Report to Congress on the Youth Programs of the Family and Youth Services Bureau for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Family and Youth Services Bureau Youth Programs
Chapter 3: Family and Youth Services Bureau Support System
Appendix A: National Youth Summit Highlights
Appendix B: Requirements of Basic Center Program Grantees
Appendix C: Requirements of Transitional Living Program Grantees
Appendix D: Requirements of Street Outreach Program Grantees
Appendix E: Data on National Runaway Switchboard Callers for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
Appendix F: Runaway and Homeless
Youth Management Information System Data for
Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
The Report to Congress on the Youth Programs of the Family and Youth Services Bureau for Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003 was developed by Johnson, Bassin & Shaw, Inc., for the Family and Youth Services Bureau; Administration on Children, Youth and Families; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract Nos. 105-97-1734 and GS10F0285K to manage the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth.
The mission of the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is to provide national leadership on youth issues and to assist individuals and organizations in providing effective, comprehensive services for youth in at-risk situations and their families. The goals of FYSB programs are to provide positive alternatives for youth, ensure their safety, and maximize their potential to take advantage of available opportunities. FYSB is a Bureau within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF); Administration for Children and Families (ACF); U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
FYSB administers three major grant programs1 that support locally based homeless youth services:
- The Basic Center Program (BCP) provides financial assistance to
establish or strengthen community- and faith-based programs that
address the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth and their
families. The central purpose of these programs is to provide youth
with emergency shelter, food, clothing, counseling, and referrals
for health care. The Basic Centers seek to reunite young people
with their families, whenever possible, or to locate appropriate
alternative placements.
- The Transitional Living Program (TLP) provides shelter, skills
training, and support services for older homeless adolescents and
young adults, including pregnant and parenting youth, ages 16-21,
for up to 18 months. The TLP helps these older homeless youth, who
are unable to return to their homes for safety or other reasons,
develop skills and resources to promote their independence and prevent
future dependency on social services.
- The Education and Prevention Services to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway, Homeless, and Street Youth Program, which is known as the Street Outreach Program (SOP), funds local youth service providers to conduct street-based education and outreach and offer emergency shelter and related services to young people who have been, or who are at risk of being, sexually abused or exploited. The goal of these efforts is to inform young people about services that can help them find suitable housing and address the problems that led them to be on the street.
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1 The FYSB-funded Basic Center Program
and Transitional Living Program were created by the Runaway and Homeless
Youth Act (RHYA), Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974 (Public Law 93-415), as amended. These
programs are authorized by Parts A, B, and E of the RHYA, as amended
by the Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children Protection Act (Public
Law 106-71).
In all of its programs, FYSB encourages communities to support young
people through a Positive Youth Development approach. This approach
recognizes that young people need support, guidance, and opportunities
during adolescence to be empowered and develop self-assurance in four
areas key to creating a happy, healthy and successful life: a sense
of competence (being able to do something well); a sense of usefulness
(having something to contribute); a sense of belonging (being part
of a community and having relationships with caring adults); and,
a sense of power (having control over one's future). It suggests that
the best way to prevent young people's involvement in risky behavior
is to help them achieve their full potential. Positive Youth Development
strategies, therefore, focus on giving young people the chance to
exercise leadership, build skills, and become involved in their communities.
The Positive Youth Development approach also acknowledges that helping
young people requires strengthening families and communities.
Number of Youth Served through FYSB Programs
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, 77,893 youth entered Basic Centers, and 4,312 youth entered Transitional Living Programs. An additional 619,291 youth were contacted through Street Outreach services, receiving 342,408 food packages and 447,554 referral handouts for help available in the area. Through its enhanced Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHYMIS), FYSB is now able to count the number of youth who drop in or call a youth center and receive help without necessarily being brought into the shelter. Brief service contacts reported in FY 2003 totaled 95,182 for Basic Centers and 67,822 for Transitional Living Program agencies. Such youth may be counseled through these "brief service contacts" while still living at home, thus preventing a runaway episode. Appendix F includes a sample of the detailed information that is available on each youth in the Basic Center and Transitional Living programs, such as demographics, living situation at entrance and exit, critical issues, services received, and changes in employment or school status.
FYSB Accomplishments in Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
1. Strengthened the FYSB Data Reporting System
The caseload numbers cited above are based on FYSB's new data collection instrument and updated user interface, RHYMIS-LITE, which dramatically increased the reporting of youth served through its programs in FYs 2002 and 2003. The percentage of grantees reporting the numbers of youth served through FYSB programs rose to 97 percent in 2002 and a remarkable 99 percent in 2003.
Previously, as reported in the Report to Congress for Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001, only 43 percent of grantees reported on the number of youth served through FYSB programs. Because of the low response rate, the number of youth served was drastically undercounted at the time. The dramatic increase in reporting in FYs 2002 and 2003 was the result of several FYSB efforts to make RHYMIS reporting easier for grantees: modifying the former RHYMIS data collection tool to create the more streamlined RHYMIS-LITE reporting system; refining RHYMIS-LITE from Version 1.0 to Version 1.1 and again to 1.2; enabling grantees to submit data via e-mail from the RHYMIS Web site; and providing training and technical assistance to grantees who had difficulty submitting their data. (Greater detail is provided in the Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System section of Chapter 3).
Grantees report their satisfaction with the new instrument, its usefulness to their own needs, and its ease of use. As a result, FYSB has more and better data on all its programs, including the Street Outreach Program, previously not included in RHYMIS. In-depth data from FYs 2002 and 2003 are currently being analyzed for management improvement, monitoring, research, and GPRA reporting (see appendix F, exhibit 3).
2. Promoted Positive Youth Development
Building on its previous collaborations with Federal agencies and national youth-related organizations, FYSB continued its efforts to promote the Positive Youth Development approach to working with young people, especially those growing up in difficult circumstances. FYSB leadership and staff have reached out to thousands of youth workers, policymakers, and others through conference speeches, special meetings, and distribution of FYSB materials about Positive Youth Development.
In addition, FYSB continued to enhance its internal collaborations, working with ACYF bureaus, to ensure a focus on young people in all agency initiatives and programs. FYSB, for example, collaborated with the Head Start Bureau in awarding $3,000,000 in Head Start grants to establish a Head Start Youth Initiative in 2002. Grants ranging from under $10,000 to over $40,000 were awarded to 169 Head Start programs for a 12-month period. More than 2,000 youth participated in the Initiative, which engages youth as literacy mentors to Head Start children. In addition to the benefits it provides to Head Start children, to Head Start programs, and to various communities, this Initiative gives youth the opportunity to, invest in their communities, affirm their worth through providing role models to young children, learn child development skills and on-the-job responsibility, become familiar with career and job opportunities in the Head Start programs and the field of child development, and explore their creative expression.
FYSB and the Children's Bureau (CB) are entering their ninth year of collaboration in promoting the Positive Youth Development philosophy and approach in services to foster care and homeless youth, with particular emphasis on expanding funding under the Chaffee Independent Living Program. FYSB's Transitional Living Program grantees have valuable experience in helping disadvantaged older youth transition to a healthy and productive adulthood; thus FYSB is helping CB's Independent Living Programs connect with these community resources.
Through its research and demonstration program, FYSB explored how State and local collaboration can strengthen the Positive Youth Development approach in communities across the country. In FY 2002, FYSB continued funding 13 States that had developed and supported innovative Positive Youth Development strategies. Nine of the 13 States are in their final year of their grant and participated in a case study evaluation. The case studies and evaluations are in the process of being analyzed. A final report on promising practices will be completed in the next fiscal year. In FY 2003, FYSB funded nine States to continue their work on promoting Positive Youth Development, with a focus on community-level initiatives. These nine States represented those that have been participating in the Demonstration for the full five years of the grant. The other four States have been a part of the Demonstration for three years. (Greater detail is provided in the Research and Demonstration section of Chapter 3)
3. Coordinated the National Youth Summit
The culmination of FYSB's outreach and collaboration activities was the first National Youth Summit, "Promoting Positive Youth Development," held June 26-28, 2002, in Washington, D.C. The Summit brought together nearly 2,000 youth service professionals and young people to explore effective strategies for promoting Positive Youth Development. Cabinet-level officials for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Agriculture spoke at the event (see appendix A).
In FY 2003, FYSB planned the second National Youth Summit, which took place November 6-8, 2003, in Washington, D.C. Titled "Building on the Strengths of America's Youth," it was designed to expand upon the focus of the first Summit.
4. Designed and Launched the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program
Congress established the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program through the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendments of 2001 (Public Law 107-133). HHS was designated to administer the program. The goal of the program is to provide 100,000 mentors to children and youth of incarcerated parents. The program will provide services, both directly and in collaboration with other local agencies, to strengthen and support individual youth and the families of those young people by providing qualified mentors.
FYSB designed the program following extensive research and outreach to agencies, correctional facilities, and others interested or engaged in providing mentors to children and youth in challenging circumstances. FYSB funded a total of $9.9 million to 52 grantee programs in FY 2003.
Conclusion
Central to FYSB's work during FYs 2002 and 2003 was promoting the Positive Youth Development approach to working with young people. Through FYSB's grant programs, outreach and collaborations, and research and demonstration program, FYSB continues to foster improved supports systems for youth and families through the Positive Youth Development approach.
Chapter 2 of this Report to Congress provides a description of the services offered by the FYSB-funded youth programs. Chapter 3 provides additional information on the activities undertaken by FYSB-funded support services and demonstration projects during FYs 2002 and 2003.
Chapter 2: Family and Youth Services
Bureau Youth Programs
During Fiscal Years (FYs) 2002 and 2003, the Family and Youth Services
Bureau (FYSB) administered three grant programs to support local efforts
to assist youth who had run away or were homeless: the Basic Center
Program (BCP), the Transitional Living Program (TLP) for Older Homeless
Youth, and the Education and Prevention Services to Reduce Sexual
Abuse of Runaway, Homeless, and Street Youth Program (Street Outreach
Program). This chapter describes the services provided with funding
allocated through these three programs and gives FYs 2002 and 2003
funding information for each.
The Basic Center Program
The Basic Center Program was created by the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA), Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974 (Public Law 93-415). The program was authorized through FY 2003 by Part A of the RHYA, as amended by the Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children Protection Act (Public Law 106-71).
The Basic Center Program awards grants to community and faith-based public and private agencies for the provisions of outreach, crisis intervention, temporary shelter, counseling, family unification and aftercare services to runaway and homeless youth and their families. Funds available for the BCP are allotted among the states using a formula based on the population of youth not more than 18 years of age as proportion of the national population. FYSB funded 366 Basic Centers in FY 2002: 267 continuations, and 99 new starts. In FY 2003, FYSB funded 344 Basic Centers: 233 continuations, and 111 new starts. The average annual FYSB grant to Basic Centers was approximately $120,000 in FY 2002 and $128,000 in FY 2003. Exhibit 1 at the end of this chapter provides additional information about Basic Center Program funding for FYs 2002 and 2003.
Congress created the Basic Centers to be emergency shelters that would meet the immediate needs of runaway and homeless youth while staff attempted to reunite them with their families or assisted them in finding appropriate alternative living situations. To that end, the RHYA includes specific requirements for shelters (see appendix B). FYSB enhanced those requirements by creating program performance standards designed to ensure high-quality care.
The original RHYA sought, for example, to ensure that shelters would be accessible to runaway and homeless youth, specifying that they be located in areas "frequented by or easily reachable by" such youth. FYSB's program performance standards expanded on this guarantee of access by requiring that shelter services be available to youth 24 hours a day.
To ensure that the community is aware of shelter services, the program performance standards require shelters to conduct promotional activities. Programs do so in a variety of ways, including announcements and publications; linkages with local school systems and other public or private agencies that come in contact with youth; media campaigns; presentations to community groups; and street outreach. Through street outreach, shelter staff seeks to make contact in public places with youth who may need assistance.
When runaway and homeless youth arrive at a shelter, shelter staff must follow minimum procedures specified in the FYSB program performance standards. At intake, program staffs identify young people's immediate needs for food, clothing, medical assistance, or other services, and provide for these either directly or by referral to another community-based or faith-based agency or individual. Intake staff explains shelter services to young people and secure their voluntary agreement to participate in services. Staff also record basic background information on each youth, and a staff member is assigned to oversee the provision of services to each young person.
Congress intended that runaway services be provided in facilities that offer youth adequate support in a home-like atmosphere. For that reason, the RHYA mandates that federally-funded runaway and homeless youth shelters may house no more than 20 youth and must have an adequate ratio of staff to youth, and grant applicants must provide a rationale for the number of staff proposed. FYSB's program performance standards require that at least one adult be on the premises at all times when youth are present. Further, since the RHYA intended that these services be transitional, program regulations allow shelters to house youth for a maximum of 15 days.
During their stay, youth receive services that meet their immediate needs. In addition, they receive counseling and services that help reunite them with their families (when appropriate) or assist them in determining what alternative living arrangements will be in their best interest. To ensure that young people's basic needs are met, shelters provide temporary housing, at least two meals per day, and individual and group counseling in compliance with the program performance standards. Shelters also must identify young people's other immediate needs, such as psychological or psychiatric services, and meet these needs, either directly or by referral to another community-based agency or individual.
To assist in reuniting youth with their families when appropriate, the program performance standards stipulate that shelter staff must contact young people's parents within the timeframe established by State law. If no State requirement exists, shelter staff must contact the youth's parents within 72 hours (and preferably 24 hours) after the youth's arrival at the shelter. Once parents have been contacted, shelters must provide family counseling for youth and parents, if appropriate and requested.
Shelter staff must work with runaway and homeless youth and, as appropriate, their parents or legal guardians to decide what living arrangements are in each young person's best interest, including returning home or being placed in an appropriate alternative living situation. Once a solution has been agreed upon, shelter staff must arrange transportation if the young person lives in the area served by the shelter. If the youth lives outside the area, the shelter must ensure transportation by a third party and confirm the youth's safe arrival.
The RHYA specifies that shelters also must provide youth and their families or legal guardians with aftercare services and counseling after departure from the shelter. Programs can offer these services either directly or by referral to other agencies and individuals.
In addition, the RHYA and program performance standards address outreach and networking activities by shelters. Shelters are required to network with law enforcement agencies, the juvenile justice system, school systems, and other community agencies. Linkages with law enforcement and juvenile justice system personnel help ensure that staffs from these agencies are aware of and will use shelter services when assisting runaway and homeless youth who cannot immediately be reunited with their parents. Linkages with school systems allow shelters to coordinate with schools to which runaway and homeless youth return and assist young people in staying current with their studies. Linkages with community agencies give youth access to services that are not provided directly by the shelter.
Finally, the program performance standards require shelters to actively involve youth in the ongoing planning and delivery of services. Shelters can, for example, invite young people to serve on their boards of directors or provide opportunities for them to work as peer counselors. Shelters also can establish mechanisms for obtaining feedback from young people about the quality of services in the shelter.
The Basic Center Program in Action Wayne, age 14, was guided to a Basic Center through a Street Outreach Program also funded by FYSB. Wayne's family had been troubled by homelessness and substance abuse, and Wayne himself had been physically abused by a family member. He had not been to school in a year at the time he entered the Center. The Center provided Wayne shelter, helped him enroll in school, and offered other services to help address his experiences of abuse. Wayne now is living in a foster home, finishing high school, and offering peer support to other youth from troubled situations. |
The Transitional Living Program for Older Homeless Youth
Through the Transitional Living Program, created by amendments to the RHYA in 1988, Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, FYSB supports programs that provide longer term residential services to older, homeless youth ages 16-21 for up to 18 months. The Transitional Living Program was authorized in FY 2003 by Part B of the RHYA, as amended (Public Law 106-71). The services provided are designed to help homeless youth make a successful transition to self-sufficient living. In FY 2002, FYSB funded 186 Transitional Living Programs: 111 continuations, and 75 new starts. In FY 2003, FYSB funded 191 programs: 116 continuations, and 75 new starts. The average annual FYSB grant to Transitional Living Programs was approximately $177,000 in FY 2002 and $192,000 in FY 2003. Exhibit 2 at the end of this chapter provides additional information about Transitional Living Program funding for FYs 2002 and 2003.
The Transitional Living Program grantees are required to provide youth with stable, safe living accommodations and services that help them develop the skills necessary to move to independence (see appendix C). Living accommodations may be host family homes, group homes, or supervised apartments. In all three cases, Transitional Living Program facilities may not house more than 20 youth at one time. Grantee program staff is required to maintain contact with youth in these facilities, although staff is not required to live on-site.
