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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01082013 - C.180RECOMMENDATION(S): ACCEPT report from the Employment and Human Services Department on the Independent Living Skills Program as recommended by the Family and Human Services Committee. FISCAL IMPACT: None - Report Only BACKGROUND: On November 5, 2012 the Family and Human Services Committee accepted a report from the Employment and Human Services Department on the Independent Living Skills program and services for youth aging out of foster care. The Committee requested that the report to forwraded to the Board of Supervisors for their information. The report is attached. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: The Board and Community will not have current information. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: Not applicable. APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 01/08/2013 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor Contact: Dorothy Sansoe, 925-335-1009 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: January 8, 2013 David Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: STACEY M. BOYD, Deputy cc: C.180 To:Board of Supervisors From:Family and Human Services Committee Date:January 8, 2013 Contra Costa County Subject:Independent Living Skills Program Update ATTACHMENTS ILSP Report 1 EMPLOYMENT AND HUMAN SERVICES CONTRA COSTA COUNTY TO: Family and Human Services DATE: November 5, 2012 Committee Members David Twa FROM: Terry Speiker, Interim Director, Employment and Human Services Department Valerie Earley, Director, Children and Family Services Bureau SUBJECT: Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP) Recommendation Accept this report from the Employment and Human Services Department; and continue to support the Children and Family Services Bureau efforts to serve foster youth in the ILSP program. Background In 1999, the Foster Care Independence Act was passed by the Federal government. This legislation, sponsored by the late Senator John Chaffee, doubled funding for state-wide independent living (IL) programs. There was overwhelming evidence emerging that youth leaving foster care were in need of greater support from foster care into adulthood. Foster youth nationwide were found to have increased likelihood of early parenting, instability in relationships, not graduating from high school, lower school performance, increased health and mental health problems, homelessness, substance abuse, and a higher rate of unemployment. ILSP has been serving current and former foster youth for 24 years. For the past thirteen years the Children and Family Services Bureau of the Employment and Human Services Department has expanded the scope of services that the Independent Living Skills Program offers for 16 to 21 year old foster and emancipated youth as a result of this legislation. The ILS program has received recognition throughout the State of California and nation for its programs and youth services. Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP) 2011/2012 Program Report 2 Year at a Glance: Each year ILSP offers a variety of skill building and youth engagement activities in four major areas. The Four Pillars consist of Education, Employment, Housing and Well Being. ILSP provided weekly programming in three regions of the County – West, Central and East. This past year, of the over 750 youth eligible for ILSP, 524 current or former foster youth were served both individually and in group settings (i.e. workshops, classes, etc.), 289 youth (16-21 years of age) participated in the workshops offered. 211 emancipated youth (18-21 years of age) were served in the ILSP Aftercare program. Workshops are posted on the ILSP website throughout the year. http://www.cocoilsp.org/home.html The Four Pillars: Updates Housing Transitional housing for foster youth and emancipated foster youth continues to be delivered in Contra Costa County. Two providers served the in-care foster youth age 16-18 in transitional housing, called THPP. Four providers served emancipated youth, age 18-24, transitional housing called THP+. We currently have the capacity to serve 60 emancipated youth in THP+ and 12 in-care youth in THPP. With the passage of AB12, a new transitional housing placement option has been created. It is called THP+FC and will be funded by AFDC-FC funds as opposed to realignment funds. These programs will be licensed by Community Care Licensing and will serve 18-21 year olds who remain in Extended Foster Care. It is unknown how many will participate in THP+FC as these programs have not opened yet due to a delay in the state implementation. Employment ILSP continues to collaborate with the Workforce Development Board and the Contra Costa County Office of Education to provide a dedicated Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Case Manager that is housed at ILSP. The ILSP WIA Case Manager served 29 in school and out of school Youth this past fiscal year. The ILSP WIA Case Manager also conducts employment workshops alongside ILSP Specialists throughout the year. At a glance: Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP) 2011/2012 Program Report 3 • Provided work readiness training for summer program with Los Medanos Health Care District. • Provided a 3 week women's group along with an ILSP Specialist. • ILSP WIA Case Manager assists youth with obtaining pre-employment skills, subsidized and unsubsidized employment, academic support, and career planning and supportive services to further their employment and career goals. For the second consecutive year the East County Child Welfare Redesign Youth in Transition Committee, a Youth Internship program, provided 6 youth with little or no employment history a chance to gain work experience through the Los Medanos Health Care District. Upon completion of their internship, each youth received a certificate of completion and a $500 stipend provided by the Office of Education. Each ILSP Specialist assumes the role of providing employment workshops and one on one service delivery to all eligible youth in need of employment assistance. The ILSP Project YES program, an employment program that places foster youth in county agencies, is in its final year of funding through Conoco Phillips and we are aggressively seeking partners and alternative funding to sustain this worthwhile program. This program was previously funded by Supervisor Bonillia who was instrumental in helping to encourage county departments to hire ILSP youth as student workers. Education This past year 120 youth were identified to age out of the foster and probation systems. ILSP issued 92 Graduation Stipends for the class of 2012. In June of 2012, 60 youth and 300 guests and dignitaries were honored at the 24th Annual ILSP Recognition Dinner where 86 scholarships worth over $60,000 were awarded. For the 3rd year in a row, ILSP was fortunate to have the event fully sponsored by the community. The event was held at Calvary Temple Church and supported by a variety of vendors including Calvary Temple Church, The National Association of Social Workers, Sunrise Bistro, Classic Catering and the Wellness City Challenge. The event was quite a success. Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP) 2011/2012 Program Report 4 In addition to providing workshops on financial aid and taking tours of college campuses, ILSP has collaborated with the Assistance League of Diablo Valley to develop a Senior Sponsorship Program. This program is in its 4th year. As there are few funding streams to support extracurricular activities and expenses for foster youth, the program was designed to assist graduating seniors in participating in the typical events that were once difficult for caregivers to afford. The Assistance League fundraises through out the year and those funds are given as grants to 35 seniors, in the amount of $450. The Senior Sponsorship program funds such things as senior pictures, year books, prom tickets, and caps and gowns. It is well documented that foster youth are undereducated and often drop out of high school and lack basic educational skills. Supporting our foster youth to stay in school through such programs helps assist youth to strive to achieve graduation. Well-Being Youth in foster care often do not experience childhood in the way most children do who live with their families of origin. They have suffered child abuse and neglect, been removed from their families and many older youth spend the remainder of their childhood moving from home to home. Some youth in foster care miss out on participating in sports, arts, birthday parties, spending the night at friend’s homes, and the like. ILSP provides activities and supportive services to help encourage positive social development and exposure to typical childhood activities. Through excursions to sporting events such as the Oakland A’s and Raider’s games and field trips to bowling or swimming, foster youth are able to experience fun activities that the typical teenager experiences, but are also mentored in developing positive social skills and are further engaged in the ILS program. ILSP conducts Men and Women groups to discuss pertinent information such as sexual responsibility, accountability, decision making, goal planning and self esteem. Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP) 2011/2012 Program Report 5 Aftercare Prior to the passage of AB12, 100-120 foster youth would age out of foster care at age 18 or 19 years old annually in Contra Costa. At that point, they are on their own to support themselves. Some youth are able to remain with their foster parents or relatives, other youth are able to participate in the Transitional Housing Program, but many are not as fortunate and when the foster care funds ended they had no place to live. The State funded counties to provide supportive services to emancipated foster youth up to age 21 years old. This past year, 211 emancipated youth were served by ILSP. The needs of emancipated youth often revolve around the lack of a family support network. They often call in crisis, are homeless and in need of basic items like food and shelter. The foster youth who go off to college, are better off but still struggle at holiday breaks and summer, when the dorms are closed. The Contra Costa County ILSP aftercare program provides emancipated foster youth supportive housing, employment, educational, and crisis services. It is hoped that with the passage of AB 12 the issue for the youth leaving care will decrease the crisis calls for ILSP support. Fund Raising Efforts ILSP has successfully applied for and received grants to enhance service delivery. The PMI grant supplied 75 ILSP youth with a “Food Box” loaded with non-perishable foods that will last a week or two. ILSP also received a $15,000.00 grant through the Orinda Women’s Club that provided funding to enhance our after care program. The current state allocation for the entire aftercare program (300+ eligible youth) is $28,000.00 or $93 per youth annually if every youth was in need. ILSP will continue to seek funding opportunities and to collaborate with community agencies and the general public to fill the gaps for the young adults that the program serves. Legislation Finally, the most significant legislative change is the passage of AB12 California Fostering to Success Act in 2010 and AB 1712 in 2012 which amended AB 12. AB12 is California’s legislation that authorized foster care funding to be extended to youth age 21 and became effective in Jan of 2012. California’s law was based on the Federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. The extended foster youth in this age group are now called “non-minor dependents”. This designation was intended to acknowledge that these youth are legal adults who can and should; with the support of Child Welfare; make decisions regarding their life choices. Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP) 2011/2012 Program Report 6 Studies have shown that foster youth who stay in care to age 21 have better outcomes than their counterparts who emancipate at age 18. The State of California has developed regulations and rules to implement this new law over the past year. Although ILSP has been serving this population for years they will now be serving them with the addition of a social worker, or probation officer, attorney, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and court oversight. We are in the process of identifying the training needs of non-minor dependents and will adjust our curriculum accordingly. Summary/Conclusion To date, we have 231 eligible ILSP youth (ages 16 to 21). Currently 30% (approximately 70) have chosen to remain in foster care past their 18th or 19th birthday where in the past they would have left foster care. It is anticipated that there will be 100 non-minors in foster care by the end of 2012. As mentioned, all of the current programming is applicable for those youth under 18, the emancipated youth and the new “non-minor dependent” youth. We will continue to adjust our model of support for youth as the needs change with the addition of AB12.