Transitioning Inner City Youth to Independent Housing. Engaging Interagency Partnerships to Provide High Quality Services to Youth

Transcription

1 Transitioning Inner City Youth to Independent Housing Engaging Interagency Partnerships to Provide High Quality Services to Youth

2 Introductions Jeff Masse Occupational Therapist with the Inner City Youth Program Zach Batalden Urban Youth Project Supervisor

3 Objectives Introduce HPP Give a description of our clients Review our rationale for this program Describe our program Discuss our results

4 Homeless Prevention Program BC Housing program that provides people in at-risk groups with subsidized access to rental housing in the private market

5 Our Client Population

6

7 Rationale for our Program 1. To address the specific life skills needs of our youth; 2. Prepare clients for a successful transition to independent housing

8 Rationale for Program Content Developing a Life Skills Curriculum for Homeless Youth Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program (Covenant House, Philadelphia)

9 Program Outline 8 sessions over 4 weeks In-class life skills training program Lectures, homework, group discussion and activities Participants received an honorarium of $15 per class attended

10 Program Description Focus Areas financial management personal hygiene room maintenance soft skills (time use, interpersonal boundaries, communication, leisure, stress management)

11 Program Description (cont) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy formed the basis for our program Realistic scenarios for each topic SMART Goals

12 Sample of a class

13 Preliminary Results

14 We had a total of 18 participants in 3 cohorts

15 16 completed the program

16 Gender 9 men 9 women Average age 23 years (range years)

17 What are participants doing? 7 employed 4 attending school 8 unemployed

18 The engaged client

19 The engaged client #2

20 The unengaged client

21 Early look at Vancouver s Youth at ICY? Vancouver Time Use (hours/week) 40% 60 83% Mean age 23.5 years! <2 3 TO 5 6 TO TO

22 Time in structured roles: Toronto Time in structured roles (hours) 40% 92 80% <2 3 TO 5 6 TO

23 High School Completers (n=12)

24 Self-reported Primary Diagnosis Bipolar (n=6) Depression (n=5) Anxiety Disorder (n=3) Schizoaffective (n=2) Not specified (n=2)

25 What did we measure? Self-esteem (Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale) Stress (Perceived Stress Scale) Locus of Control (Rotter LOC scale) Recovery (Personal Recovery Outcome Measure) Quality of Life (ReQOL) Housing Stability (HSS Index) Time Use

26 What did we see change? Self-esteem (Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale) Stress (Perceived Stress Scale) Locus of Control (Rotter LOC scale) Recovery (Personal Recovery Outcome Measure) Quality of Life (ReQOL) Housing Stability (HSS Index) Time Use

27 Recovery - PROM Strengths I am hopeful I believe in myself I can identify early warning signs of becoming ill I trust my health care team Areas for Improvement χ I feel part of my community χ I contribute to my community χ I am satisfied with my physical health χ Spending the day doing what I enjoy

28 Quality of Life - ReQOL Strengths I had choices I felt safe Self-care Life is worth living People I can turn to for help Areas for improvement χ I felt lonely χ I felt tired χ Hard to concentrate χ I felt anxious χ Enjoying life

29 Considerations moving forward We have provided youth with basic skill set. However clearly HOUSING is not the last step. Need to work on not just getting youth in the community, but need to strive towards getting this cohort to be a part of the community.

30 Implications for Rehab Team Focus on: Time Use Meaningful Engagement Stress Management and Coping Physical Health/Self-esteem

31 Need to Consider the Full Range of Health Low Health High

32 Need to Consider the Full Range of Health Low Health High

33 Moving Forward Our fourth round of subsidy training starts later this afternoon 11 ICY clients are currently housed and living in an HPP subsidy UYP has just confirmed funding to continue this collaboration for another year