Panel Paper:
Ending and Preventing Youth Homelessness in Maryland: Thrive@25 and Youth Reach MD
Saturday, November 5, 2016
:
11:15 AM
Fairchild West (Washington Hilton)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Maryland is engaged in two pioneering initiatives to end and prevent youth homelessness: Thrive@25 and Youth REACH (Reach out, Engage, Assist, & Count to end Homelessness) MD. Thrive@25 is Maryland’s Children’s Bureau-funded Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH) Grant focusing on ending and preventing homelessness for youth in foster care on Maryland’s rural Mid-Shore. It is focused on improving outcomes in stable housing, permanent connections, education/employment, and social/emotional well-being for youth with foster care histories with a particular emphasis on being responsive to the individualized needs and strengths of youth transitioning out of the foster care system. The presentation will discuss the evaluation findings from the first phase of Thrive@25, including a survey of more than 250 young adults formerly in foster care and an analysis of administrative data on more than 8,000 children in foster care, which led to the design of the model intervention that will be described. Now in its implementation phase, initial lessons learned from Thrive@25 will be shared, including early findings from the pilot testing of a new risk screen tool, along with the results from a survey completed by the child welfare workforce on beliefs and attitudes regarding the LGBTQ population. Youth REACH MD, a complementary initiative supported by the Department of Housing & Community Development and the Maryland General Assembly, is Maryland's first-ever comprehensive survey and census of youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness. The pilot enumeration unfolded across eight jurisdictions over a three week period in 2015. The methodology of the count along with the results and lessons learned will be shared, along with plans for a second count in 2017. Together, the work of Thrive@25 and Youth REACH MD are helping to identify the risk and protective factors associated with youth homelessness, engaging youth and young adults in generating sustainable and realistic strategies, and testing solutions in real-world environments.
