caseloads • Interpretations of behavior • Disavowal of importance • Not ready=Resistant

26. Over the years we have learned the value of individualizing trainings for specific populations. We have drawn on and integrated an array of approaches to developtheory-rich and practical applications. Relevant Theoretical Approaches • Attachment Theory • Psychodynamic Theory • Trauma Theory • Theory of Mind • Developmental Theory  • Transitions Framework A Home Within: Theoretical approaches 25% will find themselves incarcerated

27. Relationship-Based Practices • Relationship-Based Practices focuses on 8 factors, key to effective intervention with foster youth: • Engagement • Environment • Empathy • Egocentrism • Enthusiasm • Evidence  • Endurance • Extending

28. Engagement

29. Engagement • Being completely present • Accepting the full range of the client’s feelings • Attending to what is in the client’s mind

30. Interference with Engagement • External restrictions on the relationship • Fear of being overwhelmed by the client’s feelings or story • Imposing one’s own feelings or story into the relationship

31. Supporting Engagement • Using empathy to understand the client • Specifically keeping the client in mind • Anticipating disengagement

32. Environment

33. Environment • Family, peers, community • Therapeutic space • Power-imbalance

34. Environmental Impediments • Culture does not support healthy relationships • Lack of awareness of personal biases • “Taking it personally”

35. Environmental Supports • Consistent time and place to meet • Caregiver/community approval • Explicit attention to similarities/differences in the relationship

36. Empathy

37. Empathy • Understanding the feelings of another • Meeting of the minds • Acceptance rather than correction

38. Empathic Interference • Preoccupation with one’s own mind and experiences • Psychic numbness • Sympathy

39. Supports for Empathy • Open-mindedness • Listening more than talking • Capacity to reflect and correct

40. Egocentrism

41. Egocentrism • Honors the individual • Client-centered relationship • Self-absorption as a consequence of trauma

42. Interference with Egocentrism • Imposition of externally established goals • Impatience • Need for validation

43. Egocentric supports • Explicit attention to client’s strengths and challenges • Client-defined goals • Steadfast hopefulness

44. Enthusiasm

45. Enthusiasm • Curiosity • Active listening • Showing up is half the battle

46. Dampening Enthusiasm • Necessary, but mind-deadening, repetitions • Attacks on competence • External undermining of relationship

47. Supports for Enthusiasm • Breakthroughs—even small ones • Intellectual rigor • Professional camaraderie

48. Evidence

49. Evidence • Incorporates professional standards • Demands attention to what happens in the relationship in the moment • Integrates a wide range of information

50. Concealing Evidence • Over reliance of the expertise of others • Loss of attention • Ignoring information that doesn’t fit