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Comprehensive Preparation and Ongoing Support for Foster Care Youth: Building and Sustaining Support Structures Necessary for Post-Secondary Education and Employment Success !

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Table of Contents !

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Topic Area Page

Executive Summary 3

Introduction: The Problem 4

Success Story 6

Framework: Comprehensive and Ongoing Support 7

Program Structure 10

Outcomes 13

Importance of Continued Funding 16

Provider Contact Information 18

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Executive Summary !

Providing Quality Education with a Specific Emphasis on Inner-city Children, Youth, and Adults

For years now, the poor health of the American economy has inflicted difficulties on the unemployed populations and yet some would try to mask the situation and say that the pain and suffering is affecting many in society. Ironically, the same may be true of the population of youth who are transitioning from the foster care system into society at large. These youths, who have had the deck stacked against them throughout their lives and are in a constant battle for mere survival, are most frequently unable to climb the ladder to success without intervention through comprehensive social service programs.

Alternative School Networks - New Futures Program

Alternative Schools Network (ASN) in Chicago is the largest and oldest formal association of non-public, community-based alternative schools in the country. Thirteen of the ASN schools participate in the Project New Futures (PNF) program that seeks to serve youth from the foster care system between the ages of 16–21, who are out of school and have not obtained a high school diploma or a GED. ASN provides a wide range of comprehensive, educational, social, employment and work-related training services to youth and adults in the Chicago area with the purpose to build and sustain support structures necessary for foster care youth’s post-secondary education and employment success.

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Introduction: The Problem !

Project New Futures (PNF) began in 2004 as a five-state U.S. Department of Labor Demonstration Program to enable youth from foster care backgrounds to successfully transition to adulthood by strengthening their job skills, academic achievement, and general life skills. By providing comprehensive and supportive services, networking opportunities and mentoring, PNF participants have achieved success in college and job training programs. These gains contribute to self-sufficiency and the satisfaction of attaining employment. These outcomes reflect the potential benefits of investment to support PNF and reduce homelessness, criminal activity, the toll of mental illness, and the concomitant long-term burden of poverty and dependency on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

!Recent statistics reveal there are over 15,000 youths currently in foster care in Illinois, with over 5,300 living in the city of Chicago. Too often, when they “age out” of foster care and are expected to become a productive member of society, they are ill-prepared to successfully join the workforce and manage the challenges they face: • Mental illness and maladaptive social and workforce behavior skills; • Homelessness; • Educational deficits and lack of self-esteem typically generated by strong familial bonds and

life experiences; • Inadequate employment experience, career exploration, and academic achievement.

!Studies conducted independently by Casey Family Programs and the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall show that both youth in foster care and alumni of foster care experience greater rates of unemployment, poverty and homelessness than the general public. Chapin Hall’s 2005 study Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Age 19 found that only 40% of youth in care were employed at age 19, compared with a rate of 58.6% for 19 year olds in the general population cited in the Add Health study the same year. The same

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study found that 22.2% of the alumni were homeless within a year of emancipation from state care, and that 33.2% were living at or below the poverty level at the time of the survey.

!Casey Family Programs 2006 Northwest Foster Alumni Study researchers reported the employment rate of alumni eligible for work was 80.1%, much lower than the national average of 95% for eligible youth ages 20-24 in the year 2000. These high rates of unemployment and underemployment, along with high rates of homelessness, high school dropout and low post-secondary education are not rare. They are the norm, characteristic of the foster care alumni population.

!The most effective way to impact the lives of these youth and change such dire figures is to provide a pathway fraught with effective wrap-around service, guidance and support to help them develop belief in themselves, trust in the people around them and hope in a better future. To gain quality academic and work-related skills and the desire and discipline to complete high school, vocational training or college, these youth need a full-continuum of services. When they are independent adults and self-sustaining workers in society, they will no longer fall prey to an impoverished future of welfare support.

!ASN holds a total of seven years experience in offering services specifically tailored for foster care youth. As part of the Foster Youth Demonstration Project from January 2005 through June 2007, youth were enrolled in the PNF program in the second semester of their junior year or during their senior year. Part-time transition counselors were housed in the participating member alternative high schools and assisted youth in preparing for postsecondary education and employment. A part-time transition counselor worked at each of the schools and provided youth with intensive postsecondary preparation and planning, including preparation for the workforce. Youth participated in summer internship programs and were assisted in finding work. Every youth desiring a summer job as part of their individual goals for achieving success were provided with one. Transition specialists were stationed at ASN to provide support to the students once they left high school and went on to postsecondary education or work. The postsecondary support was a key component of the program and intended to address the issue of youth “falling between the cracks” once they left high school.

