Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Youth: What Can Providers Do to Help?

1. Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Youth: What Can Providers Do to Help? Barbara W. Sugland, M.P.H., Sc.D. Maternal & Child Health Institute: Addressing Health Disparities St. Paul, Minnesota June 27, 2002

2. Session Overview • Who are Vulnerable Youth? • Definitions • Narrow definition (youth in systems) • Broader definition • Complicating factors • Additional factors that increase challenges

3. Session Overview • Who are Vulnerable Youth? • Population estimates • Invisibility of vulnerable youth • Factors contributing to invisibility

4. Session Overview • Supports for Vulnerable Youth • Basic Needs • Positive youth development • College, career and/or work preparation • Family capacity building • Coordinated systems approach

5. Session Overview • What Providers Can Do • Aligning Systems • Framework for collaborative action • Advocacy -- Innovative Policies • Building political and public will

6. Vulnerable Youth • Youth with challenging life circumstances • Poverty, violence/abuse, family instability • Youth with limited options – education, employment, social and emotional support • Youth with families and responsibilities • Youth in/connected to public systems

7. Vulnerable Youth Different methods and definitions • CARTA & Child Trends (Annie E. Casey Foundation) (Peak, et al, 2001, 2002; Wertheimer, 2001) • Youth transitioning out of/currently in public systems • Youth in foster care • Youth in the care of juvenile justice system • Youth supported by welfare system • Out-of-school youth • Youth of incarcerated parents • Runaway and homeless youth

8. Vulnerable Youth • Complicating factors • Sexual orientation • Mental health challenges • Immigrant and/or refugee status • Physical health and/or disabilities

9. Vulnerable Youth • Forum for Youth Investment (Pittman, et al 2001) • In-school youth who: • Lack preparation for college and/or workforce • Fail to get support and encouragement • At-risk for transition into public systems • Disconnected Youth (Besharov, 1999) • Not enrolled in school • Not employed • Not in military • Not married to someone who is -- in school, employed or in military (for at least 26 weeks or more out of the year)

10. Vulnerable Youth • Official National Estimate Unclear • Child Trends (Wertheimer, 2001) • 4.9 million vulnerable youth -- 14 to 24 • Narrow definition – transitioning out of systems • Accounts for ~10% of total youth population • Broader definitions • Disconnected, in-school without preparation & support • Estimate could reach ~15-20% • 7.5 and 9.3 million youth

11. Invisible Vulnerable Youth • Reasons for Invisibility • Not seeking or getting care, care is fragmented; • Served but generally ignored – “undesirable” youth • Data to quantify some subgroups – unavailable, unreliable or incomplete • Factors contributing to invisibility • Societal attitudes & bias • Extreme circumstances • Limits of system -- lack of funding, fragmentation, staff capacity, gaps & barriers • Disenfranchised families • Individual circumstances & perceptions • Failure to engage youth in the process

12. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Developmental Process – 6 key things • It takes time -- ~25 years • Covers a range of developmental areas • Academic, cognitive, social/emotional, physical, career, civic, moral/spiritual, personal cultural • It goes on all the time – constant • Being intentional is critical

13. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Developmental Process Youth/Young Adults • All youth need supports • Vulnerable youth tend to require: • Multiple supports simultaneously • Greater intensity of supports • Continuity of support • Longer time for transitions

14. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Developmental Process – 6 key things • Transition is imperative • Successful progression from one stage to the next • Supports are vital for successful transition and to get back on/keep on track • Transformation is Imperative “Vulnerable youth don’t need transitional programs, they need transformational experiences” (D. Stoneman in Pittman, et. al, 2001)

15. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Positive Youth Development for Vulnerable Youth • Safe and stable places • Positive relationships and networks • High expectations – clear standards • Opportunities for meaningful participation & contribution • Challenging experiences, with opportunities for success • High-quality instruction and training (across developmental areas) Pittman et al., 2001; adapted from Pittman and Irby, 1996

16. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Positive Youth Development for Vulnerable Youth • Multiple inputs are not optional (holistic) • Inputs cannot be provided independently (coordination, fill gaps) • Inputs are not a “given” – even basic needs

17. Supporting Vulnerable Youth Focusing on strengths rather than deficits matters. • 40 Assets – Search Institute • Assets are protective • Increasing assets reduces risk • Small # of assets can be protective against risk behavior

18. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Assets promote positive outcomes • Increasing assets increases positive outcomes • Even small # of assets can be beneficial

19. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Building Family Capacity • Family Strengthening to Promote Youth Development • (Sugland, 2002; Berglund, 2000; Peak, 2001) • Activities designed to connect with families and caregivers; • Range from simple to more involved; • Information/pamphlets/fliers • Involving families as participants (workshops, classes, counseling) • Involving families and partners (implement, co-design)

20. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Building Family Capacity • Models of Family Involvement -- “4-Ms” • Monitoring • Mentoring • Mobilizing • Management

21. Supporting Vulnerable Youth • Coordinated Systems Approach • Intra-agency -- Case Management • Inter agency – Referrals, with formal protocol for follow-up; • Inter agency – Collaboration • Agreement to work together to provide network of care

22. What Providers Can Do • Information & Awareness • Take note of the issue and recognize youth serve • Determine (informally) multiple needs of youth clients • Check biases • Extent to which youth are ignored or embraced • Extent to which race and class influence notions about vulnerable youth clients • Engage youth • Ask youth about what they need; quality of services, , ways to increase support

23. What Providers Can Do • Tools & Strategies • Take stock of what currently do • Asset or problem focused • Developmental approach or one dimensional • Acknowledge or engage families and caregivers • Skills, Capacity and Philosophy • Examine ability to deliver quality care • Knowledge about positive youth development • Comfort with vulnerable youth populations • Staff who genuinely like and want to support youth • Commitment to “transformation”

24. What Providers Can Do • Opportunities for Collaborative Action • Agencies that provide a different service to the youth you serve • Agencies to/from whom refer clients • Coalitions or existing collaborative networks you can join • Advocacy • Flexible funding • Policies that promote systems coordination • Policies that speak to transformation of vulnerable youth