In the host home approach, youth live in the community with families who have volunteered to participate in the program. While young people are participating in Transitional Living Program services, host families make sure that their basic needs are met and provide support and supervision, with assistance from program staff.
Group homes give youth the opportunity to move toward independence in a structured environment while living with other young people. The group is responsible for planning menus, preparing food, doing housekeeping tasks, and resolving issues that naturally arise in a shared-housing arrangement. The program staff provides continuous on-site supervision and hold regular meetings with youth to discuss problems or personal/shelter issues.
Transitional Living Programs also use several forms of supervised apartments to house young people. A grantee agency, for example, may own an apartment building and house youth in individual units. A staff person stays on the premises to assist youth as needed. Other programs use "scattered-site" apartments: single-occupancy apartments rented directly by young people, with the sponsorship of a Transitional Living Program. Youth rent an apartment in a neighborhood and location that they choose and, depending on program policies, are responsible for all or part of the rent. Youth work or go to school while continuing to participate in Transitional Living Program services. The program staff visits these young people periodically, generally more often when they first move into the apartment and less often as they move toward independence. Some program models allow youth to keep the apartment upon completing program services.
In all three models, youth live in a supported, structured environment in which program staff is available to advise them as they develop the skills needed to move to full independence. These skills include budgeting, maintaining a house or apartment, paying rent, planning menus, preparing food, and building constructive relationships. In addition, many programs use a phase system that enables youth to move from a more supervised to a less supervised environment as they learn to live on their own. Upon a Transitional Living Program, participants might, for example, live in group homes with other youth and a program staff person. As they demonstrate increased decision-making skills, responsibility, and goal orientation, young people move into apartment buildings on agency property before finally moving into individual scattered-site apartments.
To complement these practical experiences in moving toward independent living, Transitional Living Program grantees also offer (either directly or by referral) programs providing more formal, structured opportunities for learning, as well as services that meet basic needs:
- Basic life-skill building: Develops or enhances skills in budgeting,
using credit, housekeeping, menu planning, and food preparation,
and provides consumer education;
- Interpersonal skill building: Develops or enhances young people's
ability to establish positive relationships with peers and adults,
make decisions, and manage stress;
- Educational advancement: Offers opportunities to attain a General
Educational Development (GED) credential, postsecondary training,
or vocational education;
- Job preparation and attainment: Provides career counseling, guidance
on dress and grooming, and job placement;
- Mental health care: Provides individual and group counseling and
drug abuse education and prevention;
- Physical health care: Provides routine physicals, health assessments,
and emergency treatment; and
- Individualized planning: Allows staff and young people to work together to develop individual transitional living plans and decide how services should be provided.
The Transitional Living Program in Action Shannon entered a Transitional Living Program at age 16 after she and her sister relocated to the Dallas area and found themselves homeless. She completed the program, which gave her the skills she needed to live on her own. The program required her to pay a modest rent, half of which was later returned to her to use in establishing permanent housing. Shannon applied her funds to a down payment on a home. Today, at age 19, she is a longstanding employee of a local hotel, a student at the local community college, and a homeowner. |
The Street Outreach Program
In July 1996, FYSB began implementing the new Street Outreach Program. The program was created as part of the Violence against Women Act of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322). The program was authorized through FY 2003 by Part E of the RHYA, as amended (Public Law 106-71).
FYSB first awarded 80 Street Outreach Program grants in FY 1997 to existing FYSB grantees and other agencies that offered emergency shelter and other appropriate services. In FY 2002, FYSB funded 142 Street Outreach Programs, all of which were continuations. In FY 2003, FYSB funded 147 Street Outreach Programs: 95 continuations and 52 new starts. The average annual FYSB grant to Street Outreach Programs was approximately $95,000 in FY 2002 and $94,000 in FY 2003. Exhibit 3 at the end of this chapter provides additional information about Street Outreach Program funding for FYs 2002 and 2003.
The goal of the Street Outreach Program is to establish and build relationships between street youth and program outreach staff in order to help youth leave the streets. Street Outreach grantees provide education and prevention services to runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to or are at risk of sexual exploitation or abuse. FYSB requires the Street Outreach grantees to offer services on the street during the hours that young people tend to be out, including late afternoons, evenings, nights, and weekends (see appendix D on pages 35-36). The programs also must employ staff whose gender, ethnicity, and life experiences are similar to those of the young people being served. Further, given the intensity of street work, FYSB requires applicants to provide staff with supportive training on issues relevant to street life. Applicants also must provide staff with street-based supervision, including guidance on the boundaries of their job responsibilities and strategies for helping youth who are survivors of sexual abuse.
Street Outreach programs must meet several key requirements. They must have access to local emergency shelter space that is in an appropriate placement for young people and that can be made available. Their outreach staff must have access to the shelter in order to maintain interaction with youth. They must provide outreach services from a Positive Youth Development perspective, involving youth in designing, operating, and evaluating the program. And finally, grantees are required to develop a plan for coordinating services funded under the program with their State or local sexual assault coalitions or other agencies providing services to youth who have been, or who are at risk of being, sexually abused or exploited.
The Street Outreach Program in Action A Street Outreach Program staff person met 16-year-old Matthew at a mobile soup kitchen. Matthew had been sporadically homeless and absent from school because of congenital health problems. Perhaps because of his health condition and experiences, he at first was withdrawn and unwilling to engage in conversation with the outreach worker. After several weeks of repeated contact, however, he gained enough trust to allow the outreach worker to link him with medical services. In addition, the outreach staff helped him enroll in a program that could assist him in obtaining his GED. |
Funding Mechanisms of the FYSB Youth Programs
FYSB solicits separate grant applications for the Basic Center Program, Transitional Living Programs, and the Street Outreach Program through a Federal Register announcement, and applications are reviewed by peer panels. FYSB-funded programs provide new-start grants on a competitive basis for one-year budget periods. After the first year of the project, agencies may apply for continuation funding on a noncompetitive basis for up to two more years for the Basic Center and Street Outreach Programs and for up to four more years for the Transitional Living Programs.
All continuation grants are subject to the availability of funds and satisfactory progress of the grantee. The maximum grant for a three-year project period for the Basic Center Program is $600,000; the maximum grant for a three-year project period for the Street Outreach Program is $600,000; and the maximum grant for a five-year project period for the Transitional Living Program is $1,000,000.
Funds for the Basic Center Program are allocated on the basis of each State's population younger than age 18, according to the latest census data. As amended, however, the RHYA requires that, beginning in FY 1995, each State receive a minimum of $100,000 in Basic Center funding and each Territory a minimum of $45,000. Funds for the Transitional Living Program and the Street Outreach Program are competed nationally and are not based on a State's population younger than age 18. The Basic Center Program, Transitional Living Program, and Street Outreach Program grantees are required to provide a non-Federal match of ten percent of the grant amount.
Exhibit 1. Basic Center Program Funding, FYs 2002 and 2003
Exhibit 2. Transitional Living Program Funding, FYs 2002 and 2003
Exhibit 3. Street Outreach Program Funding, FYs 2002 and 2003
Chapter 3: Family and Youth Services
Bureau Support System
The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) created its national support system to help local youth service agencies enhance their capacity to assist young people and their families. Through this system, FYSB supports a national hotline and referral system for runaway youth; offers conferences, trainings, peer monitoring, and on-site technical assistance; and documents effective practices and disseminates these to the youth service field. The system includes the following:
- Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Component
- National Communications System
- National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth
- Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Monitoring System
- Regional Training and Technical Assistance Provider System
- National Communications System
- Research and Evaluation Component
- Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System
- Research and Demonstration Program
- Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System
The FYSB support system is designed to assist grantee programs in delivering services that make a difference in the lives of young people. Highlights of support system activities during Fiscal Years (FYs) 2002 and 2003 appear on the following pages.
The National Communications System
In FY 1980, the U.S. Congress authorized funding to establish a "national communications system to assist runaway and homeless youth in making contact with their families and service providers" through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA), Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974, as amended (Public Law 96-509). In FY 2003, the system was authorized through Part C, Section 331, of the RHYA, as amended by the Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children Protection Act (Public Law 106-71).
