March 2012
Q&A: How Fresno’s Safe Place Program Gets Everyone Into the Business of Helping Youth
In California’s Fresno County, teens who need a safe place to go have 263 options. The county participates in the Safe Place program, a national initiative that gives youth ages 11 to 17 somewhere to get help when they can’t go home. Local businesses, schools, libraries, fire stations, busses and other locations open their doors and connect young people to the nearest shelter and other social services.
Primary Sources: Understanding Social Networks Among Homeless Youth
A Qualitative Study of the Formation and Composition of Social Networks Among Homeless Youth, Journal of Research on Adolescence, Vol. 21, Issue 4, December 2011.
Q&A: Lawanda Ravoira of the National Girls Institute on Helping Girls Steer Clear of the Juvenile Justice System
Each year thousands of young women run away from home. To survive, some girls steal. Some sell their bodies for money or a place to stay. Many use drugs and alcohol to cope with life on the streets. Eventually, many girls end up in the juvenile justice system.
NCFY spoke with Lawanda Ravoira, director of the National Girls Institute, about how to keep homeless young women out of trouble, out of jail and engaged with programs that provide support.
Bright Idea: Tattoo Removal Creates a ‘Clean Slate’ for Former Gang Members in Search of Jobs
If you’re a young person with gang-related tattoos and you’re looking for a job, even the Army won’t take you.
Such was the experience of a young man who came to Clean Slate, the tattoo removal program at the social services agency Social Advocates for Youth, in Santa Rosa, CA. The Army is generally okay with non-facial body art but prohibits gang-related and racist tattoos anywhere on the body. The young man had to prove he was getting his tattoos removed before he could enlist.
NCFY Recommends: Choosing the Right Evaluation Tool
Are you evaluating your programs to see whether you are making a difference in the lives of the young people you serve? (Hint: Your answer should be "yes.")
There's help for you as you wade through the many surveys, checklists and assessments that can be used to measure the effectiveness of youth programs. The following guides can help you choose the evaluation tools that best fit your program:
New NCFY Publication: Building Permanent Connections for At-risk Youth
Based on years of work with runaway and homeless youth and the best emerging evidence about what youth need to succeed, the Family and Youth Services Bureau believes the most crucial outcomes for runaway and homeless youth include well-being, permanent connections, safety and self-sufficiency.
New Podcast: Norman Hicks
In NCFY's latest podcast, meet Pastor Norman Hicks. Most Sundays, you can find him offering food and smiles to homeless youth and adults in Washington, D.C.’s Franklin Square Park. Hicks knows what an impact a kind deed can have on a homeless person’s life. As a 13-year-old runaway, Hicks lived in the woods for three days before Roy Maas and Anita Johnston, the founders of FYSB grantee organization The Bridge, took him in and changed his life.
Listen to the podcast and read the transcript here.
Q&A: When It Comes to Sex, African American Teens Feel 'Under Pressure'
Births among African American teens have fallen a whopping 47 percent since the early 1990s. Still, half of all African American girls in the United States will get pregnant at least once before their 20th birthdays.
FYSB is Looking for a Division Director. Join the FYSB Team!
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