FOCUS: Connecting Foster Care Alumni with Community and Support https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2017/focus-connecting-foster-care-alumni-with-community-and-support https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

FOCUS: Connecting Foster Care Alumni with Community and Support

Additional Information
Used for	FOCUS connects youth (18-24) who age out of foster care with caring adults, critical resources, and their community. It provides each young person with a team of 3 volunteers who become their personal coaches and advisors for a minimum of 3 years as they navigate young adulthood. Funding will underwrite the program costs of recruiting, screening, and training volunteers; recruiting and orientation for youth participants; team activities and gatherings; and travel for the youth participants.
Benefits	The hundreds of young people in our area who leave the foster care system annually without permanent families or strong community ties face terrible outcomes including homelessness, incarceration, addiction, trafficking, and pregnancy. Through FOCUS, they receive connection, guidance, and purpose from a personal team of community volunteers, and have the support to become successful young adults. This funding will support key components of this innovative pilot project, giving the youth participants the structure and support they need to thrive.
Proposal Description	Each year, 26,000 youth (ages 18-21) “age out” of foster care, including 800 in Western Massachusetts, with little or no support. Many have significant histories of trauma and few resources; yet they are thrust abruptly into the adult world alone, at risk for a future of extremely poor health, educational, and social outcomes. Only 58% graduate from high school; less than 3% graduate from college; 40% become homeless, and 25% are incarcerated. Transitioning from the dependency system to successful independence takes the dedicated support of the community to provide critical skills and relationship building. What foster care alumni need are meaningful relationships with people who can help them develop and maintain prosocial connections, acquire and practice developmentally appropriate life skills, and create their place in the community. This grant will help underwrite program expenses including: recruiting, screening, training, and supporting community volunteers who guide and support young people through this transition; recruiting and providing orientation to youth participants; team activities; and travel for youth participants. (Transportation costs are a major barrier to participation in both the urban and rural areas of our community.) The FOCUS initiative connects foster care alumni (ages 18-24) with caring adults, critical resources, and their community in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. FOCUS organizes personal teams of up to three community volunteers and one youth to: help launch one transition-age foster youth into adulthood with consistent, healthy emotional connections; encourage the youth to discover and explore who they are and want to be; provide guidance toward attaining a place to live, a job, and training or higher education through their personalized Milestone Plan; and be the caring adults to whom the youth can be accountable. The teams and youth are also supported by a Community Circle—a talent bank of community groups and individuals who share their particular expertise and resources, to support and integrate the youth participant into the community. The team and youth are recruited, vetted, and supported by FOCUS staff who match each youth with a Team Anchor. The Anchor is the go-to person on the team who is responsible for making sure the team has clear expectations, good communication, and keeps on track. The young person and Anchor then select 1-2 coaches from a pool of trained volunteers. The team helps the youth practice independence by creating and achieving goals through a personal Milestone Plan. In foster care, typical adolescent behavior may have catastrophic consequences; a teen’s mistake might mean they are moved to another placement, a new town, a different school. FOCUS provides what all young people deserve—a safe community that supports them to take incremental steps on their own, to fail and succeed, and to learn and recover from mistakes. Achieving milestones takes practice. The volunteer team is in their youth participant's corner: cheering them on, recognizing their accomplishments, comforting them through hard times, and supporting them when they hit the inevitable setbacks. This initiative will also engage local business owners, employees, faith leaders, health care workers, financial advisors, coaches, teachers, and more in a Community Circle to gather resources for the teams and create opportunities for the youth. FOCUS is a program of Friends of Children (FOC). An independent advocacy organization, FOC’s mission is to champion and advocate for children and youth in the child welfare system, and to do whatever it takes to get them whatever they need to thrive. For 27 years, Friends of Children (FOC) has advocated in the best interests of 16,000 children in the child welfare system in Massachusetts. FOC offers real solutions to intractable problems and creates meaningful ways for community volunteers to engage directly in solving them. Goal 1) Youth participants will build connection. Youth will feel positively connected to trusted adults in their community. Youth will increase their positive social supports. Youth will identify and develop naturally occurring resources in their community. Goal 2) Youth participants will identify a purpose for themselves. Youth will create a Milestone plan that identifies their purpose, passions, and goals. Youth will make progress on educational and/or career goals. Youth will take steps to pursue their purpose in their community. Goal 3) Team Members will experience self-efficacy as mentors. Team members will feel positively connected to the young person. Team members will understand the importance of their role in achieving short-term goals. Goal 4) Team Members will experience high-quality support. Each team member will receive a personalized plan to build skills in their specific areas of need. Team members will feel positively connected to their Team Members and dedicated FOC staff. Team members will feel clear about program goals, policies, and procedures. Former foster youth have the same aspirations and dreams as their peers. They would love to explore their interests and develop their talents and skills; go to college, get a job, or live in their first apartment; be a part of and contribute to their community. With the guidance of their team members, youth create a Milestone Plan with short-term and long-term achievable goals that guides their activities and interactions. Team Members devote approximately 15 hours per month to this opportunity. Volunteer time is shared among being with the young person, meeting with adult team members and/or FOC staff, advocating for the young person or accessing community resources, and participating in FOCUS group activities. The young person will spend at least 2 hours per week in person with a volunteer, with additional communication through email, phone, or texting. All interactions and activities will be for the goals of building connection, purpose, and resiliency. Data will be collected from volunteers and youth participants by the Team Anchor and reported to the FOCUS Director. Data is stored in Friends of Children’s centralized information systems. In addition to tracking volunteers, volunteer hours, youth participant hours, data on progress on Milestone goals and participant satisfaction will be tracked through bi-monthly online surveys. As this is a pilot project, participants have agreed to provide feedback on the program model as well. We set out reporting expectations at the beginning of the project, communicate with volunteers throughout, and then debrief when the match is closed. Performance measures will be as follows: Goal 1) Youth participants will build connection. Using pre- and post-Youth Connections Scale, within the grant period: 100% of youth will identify one positive connection to a trusted community adult. Youth will increase their knowledge of naturally occurring community resources by 60%. Goal 2) Youth participants will identify a purpose for themselves. Using internal plan-tracking: 100% of youth will create a milestone goal plan within the first 30 days. Youth will complete 50% of their steps toward their first-year milestone goals within the grant period. Goal 3) Team Members will experience self-efficacy as mentors. Using pre- and post-Mentor Strength of Relationship Scale, individual interviews: 90% will report positive youth engagement. 90% will report positive input into problem-solving with young person. Goal 4) Team Members will experience high-quality support. Using individual interviews, monthly meetings, surveys: 90% will report experiencing high-quality support through their personalized plan. 90% will report clarity around program’s goals, policies, and procedures. Qualitative methods (including focus groups, interviews) will provide a deeper understanding of the perceived outcomes and impact of FOCUS. Quantitative methods (including surveys, standardized assessments, program tracking) will examine both process and outcome data. At the grant period end, youth will have: a clearer sense of their future, caring adults in their life, a feeling of community belonging. Volunteers will recognize the potential of the youth and their role in helping them realize that. All participants will continue in the program. Findings will be presented to funders, community partners, program participants, social and local media.