Youth Villages' Transitional
Living program

Massachusetts State Manager: Matthew Stone

Website: www.youthvillages.org/transitionalLiving

Developed in Tennessee, the Youth Villages Transitional Living program is an innovative, intensive approach that is helping hundreds of youth leaving the foster care system make a successful transition to adulthood.

The program addresses critical needs of some of the most vulnerable young people in the Boston area – those who are leaving state custody because they have “aged out” at 18 years old without family and other supports to rely on.

Nationally, the outcomes for these young adults are grim :

80% of prison inmates have been through the foster care system

66% of these youth will not complete high school or earn a GED by age 19

60% of females give birth within two to four years of leaving state custody

50% are unemployed 12-18 months after leaving state custody

25% become homeless within four years

A recent report published by The Boston Foundation and the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of DSS Care, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, suggests that young people leaving state custody in Massachusetts face similar obstacles and outcomes.

However, with the right relationships and support, these young people can lead successful, productive lives. Youth Villages’ transitional living specialists work one-on-one with young adults and are available to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They meet with each young person a minimum of twice each week at the youth’s home, job, or wherever is most convenient for the young person. They work intensively with the young adults to set and reach goals to find affordable and safe housing, find jobs, access health care, continue their education, and develop relationships with positive adults who can support them in the future.

The young people who have participated in the Transitional Living program are achieving significant success compared with their peers nationwide. Twenty-four months after completing Youth Villages’ program:

88% were still living at home or in a home-like environment (an estimated one-third of youth aging out nationally experience homelessness during the 24 months after they leave state custody)

76% reported having had no trouble with the law compared with 55% among youth aging out nationally during the same time period

77% of young people were either in school, graduated, or employed compared with a study that showed that just over half (54.8%) of youth nationally who age out left care with a job and/or a high school diploma or GED

Youth Villages plans to launch the Transitional Living program in the Boston area in spring 2009.