On Sunday, February 18, 2024, OHIO YAB members were invited to participate in a virtual focus group regarding the 2024 Mission, Vision and Goals of the Bridges program. Participants included Lyric, Celebritty, Antonio and Brooke.
Participants shared insights regarding how the Bridges program can:
- Empower young adults (emancipated foster youth) by supporting their journey to independence through individualized services and opportunities, inspiring their lifelong success.
- Increase participation, enrollment and length of stay in the program.
- Support and prepare participants to achieve success in adulthood.
- Strengthen the Bridges workforce.
1.) Appreciation for Bridges: One participant shared how her Bridges worker helped her with budgeting, real world advice and preparation for adulthood. She shared what it felt like to be emancipated at age 18: "I thought I could live on my own, but I was homeless within three months of emancipating. Bridges gave me motivation and tools."
2.) Importance of IL skills during Bridges participation: "I didn't learn the proper skills in independent living classes and wasn't able to implement them as a teen. Could there be life skills classes for young adults enrolled in the Bridges program?”
3.) Impact of being placed out of county: One participant shared what it was like to be the custody of one county, but placed in another county, several hours away. The distance made an impact. The 'warm hand off' wasn’t warm: “I felt like they just pushed me off onto a Bridges worker.”
One day, the young person was living in a group home – one that had promised to continue to care for her after she turned 18 years old. On the day of her birthday, she was told she needed to leave. She felt blindsighted: "My group home said: We don't drop our kids. But they dropped me the day after my birthday. They just kind of gave me the boot. They promised to be there, but there weren't. As a young adult, you are trying to move on - but you feel like a little girl, like the system has failed you."
Her home county was able to identify a local apartment for her to move into; but it was three hours away from the group home she had just left.
4.) Impact of trauma: Former foster youth experience trauma at a rate twice that of war veterans. During time in foster care, moving from place to place, the focus is on immediate survival. But when young adults move out on their own, trauma can resurface, in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, etc.
Quote: “I had experienced losses in my personal life. I was unable to get out of bed. This led to me being disconnected to my college program and being kicked out of the Bridges program. I was trying to explain to my Bridges worker that I am literally grieving my old life. Even though the system put me though hell, when I was in foster care, I knew I could call someone from the county to fall back on."
5.) Needing a personal approach: More personal questions for the youth; not just perfunctory. Young adults don’t automatically trust their new Bridges worker, and it is often a personal loss when the prior relationship they had with their caseworker is severed. Quote: “I’m more a person who wants people to come to me. It would have helped if my new Bridges worker had checked in. I didn’t know her well enough to share my struggles. I received texts from her saying that we needed to sign papers, but her texts didn’t include a personal touch.”
6.) Recommending proactive communication: Quote: “My previous independent living worker reached out to me to let me know that Bridges was ending my case. My Bridges worker told her that there was a lack of communication on my part – but she did not communicate that to me personally. How can I fix it if you don’t tell me?” The young person was able to communicate her disappointment to her Bridges worker, who apologized and said she would try to her best to help the young person re-enter the program.
7.) Unsure what to do if disconnected from Bridges: Quote: “If our Bridges is terminated, who do we reach out to? I wasn’t sure if could reach out to my home county.” Young adult participants mentioned that knowing about the mental health exemption would be helpful to know; how to get a disability waiver to maintain eligibility.
8.) Lack of information about the Bridges program: Participating youth talked about the need for a better understanding of the difference between having an emancipated youth case with their county vs. Bridges. One youth shared: “I wasn’t sure exactly what the Bridges program would do. I heard that they would help pay your rent.”
Another young adult shared: “I never really understood what Bridges is for. Is it an alternative to independent living? The age range wasn’t clear. They talked about it in terms of how disperse funds. They said that if you miss one month, you are kicked out of the program. They told me: ‘You’re better off with post-emancipation.’”
9.) What youth need and want the most from their Bridges worker: “Proactive communication and proactive reassurance would help. Knowing about resource options would help. Better understanding of the Bridges program would help. If Bridges doesn’t work out – what will happen to me? What do you tell kids who don’t know anything? Being reassured that they have your back.”
10.) Young and/or inexperienced Bridges workers: One of the focus group participants shared that, when she was in the Bridges program, her Bridges worker was still in college, had recently stopped living in her mother's house and was still learning to do things on her own. Another young adult who wasn't able to participate in the focus group texted that her Bridges worker was so young that she treated her more like a peer.
Young Adult Recommendations:
1.) Start working with youth six months before emancipation. Tell them the difference between Bridges and county post-emancipation services. Have a chart that maps this out clearly, so that they can make an informed decision. Make sure the young person knows about available resources and how to access them.
2.) Bridges workers should be willing to transport young adults to opportunities. Could this be added to the contract? The current excuse is that this is not a contract requirement. Throughout the state of Ohio, Bridges workers are not transporting youth to OHIO YAB statewide quarterly meetings, early Thanksgiving Together events or statewide conferences such as Self Care Summits for current and former foster youth. OHIO YAB members have shared that active participation has developed their voice, courage and confidence. They don't want to miss out on in-person opportunities for peer support and sharing their insights due to Bridges lack of willingness to transport.
3.) Prioritizing relationship-building over paperwork: Workers can get caught up with getting administrative stuff done and lose track of the purpose of why they are there. This is not just about getting papers signed. This is human, purposeful stuff. Engagement. Building trust. For emancipating foster youth, they often don't have a lot of trust in the system.
4.) Reassuring young adults who are new to Bridges: Lyric suggested that the OHIO YAB could partner with Bridges to design a “We Matter” card, as a note of reassurance for young adults who enter Bridges. Quote: “That would have meant a lot to me; seeing and hearing from fellow foster care youth and alumni.”
5.) Areas of impact to improve outcomes:
a.) Brooke mentioned that: “A lot of areas could have used support, primarily help with financial literacy. Actually sitting down with an advisor, someone you can trust would have been really beneficial to learn about financial planning. They didn’t teach me how to pay the bills on time; I had to learn that on my own. They didn’t teach me how, when life takes a turn, how to be resourceful when things like that happen. Also, housing afterward would have been beneficial. They were trying to get me to apply for Section 8, but it seemed like they didn’t have a process or a contact. I would have just been applying like anyone else.”
c.) Antonio also mentioned that Foster Youth Driving Act, and how he wasn't able to get a license during his time in foster care because he was a ward of the state. He has a license now, but still doesn't have a car. Lisa mentioned that it can be difficult to get someone to teach you how to drive as a young adult.
d.) In terms of improving higher educational outcomes, Antonio recommended that the Bridges program learn from the Higher Education Mentoring Initiative (HEMI) program, which was excellent, but was discontinued. Quote: “Bridges could take inspiration from elements that they had in the HEMI program, such as informing youth about grants, FAFSA, assistance with books, transportation, and tuition itself.”
7.) Bridges participant meet and greets: Focus group participants suggested that Bridges have activities where young adults and Bridges workers interact in an informal way. This could help with relationship-building, and underscore that this is not just a job.
8.) Youth suggestions to improve Bridges focus group participation: Celebritty suggested: “You could have it like a roundtable. And ask the young adults: What life challenges are you facing as you transition into young adulthood? Like being a partner after foster care. That's hard. Having your first child, being a new mom with bottles to make and bills to pay -- how do you groove about those things?”
9.) Concrete tools to build up a young adult's personal support group:
- This could include having Bridges workers consistently utilize the Permanency Pact form as a tool for identifying supportive connections.
- During the focus group, Bill Dawson asked, “The idea behind Bridges is to set young adults up for success after they leave the program, and to build up the young adult’s informal support group. Did this happen for you?”
- One participant answered: “No, that was never a part of it. Bridges taught me how to be self-sufficient. I left foster care and went to Bridges. I had two workers, but they only taught me how to take care of myself. I continue to have a lack of supportive connections - and that's a struggle, especially as a young mom.”
- Quote: “We are not the mail. You shouldn’t have to wait 3-5 business days for them to get back with you. You are all that we have. Some of our families are toxic. Some of us have no family. My family is very inconsistent; I would rather have their complete absence than inconsistency. Me as a hurting kid, coming from a hurting path, I want someone interacting with me.”
- Quote: “The communication piece is something that I would love to see happen. We have experienced trauma, and we often have a wall up. We need someone to turn to for reassurance, resources and support. People always say to call them - but who is actually going to be there?”
- How long does it take it take for a young adult to be dropped from the Bridges program?
- How long of a grace period do participating young adults receive?
- If young adults only just turned 18 and they are struggling during the first three months, rather than dropping them from the program, could Bridges help the youth figure out options?
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