Today, FYSB funds the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS) to serve as that communications system. The NRS assists runaway youth and their families by linking them to crisis counseling, programs and resources, and each other, when appropriate. The goal of the system is to ensure that young people in crisis have a central place to turn for information on the help available to them.
The NRS toll-free hotline (800-621-4000), the central element of the communications system, operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Hotline volunteers and staff typically respond to 100,000 to 120,000 calls a year. In FY 2002, the Switchboard handled 120,016 calls, and in FY 2003, 116,687 calls.
The NRS has two special functions to ensure that its services are accessible to all young people: a special phone line for hearing-impaired youth, and access to AT&T's language line translation service. The phone lines are always available to respond to callers in crisis, and the NRS also operates an interactive Web site (www.nrscrisisline.org) designed to assist those seeking non-crisis-related information. Site visitors can submit questions and comments, obtain statistics on runaway and homeless youth, and request or download NRS materials, such as the NRS Media Kit, the Prevention Curriculum Teacher's Guide, or Lisa's Diary (the frequently requested diary of a runaway). All information requests receive a response within 24 hours.
The NRS staff and volunteers, who receive 30 hours of training before staffing a phone line, provide young callers with referrals to community- and faith-based programs and services. The NRS has data on more than 16,000 youth-related agencies across the country, and this information is updated annually. In addition, crisis line staff has access to information about more than 200,000 organizations through hard-copy resource directories. Further, "Agency Affiliation Agreements" between the NRS and local youth organizations commit agencies to ongoing communication with the NRS and to providing services to youth and families referred to them by the NRS.
To ensure that youth who are away from their communities are connected with appropriate services, such as shelter care, the NRS also provides staff-mediated conference calls between young people and community agencies that can assist them. Other young people and families are referred to services in their home communities. In addition, staff-mediated conference calls between runaway youth and their parents initiate the process of family reunification. Exhibit 1 in appendix E shows the number of conference calls placed on behalf of youth callers in FYs 2002 and 2003.
The NRS also continued or initiated several activities in FYs 2002 and 2003 designed to enhance services to runaway youth. The following are highlights of NRS project activities during these years:
- In collaboration with Greyhound Lines, Inc., the NRS expanded
and continued to administer the "HomeFree" program. This
family reunification program, which the NRS has administered since
1995, originally enabled runaway youth ages 12-17 to receive free
bus tickets to return home. Beginning in FY 2002, young people ages
18-21 became eligible to participate in the program. When returning
home is not an option, runaway youth ages 19-21 may also receive
free tickets to an alternative placement near their home, such as
an independent living facility. Youth served through HomeFree have
access to the full array of NRS services. Greyhound has promoted
the expanded HomeFree eligibility by placing posters in 450 of its
most traveled bus stations. The NRS offered family reunification
services to 4,872 youth in FY 2002; of these, 1,170 received free
bus tickets to return home or to an independent living program through
HomeFree. In FY 2003, the corresponding figures were 4,563 and 833.
Beginning July 2002, Greyhound began requiring youth age 14 or younger
who travel more than 300 miles, or more than 5 hours, or into the
evening hours to travel with an adult. Tickets used for parents
totaled 16 in FY 2002 and 55 in FY 2003.
- The NRS was one of four national charities chosen by America West
airlines to receive free air miles through the company's Miles of
Hope program, and was given five million miles. The NRS used this
resource for staff travel to conduct presentations on runaway and
homeless youth issues and NRS services. A total of nine tickets
in FY 2002 and 13 tickets in FY 2003 were used for staff to present
at FYSB HUB conferences, the National Network for Youth Symposium,
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Team Hope
Training, the Association of Juvenile Compact Administrators, and
visits to the Boys Town and Child Help hotlines. In addition, the
free miles allowed the NRS to send young people to six youth-related
conferences around the country.
- Through collaboration with a graduate-level class in DePaul University's
Industrial/Organizational Psychology program, the NRS developed
an annual evaluation program for the crisis hotline, a revised HomeFree
program followup process, and an evaluation tool to assess the NRS
volunteer recruitment and retention program. Hotline evaluations
were conducted in October 2002 and October 2003, and the next one
is scheduled for October 2004.
- The NRS volunteer program continued to enable the organization
to provide services cost effectively. In FY 2002, 115 telephone
volunteers donated 7,721 hours, and 26 percent of these comprised
youth ages 16-18; in FY 2003, 245 volunteers donated 7,178 hours,
and 25 percent were ages 16-18. By involving youth volunteers, the
NRS seeks to provide developmental opportunities for young people
and offer youth callers the opportunity to be assisted by their
peers.
- In addition to providing an information source for non-crisis
requesters, the NRS Web site (http://www.nrscrisisline.org)
continued to offer special features for key audiences. The home
page for youth, for example, includes a bulletin board that allows
young people to post questions and a "Success Stories"
section about young people who have used NRS services. A home page
for parents offers visitors an extensive library of "Tips for
Parents"; these materials also can be customized to include
partner agency logos and information. Numerous organizations serving
runaway and homeless youth have created links to the NRS site, and
many of these have placed the NRS banner on their sites. In FY 2002,
the site received nearly 425,500 "page view hits" (a 24-percent
increase over FY 2001), and nearly 63,000 materials were downloaded
from the site (the majority were materials written for parents).
The corresponding figures for FY 2003 were 502,888 "hits"
and 52,406 materials downloaded.
- The NRS continued to respond to information requests from the media. For example, it was featured in the "Dear Abby" column (with a readership of 95 million), under the headline "Hotline Proves to be a Runaway Winner" (January 17, 2002), which stressed the importance of family dynamics as a reason cited by youth who have run away or are thinking about running away from home. The NRS also was quoted on <ABCNEWS.com> (July 11, 2002) in a story about a study indicating that many adolescent runaways come from abusive home situations. And the NRS was featured on major news outlets, including CNN ("On the Run: Young and Homeless," October 22, 2002) and The Washington Post ("Homeless Youths: A Study's Portrait of a Perilous Life," August 27, 2002).
In addition to these activities, during these two Fiscal Years, through its management information system (MIS), the NRS continued to collect data about the young people and families that it serves. The NRS MIS complements the FYSB Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHYMIS). Through the NRS system, volunteers document information about each hotline crisis call, including a caller profile (age/gender), the caller's issues, the focus of the call, referrals offered during the call, and followup that may be needed.
The NRS MIS data showed that in FYs 2002 and 2003, the Switchboard responded to approximately 120,016 and 116,687 calls, respectively. Of those calls, 43 percent (FY 2002) and 42 percent (FY 2003) were from youth and 35 percent (FY 2002) and 42 percent (FY 2003) from parents, with the remainder from young people's relatives and friends or from youth professionals or another adult (appendix E, exhibit 2). The majority of youth callers were female (75 percent in FY 2002 and 76 percent in FY 2003) and ages 12-17 (78 percent in FY 2003 and 76 percent in FY 2003).
The NRS MIS also collected information on the reasons that youth contacted the Switchboard. It is important to note that youth may be reluctant to share highly sensitive information (such as information about physical, sexual, or emotional abuse) with someone they do not know. Data on these issues, therefore, typically underreport the incidence rate of highly sensitive issues. The most frequently reported reason for contact reported by youth callers in FY 2002 and FY 2003, respectively, were family dynamics (41 percent and 38 percent), followed by peer/social issues (14 percent and 13 percent), physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or neglect (11 percent and 9 percent), youth service issues (9 percent for both Fiscal Years), and school-related issues (7 percent and 8 percent) (appendix E, exhibit 3).
The majority of youth who called the Switchboard were runaway youth (53 percent in FY 2002; 52 percent in FY 2003) or youth in other crisis situations (28 percent in FYs 2002 and 2003) (appendix E, exhibit 4). Of youth callers who had run away, 42 percent in FY 2002 and 45 percent in FY 2003 had been away from home for 1-3 days (appendix E, exhibit 5). Exhibit 6 in appendix E breaks down the number and percentage of calls by the Region where they originated. The wide variation in these numbers across the ten Regions partly reflects their geographic diversity and their varied combination of States that are urban versus rural, large versus small, and highly versus sparsely populated.
