FCYU-Feature Story

One Stop to Independence
Transition centers lend a hand to youth leaving care.

When I left foster care, I had a lot of problems to deal with. I was homeless, I was on and off my medications and I needed therapy. But I had no access to a program that could help me find everything I needed.

If there had been a one-stop transition center in New York City-a place where all the services I needed when I aged out, from housing to counseling to help dealing with the system, were available under one roof-things would've been easier.

I was homeless for over a year, and I was moving from shelter to shelter. They were huge buildings with hundreds of beds, and they always smelled. Living among drug addicts and thieves was very depressing. I had to go through so many interviews by myself trying to get supportive housing.

I wish there was a place I could have turned to for help whenever a problem came up, instead of running around in the cold trying to get what I needed. I'm always going through something, and I need someone who would take the time to listen to what I have to say.

In my opinion, every city should have one-stop transition centers to help youth who leave care and have no one to offer support. We have too many kids ready to age out alone, and where will they go? We don't want them to get lost through the cracks, like I almost was.
-Miguel Ayala

16 Agencies Under One Roof
At the Philadelphia Achieving Independence (AI) Center, there are 16 different groups that offer services in the building. Together, these groups try to meet young people's individual needs: from help with school from Temple University, to sex education from Planned Parenthood, to transitional housing from the Valley Youth House.

Youth members of the AI Center can pick and choose the services they want, and every member gets an individualized plan. Every youth also gets a coach, similar to a social worker, who helps them figure out their options and offers support when problems come up.

The number of programs available in the building means that a youth can find many different people to talk to. "A youth might come in for employment counseling and end up talking for an hour with a mentor," says Allison Moore, former lead coach at the AI Center.

Lifelong Relationships
The San Francisco Independent Living Skills Program works to build lifelong relationships with the youth who come through their doors. They have found that a continued connection is as just as important as any of the skills that they teach.

"Most of the kids that were successful got attached to our program," says director Arlene Hylton. "They knew that whatever happened, we would always be here."

The program offers four independent living (IL) skills courses, each for a different age group. The Early IL course for youth aged 14-15 focuses on group work and building self-esteem, and the Core IL course for ages 16-18 helps with life skills, schoolwork and college preparation. There is a transition program for 17 and 18-year-olds to plan their emancipation, and aftercare for youth 18-21 that works to get them housing, jobs and financial skills.

All of the San Francisco IL Skills Program's staff and services are in their main office, which also has TVs and movies to provide a friendly community space. "If a youth leaves school and is upset, this is a place where they can come to unwind," says Hylton.

"For a youth who's homeless, this is the focal point."

"One youth put it really well: 'Just like every other kid has the Boys and Girls Club, we have the San Francisco IL Skills Program. It's ours and it belongs to us, and we feel we belong here.'"

Housing and More
The First Place Fund in Oakland, California helps youth leaving foster care with housing, education, employment and emergency support services.

"We try to help them stabilize in their current placement, before focusing on schoolwork or jobs," says director Sam Cobbs.

Their Emancipation Training Center serves about 500 youth a year, and it is open to everyone who chooses to join. It includes resources for finding housing and work, and offers tutoring, therapy and emergency support for food and utility bills.

Their most requested program is the Supported Housing Program, which provides safe and affordable apartments to 86 emancipated foster youth. The program pays a part of the rent that decreases over time as the youth become more independent, and includes weekly visits from a social worker, community events and training in life skills and financial knowledge.

For the Emancipation Specialist Program, which helps 40 at-risk youth graduate from high school, teens meet regularly with caseworkers known as Youth Advocates. The Youth Advocates offer long-term support and help with decision-making as well as with schoolwork.

"Some people call what we do frapuccino therapy," says Cobbs. "It really is goal-directed therapy, but done in a non-traditional setting, like a Starbucks. And to the young people, it doesn't really feel like therapy, it feels like talking to a person who cares about them."

Choose Your Staff
For many years, New York City lacked any transition centers to help youth who are aging out of care. But in December of 2005, the Children's Aid Society opened the Next Generation Center in the South Bronx.

The Next Generation Center helps youth make the transition to independence by giving them the skills and support they need to be able to rely on themselves. It is open to all young people ages 14-24, but it focuses on youth leaving foster care, and it is open to all young people between 14 and 24 who are working on becoming independent. Youth who join work closest with those on the staff who they bond with, instead of being assigned a social worker.

In the summer of 2007, the Next Generation Center will move to a state-of-the-art new building, also in the South Bronx. The new center will feature a full teaching kitchen and computer lab, a sound studio, a performance space and a youth-run café-in addition to the services in education, health care, housing, job training and legal help that are already offered.

The center currently serves about 200 youth. It hopes to double or triple this number when it moves to its new location because of the serious need for its services.

"We need more transitions centers in New York City," says Director Lynne Echenberg. "We should have one in every borough."

One Stop for Help
At the Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC), in Dallas, Texas, staff help arrange all the services that a youth receives. These include TRAC services such as job training, transition planning and housing, and also services from state, federal and private agencies.

"For a youth it really cuts down on the confusion," explains Jennifer Grant, the TRAC Coordinator in Dallas. "All you need to remember now is to call TRAC, and we can go through the system for you."

TRAC offers a two-year housing program to 32 youth, which has three levels with increasing responsibilities and independence. In the first level, TRAC pays all expenses and a residential adviser lives on site. In the second, youth live in four person rooms and must pay for food and personal expenses, while TRAC pays the rent. The third level is mostly independent and youth must pay 30% of what they earn for rent and utilities.

TRAC is one of five Transitions Centers in Texas, and the state's goal is to place a Transition Center in each of its nine regions. In addition to their usual services, TRAC now provides life skills training and social work support to youth in their region.

All of TRAC's programs can be accessed at their main office in downtown Dallas-which is also a drop-in center for youth to come by, do homework and hang out. With everything that goes on there, says Grant, "The place is always buzzing."