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Success Story !

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Success is PNF support when it matters most Dara   (an   older   youth   in   the   DCFS   system   –   name   changed   to   protect  

privacy)   dropped   out   of   high   school   and   re-­‐enrolled   into   an   alternative  

School  in  March  2008.    She  was  able  to  graduate  in  June  2008  and  go  on  to  

college   in   September   2008.   In  October   2008,   she  was   raped   and  was   not  

able  to  tell  anyone  until  November,  when  she  told  her  Alternative  Schools  

Network   PNF   transition   specialist.   What   would   have   happened   if   Dara  

didn’t  have  PNF  support?  She  would  have  left  college  in  November,  flunked  

all  of  her  courses,  owed  thousands  of  dollars  of  tuition  with  no  way  to  pay  

it  back  and  would  have  had  no  real  way  to  return  to  college.   In  short,  she  

would   have   been   back   in   Chicago,   facing   a   nearly   complete   dead   end.  

Without   the   PNF   supportive   program  and   a   caring   staff  person   she   could  

trust,  Dara  could  have  been  just  another  statistic:  a  victim  of  sexual  assault  

and  a  college  dropout  without  the  financial  resources  to  complete  school.  

!PNF  helped  Dara  withdraw  from  her  classes  in  November  without  a  penalty  

and  made  sure  she  received  the  counseling  she  needed  to  face  the  rape  and  

deal  with   the  betrayal  and  post   trauma  stress  she  experienced.  Reporting  

the   rape  was   a   key   factor   in   her   defense;   and   by   leaving   school   in   good  

standing,   she   was   able   to   return   to   college   without   financial   burden   or  

failed  grades.  Most  importantly,  she  was  able  to  take  time  off  for  treatment  

and  healing.  Today  Dara   is  back   in  college  and  she   is   in  daily  contact  with  

her   PNF   transition   specialist.   This   is  what   PNF   considers   success.   Helping  

youth  live  better  lives;  helping  one  youth  at  a  time.  

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Framework: Comprehensive and Ongoing Support !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Today, the overall goal of the PNF project continues to be to prepare foster care youth to be self sufficient, viable adults in society, equipping them with the necessary tools needed to become productive and participating adults in society.

!Specifically, the PNF program is designed to help develop comprehensive, systematic approaches for older foster care youth, ages 16 to 25, by providing continuous follow-up and support services for post diploma/GED attainment in order to ensure college and vocational enrollment and/or employment and sustainability. PNF provides support, resources and ! 7

instructional services on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Particularly, PNF operates on the basis of a program cycle which includes the following: !Transition Planning: During this phase, initial contact is established with a foster care youth and a transition specialist is assigned to develop and manage the youth’s case load. Through regular mailings, phone calls, in-person visits, and events PNF support staff assess the status and progress of graduates. Transition specialists track each youth’s status and progress, establishing plans for those youth who are encountering barriers to success. They also help participants to build relationships with college staff for another layer of support.

!Resource Building: PNF creates a social support network that includes the school-based transition staff, a full-time mentor, key school staff, and peer mentors that build and bridge resources and services for a successful transition to adulthood and self-sufficiency.

!The transition specialist focuses on creating structures that assist youth in the transition to college such as peer-to-peer mentorship structures, or “college clusters”, securing one-on-one and group tutoring, while incorporating life skills building activities based on individual needs.

!PNF staff provides networking opportunities by facilitating Weekly/Monthly Clubs, Workshops and/or Life Skill Meetings such as:

!Workshops and Life Skills Resources:

Newsletter Development

Goal Setting

Banking and Budgeting

Critical Shortage Careers

Effective Parenting and Pregnancy Prevention

Emancipation Preparation

DCFS Programs and Benefits

Healthy Living

Prevention-Domestic Violence, substance abuse, and mental health

Conflict Resolution ! 8

Effective Communication

Job Training-Soft skills, Interview Skills, Job Matching/Assessment, Shadowing, and Customer Service Training

!Clubs and regularly meeting groups

Leadership Development

Peer Alumni Club

Book Club

!!Vocational Training: PNF provides post-secondary services to participating youth in order to boost college and/or employment retention and success. Comprehensive pre- and post-exit services provide the support and skills necessary to ensure increased opportunities and positive future outcomes. An EXTRA On-Line Program, which is a comprehensive, self-paced, highly structured open entry/exit internet learning tool, is utilized by all PNF participants to help facilitate the PNF process.

!Continuum Support: The sustainability of a placement is achieved by teaching youth how to balance every day incidentals, family and societal trials and challenges, while maintaining focus on their specific goals.

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Program Structure !

Criteria: Population, Referral and Enrollment

Youth participating in the PNF program are enrolled in the program for a projected length of services of 36 months. Services are offered upon graduation as youth begin to accomplish individual goals and move toward self-sufficiency. Services continue to be extended to youth who have voluntarily or by age emancipated from foster care, if they have graduated from alternative high schools. These youth will have special consideration for extended enrollment based on progress toward Individual Transition Plan Goals.

!Emancipated participants have a six-month review in order to be approved for re-entry into the program. Re-enrollment will be based on the level of need for assistance in the areas of college, employment, housing, and physical and/or mental health issues that require immediate and/or long-term attention.

!The referral process for older foster care youth preparing to graduate is handled by ASN counseling and mentoring personnel. The PNF Program Coordinator conducts intake, orientation, and a PNF program overview to youth that are referred, prior to graduation. Upon enrollment, PNF youth will be assigned to a Transition Specialist Case Manager for post-graduation services. The PNF Program Coordinator visits each school four times per year to review student progress with school personnel.

!Full-time direct service staff require a four-year college degree in Education, Social Work, Juvenile Justice or Psychology or related field; or a non-related degree and two years experience with at-risk youth, foster care youth, and/or a strong knowledge or background in the child welfare system from personal experience, volunteer work, internships or mentorship.

!Program Positions:

Program manager

Program Coordinator

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Four full-time ASN Transition Specialists

!PNF staff has at least one monthly in-person meeting with each youth on their case load. The ASN Transition Specialist does not retain more than 30 participants on any one caseload. Constant communication with youth is established by phone and email contact. Case management services include campus visits, financial aid assistance, counseling, life-skills and employment trainings and referrals.

!Staff and youth will create an Individual Transition Plan (ITP) and work toward the goals set in the following seven areas:

1. Employment

2. Education

3. Housing

4. Transportation

5. Personal well-being

6. Permanency

7. Parenting

!Assessing and Tracking Student Success

PNF Youth participant progress is tracked through a variety of measures. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, PNF staff is able to determine which students are encountering barriers to success and develop a plan of action to ameliorate or eliminate these barriers. For example, students who are receiving a “C” or below in their college classes are provided with tutoring options in order to improve grades.

!In order to assess programmatic outcomes, PNF participant progress and success is tracked by the following indicators:

!Students grades (quarterly or by semester)

Rate of Completion

Vocational Trade/Training Programs

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College Degree

Employment

!Rate of Retention

Job Retention(tracked quarterly)

Rate of college credit accrual

!Additionally, students’ progress towards successful transition to post-secondary education is assessed through college participation indicators, such as involvement in campus activities and by staff observation. PNF is currently engaged in an effort to improve data collection and program evaluation efforts via an improved program database.

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Outcomes !

Highest Ranked and Rated Program in Chicago

The Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) and the Casey Foundation (The Casey Family Programs) have evaluated the performance of the Alternative School Network (ASN) awarded administration of PNF services in Chicago.

!A review of these studies indicates that PNF was found to be consistently be the highest ranked and rated program among the five states of Illinois, Texas, Michigan, California, and New York for provision of college preparatory services, and positive outcomes associated with employment and attainment of GEDs or high school diplomas.

!Table 5 shows the percentage of youth who achieved each of three specific outcomes: attained a GED or diploma, entered postsecondary school, or achieved an employment outcome. The fourth row shows the percentage of youth who achieved any one of these three outcomes:

Table 5: Outcomes Achieved - State Comparison (PNF Program)

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Outcomes Chicago Detroit   Houston Los  Angeles

New  York  City

GED    or    

Diploma43.6% 4.6% 27.9% 15% 8.7%

Post  

Secondary33.5% 10.5% 19.3% 9.2% 0.8%

Employment 56.4% 38.8% 31.8% 24.2% 20.5%

Any  Positive  

Outcome66.1% 45.4% 46.4% 32.4% 23.6%

Number  of  

Youth214 152 358 207 127

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Program Success

The ASN New Futures Program Older Foster Youth Demonstration Project exceeded all goals. Most foster youth who have participated in the program are completing their high school education and go to college and/or find a job.