The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth
FYSB established the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY) in 1992 as a resource for communities, organizations, and individuals interested in developing new and effective strategies for supporting young people and their families. As a free information source for youth service professionals, policymakers, and the general public, NCFY offers the following:
- Customized research: NCFY conducts research in response to information
requests regarding youth programming and policy, available resources,
national youth-related initiatives, and a range of other youth-related
topics. The NCFY library contains free or low-cost publications
on youth-related issues and thousands of other documents, abstracts
of which are included in the NCFY searchable literature database.
- Publications development: NCFY produces a range of publications
designed to assist those working with youth and families or youth
policy. These include community education guides, training and technical
assistance publications and information products, publications for
parents and young people, and summaries of FYSB-funded evaluations
or research and demonstration projects.
- Outreach: NCFY supports FYSB in working with other Federal agencies and national organizations to develop improved practices for strengthening programs for youth and families.
Through these activities, NCFY worked closely with FYSB during FYs 2002 and 2003 to support the Bureau in achieving its goals. Highlights of this work are listed below:
- Provided extensive support to FYSB in planning for and hosting
the first National Youth Summit, held June 26-28, 2002, in Washington,
D.C., and in preparing for the second National Youth Summit to be
held in November 6-8, 2003. For each Summit, NCFY-supported activities
included developing a conference workplan, preparing and disseminating
conference promotional materials, coordinating the production of
the conference notebook and related materials, operating a toll-free
telephone line and e-mail account through which NCFY responded to
more than 1,000 requests for Summit information, and assisting in
coordinating the event on site. For the 2003 Summit, NCFY also managed
speaker engagements and the youth program.
- Developed a Web-based, eight-module interactive training course
on the Positive Youth Development approach. Two core modules and
accompanying exercises, for all participants, cover adolescent development
and the principles of FYSB's Positive Youth Development approach.
Six other modules provide key audiences such as youth professionals,
policymakers, media professionals, researchers, parents, and young
people with information on implementing the approach that is tailored
to their circumstances.
- Responded in FY 2002 to 247,795 information requests for funding
sources, statistics, program models, research findings, and referrals
through the NCFY Information Service and Web site; the corresponding
figure for FY 2003 was 293,126.
- Maintained a literature database containing abstracts of more
than 11,500 publications on youth and family issues, and made the
database accessible through the NCFY Web site.
- Produced the following publications:
- Promoting Positive Youth Development: An Investment in Youth & Communities (brochure and poster)
- Reconnecting Youth & Community: A Youth Development
Approach (pocket-sized edition)
- Developed speeches and provided background information to assist
FYSB in preparing for numerous meetings and events such as a meeting
of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Children, Youth and
Families; a National Collaboration for Youth member meeting; the
Boys & Girls Clubs of America 96th National Conference; the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsored National
Youth Summit; the New England Network for Youth's Eighth Transition
to Independent Living Conference; the Sixth Annual Homeless Prenatal
Issues Conference (Innovative Strategies for Working With Homeless
Pregnant and Parenting Workshop); and Tennessee's Conference on
Youth.
- Conducted outreach activities, including the following:
- Exhibited at six national conferences in FY 2002 and three
in FY 2003, and distributed NCFY materials to an additional
135 events (65 in FY 2002 and 70 in FY 2003).
- Conducted 30 special outreach mailings in each fiscal year,
including distributing NCFY-produced publications to the FYSB
grantees and national organizations working on youth and family
issues.
- Exhibited at six national conferences in FY 2002 and three
in FY 2003, and distributed NCFY materials to an additional
135 events (65 in FY 2002 and 70 in FY 2003).
- Managed and routinely updated the NCFY, FYSB, and HHS YouthInfo
Web sites (the NCFY site was visited more than 246,000 times in
FY 2002 and 291,983 times in 2003).
- Compiled and distributed a monthly electronic update, Youth Initiatives Update, to the FYSB staff, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Regional Office staff, FYSB Regional T/TA Providers, and FYSB grantees who requested to be added to the electronic mailing list that NCFY developed and maintains.
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Monitoring System
FYSB created the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Monitoring System to assess its grantee projects, through on-site visits to each grantee not less frequently than once every three years. Through FY 2003, the system was authorized through Part F, Section 386, of the RHYA, as amended (Public Law 106-71).
In FYs 2002 and 2003, FYSB conducted 83 and 100 monitoring visits, respectively. Site visits are conducted by monitoring teams comprising ACF Regional Office staff and trained peer monitors from FYSB grantee agencies. There were 297 peer monitors in FY 2002 and 349 in FY 2003. Every other year, new peer monitors attend a two-day National Peer Monitor Training focusing on skill development and peer monitor roles and responsibilities. Peer monitors also receive instruction on how to document visit findings in the monitoring instrument, and each trainee completes a monitoring visit at a local FYSB grantee agency.
Monitoring visits typically involve an entrance conference; several days of interviews, inspection of the facilities, reviews of case files and other agency documents; and an exit conference. Grantees typically conduct a self-assessment before the visit to allow reviewers to obtain factual information, leaving time during the site review for interaction and interviews.
Federal reviewers address financial and compliance issues, while peer monitors address program issues, provide technical assistance, and share best practices. The monitoring team then prepares a written report that identifies strengths and areas that require corrective action within a specified timeframe. (See also examples of how FYSB's T/TA Providers provided follow-up support to grantees on the basis of monitoring visit reports.) Grantees are provided an opportunity to review and respond to draft monitoring reports. Training and technical assistance are offered to those grantees found to be out of compliance in an effort to improve their performance.
Exhibit 1 below provides a summary of the results of the monitoring visits conducted during these two fiscal years.
FYSB's Regional Training and Technical Assistance Providers
FYSB funds ten regionally based organizations to provide T/TA to local youth service agencies receiving Bureau funding. Each organization serves FYSB-funded projects in one of the ten HHS Regions.
The regionally based T/TA Provider network was first established by Congress as "coordinated networks" through amendments to the RHYA in 1977 (Public Law 95-115). The system was authorized through FY 2003 by Part D, Section 342, of the RHYA, as amended (Public Law 106-71).
Today, FYSB funding supports several types of services to the grantees through the T/TA Provider system:
- Conferences
- Workshops and trainings
- Technical assistance (telephone, on-site, and information-sharing technical assistance are provided routinely and following monitoring visits)
Each T/TA Provider offers technical assistance through different vehicles, depending on the needs and geographic distribution of the FYSB grantees in their Region; most provide this service to the majority of grantees in their Region each year. For example, in FY 2002, one T/TA Provider conducted 60 on-site consultations and 98 telephone consultations; that provider also responded via e-mail to an additional 94 requests for technical assistance. Following are highlights of other activities conducted by the FYSB Regional T/TA Providers in FYs 2002 and 2003:
- Sponsored or co-sponsored 67 regional or statewide conferences
in FY 2002 and 63 in FY 2003
- Sponsored 212 trainings or workshops in FY 2002 and 203 in FY
2003
- Produced and distributed newsletters and other materials including,
among many others, the following:
- Newsline
- Community Roadmaps
- Youth Services Journal
- Directory of Youth Involvement Resources and Skills
- Newsline
The T/TA Providers also periodically conduct special projects to test new project models and enhance their capacity to meet the T/TA needs of FYSB grantee agencies. The following are examples of special projects conducted by T/TA Providers during FYs 2002 and 2003:
- Conducted a qualitative research study of the educational obstacles
confronting homeless youth in four States and published the report,
A Different Kind of Smart. The report provides recommendations
for improving the Stewart B. McKinney Act and educational systems
to better meet the needs of these young people. As a followup to
the study, a T/TA Provider assisted FYSB grantees and schools in
one State in providing mainstream education to homeless youth. That
same T/TA Provider partnered with an organization in another State
to promote adherence to the law regarding meeting the educational
needs of these young people. That provider also conducted a survey
of four high schools in three States to obtain a count of the number
of out-of-home youth. The results showed that 10-16 percent of students
in the four schools were living in out-of-home settings.
- Initiated Project ImProve, an outcome and information management
pilot project, which provides training and database implementation
assistance relevant to developing measurable program outcomes and
integrated information management systems in youth-serving agencies.
In FY 2003, this T/TA Provider presented Project ImProve workshops
attended by people representing 15 agencies and provided intensive
training on outcome development to staff in four pilot-site agencies,
all of which are FYSB-funded agencies.
- Assisted the National Resource Center for Youth Services in developing
a national database of the strengths, challenges, and similarities
of the Transitional Living Programs and Independent Living Programs.
