In 2013, the Administration for Children and Families gave out several million dollars to devise models of intervention for youth who had child welfare involvement and were deemed at risk of homelessness.
The funds went to 18 organizations, and they are now all exclusively eligible to compete for newly appropriated implementation funds for these models.
One of the requirements for this phase of funding is for grantees to “build and strengthen partnerships to provide” the necessary outcomes, which means winners will be looking to either subgrant or collaborate in another way.
Five of the 18 are expected to receive about $2 million over three years for the projects, which are to target three groups:
- Youth in foster care between 14 and 17, particularly those with mental health disorders or other challenges that put them at risk for homelessness.
- Youth who have aged out of foster care between the ages of 18 and 21.
- Homeless youth up to age 21 with foster care histories.
Programs are expected to follow what is known as the “USICH” framework for measuring success, which means tracking the following: education/ employment; housing; permanent connections; social and emotional well-being.
The competing organizations are:
- Minnesota Department of Human Services, St. Paul, Minn.
- United Way of King County, Seattle, Wash.
- Healing Place Serve, Baton Rouge, La.
- Westchester County Department of Social Services, White Plains, N.Y.
- BCFS Health and Human Services, San Antonio, Texas
- New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Trenton, N.J.
- Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, Madison, Wisc.
- Lighthouse Youth Services, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio
- Colorado Department of Human Services, Denver
- Illinois Collaboration on Youth, Chicago
- Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Pablo, Montana
- Philadelphia City Department of Human Services, Philadelphia
- Alameda County Social Services Agency, Oakland, Calif.
- University of Maryland, Baltimore, Baltimore
- Clark County Department of Family Services, Las Vegas
- Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Oklahoma City
- ChildNet, Inc., Plantation, Fla.
- Humboldt County Health and Human Services, Eureka, Calif.