NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt Child and Family Policy Center is creating a national model program to help teens in state custody who are aging out of foster care, thanks to a $400,000 grant from the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
The funds will benefit young people in foster care in Davidson and some surrounding counties, according to Debbie Miller, director of the Child and Family Center at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. One unusual component of the program will be “Opportunity Passports” that will help 225 foster youth gain financial literacy, build assets and access resources for transition to independent living.
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) estimates that more than 50 percent of children in Tennessee’s foster care system are teen-agers, and the average stay for youth in foster care in Tennessee is 704 days. So many foster children end up transitioning to adulthood while in state custody, according to Miller. She said that when the Casey Foundation looked around for best practices to help teens who are aging out of foster care, it realized there was a huge void in this area of children’s services. “What was needed was the opportunity to develop and field test model programs that would help outcomes for children transitioning to independent living. We are fortunate that Nashville and the mid-Cumberland region are one of 10 sites selected by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative to bring new programs for foster teens.”
When a teen-ager chooses to sign out of the foster care system at age 18, he or she no longer routinely receives family or other adult guidance in areas such as managing money, locating affordable housing and going to school or work.
The Tennessee Youth Advisory Council has been formed to provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of local services and state policies for foster youth. In addition, the center is bringing together various public, private and faith-based organizations to create a Community Partnership Board that will connect foster teens to key services, such as employment, education, housing and health care.
“Through the creation of youth and community boards, foster teens will let the adults know what’s important to them. Then the adults can respond with appropriate options,” Miller said. “It’s a dialogue between foster teens and community and business leaders that has never happened at this level before.” She noted that the center would work closely with DCS to achieve lasting success with this initiative.
A unique aspect of this initiative is the offering of “Opportunity Passports” to 225 youth between the ages of 14 and 23 who live in Davidson County and some surrounding counties. The passport includes an Individual Development Account to be used for medium and long-term asset building and a debit account to save and pay for short-term expenses for personal advancement. There also will be discounts for local services such as transportation and admission to events that will be developed by the youth and community partnership boards.
“Many young people leaving foster care end up homeless or incarcerated due to the tremendous challenges of transitioning to adulthood,” said Shawn Huff, associate director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. Huff said that the Child and Family Policy Center was selected for the grant because it has been a longtime advocate and community leader in helping developing responses to critical needs for children.
The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative is a nonprofit foundation formed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Casey Family Programs, which were established by the family of Jim Casey, founder of United Parcel Service. The mission of the Jim Casey Youth Initiatives is to “transform the way communities view their responsibility to youth who have been removed from their families and placed in foster care,” according to director Gary Stangler.
More information about the Jim Casey Youth Opportunity Initiative is available on its homepage at www.jimcaseyyouth.org.
Media contact: Ann Marie Owens, 615-322-NEWS, annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu