YAS received a five-year federal grant to develop and implement a transitional living program for youth ages 16-18 who are runaway or homeless (RHY), and for youth who are at risk of separation from their families. Youth who could benefit from this program include:

Youth who are in the custody of the State of Alaska, were placed in a residential treatment facility in Southeast Alaska (Sitka, Ketchikan, or Juneau) or out of state, and who have literally no safe discharge placement after they have successfully completed their treatment program.

Youth who “age out” of the existing state-funded Social Service system. These youth complete their terms of probation or are released from the State’s custody, and at the age of 16, 17, 18 years old, are virtually homeless. They may have convinced a caseworker or judge to allow them to live with a family friend, or relative as a way to get out of the State’s custody, and then that placement, with little or no outside support, falls apart and the youth is on their own.

Youth who are currently homeless, or runaways, and/or who are living with friends, moving from house to house (or in Sitka, boat-to-boat), with no consistent safe place to live. These are teens who are living in an unsafe situation, and who need a transitional living type program.

Older adolescents who are currently living with their family of origin, but who are living in an unsafe situation due to drug use, violence, and/or neglect, and who need a safe place to live while they develop the skills and confidence they need to live independently.

Through this program, YAS will utilize trained case managers and mental health clinicians to provide a full array of services to youth in the program. We will use a host family model, in which youth will live with a family in the community for up to 18 months while they are participating in the program. These “resource families” will be recruited, trained and supported by YAS. We will be working closely with the Office of Children’s Services so that the majority of our resource families will also be licensed by the state as Foster Parents. Resource families will receive a daily stipend as well as ongoing training and support.

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Earlier this year, YAS was licensed by the State of Alaska as a Child Placement Agency. This licensure allows us to recruit, train and support families to provide therapeutic foster care for high needs children ages 5-18.
The children and youth served by therapeutic foster parents are those whose special needs cannot be met in their own family or in a typical foster family, therefore requiring a higher level of out-of-home care. Important components of this program will include providing extensive initial and ongoing training to parents, 24-hour crisis support by trained clinicians, a foster parent support group, and frequent recognition of the tremendous commitment of each family. Our hope is to provide an effective program model that can be replicated in other rural parts of the state.

YAS therapists, case managers and school-based staff will work closely with the therapeutic foster parents and other professionals as a team to develop a treatment plan for each child. This innovative model of providing services to children and families incorporates therapeutic interventions with an individualized approach for each child. Therapeutic foster families will also receive a much larger daily stipend than TLP parents or traditional foster parents.

If you know of adults/families who you think might be interested in either of these programs, please personally invite them to attend one of the information meetings. Call YAS at 747-3115 for more information or to suggest names and contact information of people who may be interested.

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