- Completed the first phase of a research project on spiritually
oriented practice in providing services to youth and families in
at-risk circumstances. Activities included conducting a survey of
200 youth agencies nationwide (including many FYSB grantees), analyzing
the survey findings, and producing a report, Practice Unbound:
A Study of Secular, Spiritual, and Religious Activities in Work
with Adolescents. In addition, T/TA Provider staff is conducting
workshops on the study results to date.
- Worked closely with a local mentoring program for the children
of incarcerated adults, a program that parallels FYSB's new Federal
initiative. The T/TA Provider piloted a T/TA system that supports
that program's 42 volunteer coordinators and 500 volunteers and
has worked to translate the experience into a T/TA model for FYSB's
new grantees under the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program.
That same T/TA Provider worked closely with the National Resource
Center for Youth Development to provide a series of trainings and
facilitated sessions to develop a broad-based youth collaborative
for the State.
- In support of the National Youth Summit, co-sponsored by the HHS
in June 2002, organized concurrent regional youth summits to provide
forums for discussing Summit themes.
- Co-sponsored a shelter utilization study in a major metropolitan area. Study activities included conducting literature reviews; interviewing street youth, youth service providers, and elected officials; and visiting similar metropolitan areas to obtain comparison data.
In addition, in these two fiscal years, many T/TA Providers used the results of the FYSB Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Monitoring System visits to further tailor their activities to the specific needs of FYSB-funded programs in their Regions. Examples of such activities during FY 2002 include the following:
- The Region III T/TA Provider worked with a grantee program that
identified challenges, during a monitoring visit, to reaching street
youth. The provider sent a Street Outreach Coordinator from a program
conducting successful street outreach to offer on-site training.
Since then, the program has involved young people in identifying
where program staff can best make contact with street youth and
has increased the number of staff contacts with young people on
the street.
- The Region IV T/TA Provider used monitoring visit results to work
with a grantee identified as needing assistance in integrating Positive
Youth Development principles into its TLP. The T/TA Provider arranged
for three grantee staff to receive training on Positive Youth Development;
these staff then used what they learned, in conjunction with telephone
and e-mail TA from the provider, to revise their TLP approach and
procedures. Today, TLP participants served through the program stay
for a longer period, increasing their chances for attaining the
goals set for their participation.
- The Region VI T/TA Provider, in followup to an FY 2002 monitoring
report on a grantee agency undergoing a major leadership transition,
assisted the grantee in revising program policies and procedures,
improving case planning, expanding the board, and creating a youth
advisory board. Since then, the agency reports overall improvement
in program functioning, including far fewer incidents of acting-out
behavior among youth served.
- The Region IX T/TA Provider received a monitoring report regarding an agency that required training on Positive Youth Development. The T/TA Provider delivered training to grantee staff and invited community members. A year later, the program won an award for outstanding youth involvement in the community.
Examples of specifically tailored T/TA activities conducted in the Regions during FY 2003 include the following:
- The Region VIII T/TA Provider worked with a youth shelter on an
Indian reservation. The provider helped the agency prepare their
monitoring instrument for future review and worked with staff on
issues for the RHYA and RHYMIS-LITE programs. At a later visit,
the T/TA Provider met with the Tribal Treasurer to discuss the funding
concerns of the RHYA legislation.
- The Region IX T/TA worked with two agencies that had been using the host home model for sheltering runaway and homeless youth. The provider looked for ways to provide a group home model for the shelter and worked to explore new methods of outreach. The agencies are now considering Safe Place as a method, and one rural agency was provided the Rural Street Outreach Curriculum.
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System
In 1992, Congress authorized funding to implement a national reporting system through the RHYA (Public Law 93-415). The RHYMIS system is designed to capture data on the number of runaway and homeless youth being served by FYSB grantee programs, demographic information on those youth, and the types of services being offered by the programs they turn to for assistance.
In FYs 2000 and 2001, FYSB streamlined the RHYMIS to make data collection easier for FYSB grantees and thereby improve the quality and quantity of data collected. In spring 2001, FYSB released a new version of RHYMIS, known as RHYMIS-LITE (Version 1.0), for the FYSB grantees to test. FYSB then collected grantee feedback on the system, made adjustments, and released Version 1.1 in August 2001. Version 1.1 is designed to collect information on young people's status at entrance into FYSB-administered programs, on the services that they receive, and on their status in critical areas at exit (see appendix F).
The following are highlights of RHYMIS project activities during FYs 2002 and 2003:
- Worked with FYSB to develop programming for RHYMIS-LITE, Version
1.2, to make the software more accessible to individuals with disabilities
(in compliance with Section 508 guidelines) and delivered Version
1.2 to approximately 577 grantees and providers.
- Maintained the RHYMIS Web site, which includes user tips, answers
to frequently asked questions, tools and instructions for downloading
RHYMIS software, and information on obtaining RHYMIS technical assistance.
- Modified the RHYMIS Web site to include a new link that allows
grantees to submit Federal Transfer data via e-mail from the Web
site.
- Provided T/TA to new FYSB grantees and grantees experiencing difficulty
in submitting their RHYMIS data. The grantee submission rate now
is 99 percent.
- Worked with FYSB to develop an extranet version of the RHYMIS-LITE
report module. The module is designed to provide easy access by
authorized groups to RHYMIS-LITE data reports.
- Maintained the national RHYMIS database, including approximately
760 grantee data submissions into the national database in FY 2002
and 862 in FY 2003, and disseminated the data to FYSB staff, the
ACF Regional Office Youth Specialists, and the T/TA Providers.
- Worked with FYSB to update the RHYMIS national database to maintain
an accurate list of grantees.
- Provided ongoing technical assistance through the FYSB-supported,
toll-free RHYMIS technical support hotline and through e-mail (the
team fielded 2,229 information and technical assistance requests
in 2002 and 1,396 in 2003).
- Demonstrated RHYMIS-LITE software and the new Extranet application and distributed related informational materials at the 2002 National Network for Youth Symposium; the 2002 and 2003 Mid-Atlantic Network for Youth conferences; the 2002 Southwest Network of Youth Services, Inc., Symposium; the 2003 Inter-regional MINK Youth Service Network; and the Youth Network Council (T/TA Providers in Regions V and VII conference).
Research and Demonstration Program
FYSB funds Research and Demonstration projects to enhance knowledge about key issues or to build capacity in the youth service field, as authorized by Part D, Section 343, of the RHYA, as amended (Public Law 106-71).
In FY 1998, FYSB awarded more than $1 million to nine State Youth Development Collaboration Projects. FYSB awarded the funding ($120,000 each for five years) to the following States to develop and support innovative Positive Youth Development strategies: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, and Oregon. In FY 2001, FYSB awarded funding ($120,000 each for three years) to an additional four States: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Louisiana. The grants are enabling the States to identify and develop new, or strengthen their existing, Positive Youth Development strategies. Each project is promoting partnerships among FYSB grantees and community- and faith-based youth service organizations in the States; these partnerships are intended to result in increased focus on, and collaboration for, providing opportunities that support young people's positive development.
Funded projects in this demonstration will be based on collaborative program designs that emphasize each of the following three major programmatic objectives for fostering Positive Youth Development and positive youth outcomes: increased opportunities and avenues for the positive use of time; increased opportunities for positive self-expression, and increased opportunities for youth participation and civic engagement.
Each State has designed a unique plan for implementing the demonstration project on the basis of the identified needs of the State's young people and prior State activities related to Positive Youth Development. The projects are focusing on all youth, including youth in at-risk situations such as runaway youth, youth leaving the foster care system, abused and neglected children, and other youth served by the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
FYSB regularly convenes its Research and Demonstration grantees to identify project learnings, develop strategies for overcoming barriers, and promote cross-project information sharing. During these two fiscal years, FYSB held two forums that brought together the State Youth Development Collaboration Project grantees. Through the February 2002 forum of the State Youth Development Collaboration Projects, FYSB convened the grantees to discuss key substantive issues related to their work involving young people in State- and local-level Positive Youth Development initiatives, marketing and sharing messages about the projects' efforts, and collaborating with other agencies. The projects also discussed FYSB's plan for evaluating their work, including the draft evaluation instrument. In March 2003, FYSB convened the grantees to discuss sustaining the projects' work beyond the FYSB grant, next steps in evaluating the projects, and marketing the projects on behalf of young people. FYSB also shared information with the States about current Federal initiatives.
In FY 2003, FYSB awarded $1.1 million to fund nine State Collaboration Demonstrations Grants (Massachusetts, Illinois, Arizona, New York, Nebraska, Kentucky, Oregon, Louisiana, and Iowa) to continue the investment in collaborative approaches, particularly between State governments and local community jurisdictions or Tribes. These Positive Youth Development State and Local Collaboration Demonstration Projects are specifically aimed at moving the earlier State-level successes to the level of local communities.
Appendix A
National Youth Summit:
"Promoting Positive Youth Development"
June 26-28, 2002
Washington, D.C.
Highlights
On June 26-28, 2002, FYSB and other Federal and foundation partners hosted a National Youth Summit to promote the Positive Youth Development approach. The Summit was intended to be the first of many similar events to be held over the coming years. This historic event brought together a record number of people from Federal, State, and local agencies, along with youth, Tribes, programs, organizations, and foundations. This diverse range of individuals and organizations examined, debated, and celebrated the journey of America's youth toward healthy and responsible adulthood.
The Summit successfully achieved its three goals:
- Provided a forum for sharing information and resources about the
wide range of programs that support Positive Youth Development;
- Explored opportunities for expanding the Positive Youth Development
approach into other risk behavior programs; and
- Encouraged the creation of cross-cutting initiatives and collaboration among programs using the Positive Youth Development approach.
Young people constituted a significant proportion of the presenters, speakers, leaders, and audience. Attendees, both youth and adult, had the opportunity to engage in important discussions, both during sessions and informally, about many youth-related issues, including their path to economic success, welfare dependency prevention, the promotion of healthy relationships, young peoples' value and contributions to their communities, and supportive contexts for their healthy, pro-social development.
The program included a blend of plenary sessions (some broadcast by satellite), workshops, exhibits, art projects, receptions, and entertainment. The plenary speakers included: The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; The Honorable John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General; The Honorable Anne M. Veneman, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; The Honorable Richard Burr, U.S. House of Representatives; Claude Allen, J.D., Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Administration for Children and Families; Harry Wilson, Associate Commissioner, Family and Youth Services Bureau; J. Robert Flores, J.D., Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs; Emily Stover DeRocco, Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor; Mayor Mamie Locke, Hampton, Virginia; Laura Sessions Stepp, author of Our Last Best Shot: Guiding Our Children Through Early Adolescence; and Mary-Louise Kurey, Miss Wisconsin 1999.
Several major themes emerged from the Summit:
- Fostering collaboration and partnership among the diverse entities,
organizations, and individuals comprising the youth development
field;
- Promoting youth involvement (including civic engagement);
- Supporting positive environments for youth;
- Promoting self-sufficiency; and
- Measuring the success of youth and youth development programs.
This first Summit paved the way for the second Summit, "Building on the Strengths of America's Youth," which was held in Washington, D.C., on November 6-8, 2003.
Requirements of Basic Center Program Grantees in Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
Part A, Section 312(b) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA),
as amended by the Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children Protection
Act (Public Law 106-71), requires that Basic Center grantees shall
do the following:
"(1) shall operate a runaway and homeless youth center located in an area which is demonstrably frequented by or easily reachable by runaway and homeless youth;
(2) shall use such assistance to establish, to strengthen, or to fund a runaway and homeless youth center, or a locally controlled facility providing temporary shelter, that has-
(A) a maximum capacity of not more than 20 youth; and
(B) a ratio of staff to youth that is sufficient to ensure adequate supervision and treatment;
(3) shall develop adequate plans for contacting the parents or other relatives of the youth and ensuring the safe return of the youth according to the best interests of the youth, for contacting local government officials pursuant to informal arrangements established with such officials by the runaway and homeless youth center, and for providing for other appropriate alternative living arrangements;
(4) shall develop an adequate plan for ensuring-
(A) proper relations with law enforcement personnel, health and mental health care personnel, social service personnel, school system personnel, and welfare personnel;
(B) coordination with personnel of the schools to which runaway and homeless youth will return, to assist such youth to stay current with the curricula of those schools; and
(C) the return of runaway and homeless youth from correctional institutions;
(5) shall develop an adequate plan for providing counseling and aftercare services to such youth, for encouraging the involvement of their parents or legal guardians in counseling, and for ensuring, as possible, that aftercare services will be provided to those youth who are returned beyond the State in which the runaway and homeless youth center is located;
(6) shall develop an adequate plan for establishing or coordinating with outreach programs designed to attract persons (including, where applicable, persons who are members of a cultural minority and persons with limited ability to speak English) who are eligible to receive services for which a grant under subsection (a) may be expended;
(7) shall keep adequate statistical records profiling the youth and family members whom it serves (including youth who are not referred to out-of-home shelter services), except that records maintained on individual runaway and homeless youth shall not be disclosed without the consent of the individual youth and parent or legal guardian to anyone other than another agency compiling statistical records or a government agency involved in the disposition of criminal charges against an individual runaway and homeless youth, and reports or other documents based on such statistical records shall not disclose the identity of individual runaway and homeless youth;
(8) shall submit annual reports to the Secretary detailing how the center has been able to meet the goals of its plans and reporting the statistical summaries required by paragraph (7);
(9) shall demonstrate its ability to operate under accounting procedures and fiscal control devices as required by the Secretary;
(10) shall submit a budget estimate with respect to the plan submitted by such center under this subsection;
(11) shall supply such other information as the Secretary reasonably deems necessary; and
(12) shall submit to the Secretary an annual report that includes, with respect to the year for which the report is submitted-
(A) information regarding the activities carried out under this part;
(B) the achievements of the project under this part carried out by the applicant; and
(C) statistical summaries describing-
(i) The number and characteristics of the runaway and homeless youth, and youth at risk of family separation, who participate in the project; and
(ii) the services provided to such youth by the project."
Requirements of Transitional Living Program Grantees in Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
Part B, Section 322(a) of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA),
as amended by the Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children Protection
Act (Public Law 106-71), requires that Transitional Living Grant Program
(TLP) grantees agree to do the following:
"(1) to provide, directly or indirectly, shelter (such as group homes, host family homes, and supervised apartments) and services (including information and counseling services in basic life skills which shall include money management, budgeting, consumer education, and use of credit, interpersonal skill building, educational advancement, job attainment skills, and mental and physical health care) to homeless youth;
(2) to provide such shelter and such services to individual homeless youth throughout a continuous period not to exceed 540 days;
(3) to provide, directly or indirectly, on-site supervision at each shelter facility that is not a family home;
(4) that such shelter facility used to carry out such project shall have the capacity to accommodate not more that 20 individuals (excluding staff);
(5) to provide a number of staff sufficient to ensure that all homeless youth participating in such project receive adequate supervision and services;
(6) to provide a written transitional living plan to each youth based on an assessment of such youth's needs, designed to help the transition from supervised participation in such project to independent living or another appropriate living arrangement;
(7) to develop an adequate plan to ensure proper referral of homeless youth to social service, law enforcement, educational, vocational, training, welfare, legal service, and health care programs and to help integrate and coordinate such services for youths;
(8) to provide for the establishment of outreach programs designed to attract individuals who are eligible to participate in the project;
(9) to submit to the Secretary an annual report that includes information
regarding the activities carried out with funds under this part, the
achievements of the project under this part carried out by the applicant
and statistical summaries describing the number and the characteristics
of
the homeless youth who participate in such project, and the services
provided to such youth by such project, in the year for which the
report is submitted;
(10) to implement such accounting procedures and fiscal control devices as the Secretary may require;
(11) to submit to the Secretary an annual budget that estimates the itemized costs to be incurred in the year for which the applicant requests a grant under this part;
(12) to keep adequate statistical records profiling homeless youth which it serves and not to disclose the identity of individual homeless youth in reports or other documents based on such statistical records;
(13) not to disclose records maintained on individual homeless youth without the informed consent of the individual youth to anyone other than an agency compiling statistical records; and
(14) to provide to the Secretary such other information as the Secretary may reasonably require."