!This program helped keep students off the streets and on track:

• 44% have been placed in jobs, working for the first time in unsubsidized employment; • 39% have gone to college; • 65% earned a high school diploma.

!PNF has developed good relationships with local community colleges, which are particularly productive partnerships as community colleges are generally able to provide youth with the extra supports they may need to successfully continue their education.

!!Post-Secondary Success

Since January 1, 2005 – • Over 204 youth have attended a community college • Youth have received college scholarships ranging from $250-$40,000 • Youth have received Associates and Bachelor’s Degrees in Business Management and

Psychology • Youth continue to earn 6+ college credit hours per semester • Over 110 youth have attended college • Over 240 youth have held at least one job • Youth have retained gainful part-time and full-time employment, some inclusive of

benefits: in areas of retail, security, food industry, customer service, healthcare; also in Chicago based organizations and privately-owned business; profit and not-for-profit agencies. Some of the nation-wide chain stores where youth are employed include Walmart, Jewel-Osco, Walgreens, Macy’s, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, and Burger King.

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• Over 30 youth have received professional certifications, most of which are in the healthcare industry: Certified Nursing Assistant, Medical Billing and Coding, Medical Assistant, Phlebotomy, and Pharmacy Technician.

• Over 60 youth have completed internships, some of which were with former Senator, now President Barack Obama; Chicago Alderman and Commissioner Offices; a prominent African-American law firm; Chicago Transit Authority; several community based organizations, as well as community centers and healthcare facilities in Chicago and in the metropolitan Chicago suburban areas.

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Importance Of Continued Funding !

Job Placement

The needs and challenges of youth in the foster care population make getting and retaining a job particularly challenging. The larger issues for youth in foster care centers focus on finding and maintaining long term employment. First, many of the youth are unprepared for work, even for part-time employment. Second, many, if not most, of the placements are short-lived. We acknowledge that young people typically move from job to job before settling in a career track; so, the fact that the youth tend not to keep their first jobs is not, therefore, the main concern. Rather, it is how unprepared the youth are for work, in spite of the work-readiness program offerings. The job preparation facet of the PNF program needs to employ more staff (job specialists and job developers) to expand the job services component of the program and offer more intensive and long-term assistance in job skills and preparation.

!One way, PNF has tried to address this issue is to add a career exploration and preparation curriculum, and hire a job specialist who follows up with the employers and the youth on a regular basis to try to resolve issues while the youth is still employed. Internships and summer employment are now a part of the program offerings across the PNF school sites, and they serve as a way to introduce youth to work. However, more work must be done so that the first job is a positive experience for both young worker and the employer; and so that jobs lead to long term employment and ultimately, careers.

!Homelessness and Mental Health

Other barriers to higher education and employment are continued homelessness, mental health and substance abuse issues. Affordable housing for these youth once they have emancipated out of the state system is lacking, as are funds for mental health and substance abuse treatment. While ASN has been successful in raising funds in general and in raising visibility around the issues of high school dropouts, its next phase is to develop closer relationships with child welfare

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agency providers and the agency that administers the State Workforce Investment Act (WIA) youth programs for the city.

!Big Payoff for Youth

A high school dropout who graduates from high school and goes to college will make over $700,000 more in their lifetime than a high school dropout.

!Big Payoff for Taxpayers

The Center for Labor Market Studies in Boston research shows that households headed by adults with high school diplomas contribute major fiscal benefits to the country over the years - that “the combined net fiscal” benefits – including the payment of income taxes – adds up to more than $292,000 per youth who re-enrolls and finishes high school – significantly more than those who do not earn a high school diploma.

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Provider Contact Information !

!By providing extensive supportive services before PNF student participants graduate and continuing those services after graduation, school-based transition counselors and ASN transition specialists work together to create a seamless program of support. The purpose is not to handle life challenges for these older foster care youth but to offer them a hand in building and sustaining the kind of support structures that many of us take for granted. With this period of mentorship, older foster care youth can gain the solid foundation necessary for post-secondary success.

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Provider Agency: Alternative Schools Network PNF Program 1807 W. Sunnyside Suite 1D Chicago, IL 60640

Corporate Office: Legal Entity Status: Not-for-Profit Executive Director: Jack Wuest Telephone: 773-728-4030

Program Contact: Program Coordinator: Tamara Harrington Telephone: 773-728-4030 Fax: 773-561:3781

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Transition does not end at high school graduation....