For Immediate Release: 2/10/2011 10:39 am
Worcester, MA (February 10, 2011) - Today The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts announced a Health Care and Health Promotion Synergy Initiative planning grant for The Compass Project to address transition age (17-24 year olds) homelessness in Worcester. The grant was announced at a meeting of the Leadership Council of the Worcester County Regional Network of the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH).
The Compass Project will build upon the work of the Worcester Task Force on Teen Housing, which issued a report in February 2010 on homeless youth in Worcester. The Compass Project planning grant will involve a collaboration of more than 20 local and state agencies, as well as non-profit social service organizations in the Worcester area, with Let Us Know (LUK, Inc.) serving as the lead agency, in designing an effective approach to prevent and address transition age homelessness.
Homelessness among the transition age in Worcester is growing. In August of 2009, a Point-in-Time Survey targeting this population identified 142 homeless youth in the city. A follow up survey in October of 2010 identified 201 youth.
Many of these youth have been involved with the child welfare system - Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF). Others have been involved with the juvenile justice system - Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS). When they reach adulthood at the age of 18, many of these youth reject the system and choose to live independently. Others escape from untenable family situations, often before reaching adulthood. Most typically do not have the life skills, education or resources to make it on their own. In addition, affordable and stable, age-appropriate housing situations are limited. Emergency shelter, housing, employment, education, health care and case management services are often poorly linked and difficult to navigate.
Studies have documented that homeless youth are at risk for being homeless as adults and of experiencing poor health as a consequences of homelessness. "This project intends to work collaboratively to design a connected system so that older adolescents and young adults do not end up in a cycle of homelessness for their entire lives," said Gordon Benson, CEO of LUK and project co-director.
"Our goal is to ensure that these individuals in Worcester will find a system that meets their needs no matter how they enter it," added Laurie Ross, Assistant Professor, Clark University and project co-director.
"We are making huge strides to address homelessness in a new and holistic way, with better responses to address the needs of those who need the most help. The Compass Project is a natural step forward and will complement our effective regional work through the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH)," noted City Manager Michael O'Brien, who chairs the Leadership Council of the Worcester County Regional Network of the ICHH. "The ICHH funded a youth outreach worker a year ago, and this project will build on that initial effort," O'Brien added.
"No one should be homeless in our land of plenty, and we should bring our knowledge and resources together to prevent transition age homelessness. The Foundation is pleased to provide a $120,000 planning grant to support the community's interest in addressing homelessness for this vulnerable population," stated Dr. Jan Yost, President and CEO of The Health Foundation. "Through the Foundation's earlier support for Home Again, a project to end adult chronic homelessness, we have seen Worcester be successful in prioritizing that issue and focusing its energies to get positive results. We are confident The Compass Project will also make an impact by creating a systems approach to solving transition age homelessness and preventing an adult cycle of homelessness," Yost added.
Yost explained that the project will begin with a planning phase in 2011 to identify the root causes of transition age homelessness, spearhead an in-depth analysis of resources, and then develop a specific set of proven strategies to pilot in 2012. As successful progress is made, the Foundation anticipates providing support in the range of $1.5 - 2 million over a three-to-five year period to fund the pilot and the full implementation of the project.
As the project proves that it can have an impact on this problem, the collaborating partners will advocate to secure any systemic changes that are necessary to sustain the project after the Foundation's funding ends. LUK's partners in this effort, include: the City of Worcester, Clark University, Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, Common Pathways, Community Healthlink, Henry Lee Willis Community Center, Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, The Bridge of Central Massachusetts, Worcester Community Action Council, Worcester Community Connections Coalition, Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester Youth Center and YOU, Inc.
Formally established in 1999 from the sale of Central Massachusetts Health Care, Inc., a physician-initiated, not-for-profit HMO, The Health Foundation currently has assets of approximately $62 million. The Foundation began its grantmaking in late 2000, and since that time, has awarded grants totaling more than $20 million. For further information about the Foundation's grantmaking programs and application process, please visit the Foundation's website at www.hfcm.org or call (508) 438-0009.