Requirements of Street Outreach Program Grantees in Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
Part E, Section 351 of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA),
as amended by the Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children Protection
Act (Public Law 106-71), provides the Secretary the authority to make
grants for the purpose of providing street-based services to runaway
and homeless, and street youth, who have been subjected to, sexual
abuse, prostitution, or sexual exploitation. The Family and Youth
Services Bureau developed the following performance standards which
require Street Outreach grantees to do the following:
"(1) describe its youth development approach to serving street youth, including how youth will be involved in the design, operation and evaluation of the program;
(2) describe current or proposed street outreach effort, including framework and philosophy, hours of operation, staffing pattern and staff support, services provided and efforts to deal with sexual abuse and exploitation;
(3) describe a plan to provide street-based outreach services where street youth congregate and during hours when youth will most likely avail themselves of those services (late afternoon, evenings, nights and weekends);
(4) show that there is guaranteed access to emergency shelter services that can be made available to street youth;
(5) describe the range of services that will be offered to street youth and how those services will be provided. At a minimum, plans should be provided for street-based outreach and education, survival aid, individual assessment, counseling, prevention and education activities, information and referral services, crisis intervention and follow-up support;
(6) discuss the expected impact of the SOP on the organization's capacity to effectively provide other services to runaway and homeless youth in the community, such as temporary shelter and transitional living services, if the organization is funded by FYSB to provide these services as well;
(7) explain if applicants proposing to serve a specific RHY population
(e.g. single sex programs, gay and lesbian youth, a particular ethnic
group, etc.) why the population requires focused services, how the
services to be provided will meet the special needs of the population,
and how the applicant will make referrals or otherwise address the
needs of otherwise eligible runaway, homeless and street youth who
are not in the population the applicant intends to serve;
(8) demonstrate that supportive training and appropriate street-based outreach supervision is provided to street outreach staff and volunteers;
(9) show that staff and volunteer gender, ethnicity and life experiences are relevant to those of the young people being served;
(10) describe how the project has established or will establish formal service linkages with other social service, law enforcement, educational, housing, vocational, welfare, legal service, drug treatment, health care and other relevant service agencies in order to ensure appropriate service referrals for the project clients;
(11) describe current or anticipated barriers to effective delivery of services and actions the program will take to overcome these barriers to serving this population;
(12) describe procedures for maintaining confidentiality of records on the youth and families served;
(13) describe how the activities implemented under this project will be continued by the agency once Federal funding for the project has ended and . . . describe specific plans for accomplishing program phase-out in the event the applicant cannot obtain new operating funds at the end of the 36-month project;
(14) agree to gather and submit program and client data required by FYSB through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHYMIS);
(15) agree to cooperate with any research or evaluation efforts sponsored
by the Administration for Children and Families and;
(16) agree to submit the required Basic Center (BC) or Transitional
Living Program (TLP) Annual Report to the Secretary of HHS as a Basic
Center and other required program and financial reports, as instructed
by FYSB."
Data on National Runaway Switchboard Callers for Fiscal Years 2002 and 20031
Exhibit 1. Conference
Calls the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS)
Placed on Behalf of Youth
Exhibit 2. Relationship of Caller to Youth
Exhibit 3. Problems and Issues Cited by
Youth Callers
Exhibit 4. Status of Youth
Callers to NRS
Exhibit 5. Average Amount of Time Youth Are Away From Home Before Calling NRS
---
1 Percentages listed in the exhibits
have been rounded; therefore, the totals may not equal 100 percent.
Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System Data Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
Exhibit 1. Basic Center Program Brief
Service Contact Record
Exhibit 2. Basic Center Program Services
Record
Exhibit 2. Basic Center Program Services Record (continued)
Exhibit 2. Basic Center Program Services Record (continued)
Exhibit 2. Basic Center Program Services Record (continued)
Exhibit 3. Transitional Living Program Entrance/Exit Record
The following chart illustrates changes in living
situation resulting from community-based RHY program operations.
(This chart's format is only illustrative and is not meant to imply
that an individual youth in the "entrance" column exited
into the identical situation in the same row.)
| RHYMIS National Statistics Fiscal Year 2003 |
|||
Living Situation at Entrance |
# of Youth |
Living
Situation at Exit |
# of Youth |
Parent/Guardian's Home |
55,943 |
Parent/Guardian's Home |
47,177 |
Relative or Friend's Home |
6,626 |
Relative or Friend's Home |
5,168 |
Foster Home |
3,117 |
Foster Home |
3,629 |
Group Home |
1,203 |
Group Home |
1,970 |
Correctional Institute |
1,612 |
Correctional Institute |
1,522 |
Living Independently |
522 |
Living Independently |
1,052 |
Other (In Another Living Situation) |
624 |
Other (In Another Living Situation) |
951 |
Mental Hospital |
474 |
Mental Hospital |
890 |
Transitional Living Program |
148 |
Transitional Living Program |
415 |
Other Temporary Shelter |
522 |
Other Temporary Shelter |
649 |
Other Youth Emergency Shelter |
968 |
Other Youth Emergency Shelter |
889 |
Residential Treatment |
431 |
Residential Treatment |
819 |
Other Adult's Home |
919 |
Other Adult's Home |
623 |
Other Youth's Home |
333 |
Other Youth's Home |
175 |
Basic Center |
913 |
Basic Center (including elsewhere in US) |
670 |
Other Institution |
248 |
Other Institution |
366 |
Drug Treatment Center |
170 |
Drug Treatment Center |
260 |
Independent Living Program |
87 |
Independent Living Program |
262 |
Homeless Family Center |
309 |
Homeless Family Center |
220 |
Homeless Shelter |
622 |
Homeless Shelter |
236 |
Job Corps |
72 |
Job Corps |
152 |
Educational Institute |
35 |
Educational Institute |
53 |
Partner/Spouse |
91 |
Partner/Spouse |
92 |
Military |
15 |
Military |
54 |
|
|
Total "Safe & Appropriate" Exits |
68,294 |
|
|
|
|
On the Street |
5,421 |
On the Street |
4,499 |
Unknown Situation Before Entry |
778 |
Do Not Know |
3,369 |
|
|
Total Not "Safe & Appropriate" Exits |
7,868 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Total Exit Situations) |
76,162 |
|
|
|
|
Total Entrances |
82,203 |
Total "Safe and Appropriate" Exits as a Percentage of Total Exits |
89.70% |
NOTES:
Placement in a correctional institute may be appropriate or necessary depending on the legal situation. Youth's previous status in the justice system may force this outcome.
Youth may have "run away" from program or an older youth may have chosen to leave.
Youth may not have explained reason or disclosed destination.
Entrances are more numerous than exits because some youth who entered during the reporting period may still be in the programs when the reporting period ends.
Exhibit 4. RHYMIS FY 2003 Issues and Services
The figures below are based on 76,161 youth.
Shelter and other basic needs are provided to all
program youth.
Many youth enter the RHY programs with multiple issues for which multiple
services are appropriate.
| Issues Identified |
Issues # |
Services Provided |
Services # |
Household Dynamics |
67,902 |
Counseling/Therapy |
183,691 |
Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity |
3,592 |
Parent education parent of youth |
12,472 |
Housing |
27,412 |
Education |
27,205 |
School/Education |
39,098 |
Planned After Care |
13,727 |
Unemployment |
13,981 |
Recreational Activities |
43,165 |
Mental Health |
29,127 |
Employment/Life Skills Training |
80,091 |
Health |
8,271 |
Psychological/Psychiatric Care |
8,037 |
Physical Disability |
2,984 |
Dental Care |
3,010 |
Mental Disability |
5,693 |
Physical Health Care |
13,335 |
Abuse/Neglect |
26,443 |
Legal |
5,139 |
Alcohol/Drug abuse |
55,830 |
Support Groups |
9,147 |
|
|
Substance Abuse Prevention/Treatment |
35,754 |
|
|
Community/Service Learning |
19,868 |
Total Issues: |
280,333 |
Total Services: |
454,641 |
|
|
|
|
Exhibit 5. Street Outreach Program Contact Record
Information Requested |
Number in FY 2002 |
Number in FY 2003 |
Total number of Street Outreach Program contacts |
#: 519,955 |
#: 619,291 |
Average number of contacts per Street Outreach Program Grantee |
#: 3,513 |
#: 4,727 |
Total number of written materials distributed |
#: 432,073 |
#: 447,554 |
Total number of health and hygiene products distributed |
#: 493,272 |
#: 531,088 |
Total number of food and drink packages distributed |
#: 289,384 |
#: 342,408 |