Ending youth homelessness in Austin, Tx Lyric Wardlow Member, Austin Youth Collective Erin Whelan, LPC-S, LCCA Senior Division Director of Housing Lifeworks Ending Youth Homelessness in Austin, TX

Role of young people in policy, planning and practice Austin Youth Collective to End Homelessness Authentic Partnership with youth Adultism – understanding privilege and how that impacts decision making Coordinated Community Plan Engagement Co-Authorship on publication “Child Care in Practice” Decision Making Opportunities 2 seats on the Membership Council Equal decision making with YHDP Leadership Council Create a youth centered approach to system planning Centering the voices of young people with lived experience in the process Authentic Partnerships with youth Community Plan Engagement Co-Authorship on publication “Child Care in Practice” Adultism – understanding privilege and how that impacts decision making Decision Making Opportunities 2 seats on the Membership Council Equal decision making with YHDP Leadership Council (wanted separate group) Create a youth centered approach to system planning Centering the voices of young people with lived experience in the process Building Awareness in the Community #haveyouseenus Austin Community College Consultation Community Collaboration Dell Medical School Class AYC member trained to completed Coordinated Assessment Perspectives in Ending Youth Homelessness In Austin, TX

Role of young people in policy, planning and practice Austin Youth Collective to End Homelessness Building Awareness in the community #haveyouseenus Austin Community College Consultation Authentic Partnerships with youth Community Plan Engagement Co-Authorship on publication “Child Care in Practice” Adultism – understanding privilege and how that impacts decision making Decision Making Opportunities 2 seats on the Membership Council Equal decision making with YHDP Leadership Council (wanted separate group) Create a youth centered approach to system planning Centering the voices of young people with lived experience in the process Building Awareness in the Community #haveyouseenus Austin Community College Consultation Community Collaboration Dell Medical School Class AYC member trained to completed Coordinated Assessment Perspectives in Ending Youth Homelessness In Austin, TX

Role of young people in policy, planning and practice Austin Youth Collective to End Homelessness Community collaboration Dell Medical School Class AYC member trained to completed Coordinated Assessment AYC Initiatives Authentic Partnerships with youth Community Plan Engagement Co-Authorship on publication “Child Care in Practice” Adultism – understanding privilege and how that impacts decision making Decision Making Opportunities 2 seats on the Membership Council Equal decision making with YHDP Leadership Council (wanted separate group) Create a youth centered approach to system planning Centering the voices of young people with lived experience in the process Building Awareness in the Community #haveyouseenus Austin Community College Consultation Community Collaboration Dell Medical School Class AYC member trained to completed Coordinated Assessment Perspectives in Ending Youth Homelessness In Austin, TX

Priority strategies

In 2018 yhdp funds expanded our continuum Diversion – RARE – LifeWorks will work within Child Protective Services, State and County Juvenile Justice, and local school districts to create housing pathways for youth in transition so they do not fall into homelessness. Permanency Through Outreach and Rapid Transitions (PORT)- BRIEF - A transitional facility with rapid links to Rapid Re-Housing that will divert youth from downtown adult shelters and put them on the fast track (less than 30 days) to Rapid Re-Housing. Rapid Re-Housing – NON-RECURRING – Scale a model that provides temporary assistance, apartment location, and workforce support so youth access permanent housing and the skills/income to sustain it. Diversion – connection to permanent supportive connections to prevent entry into the homeless system PORT – TH/RRH Joint project; 15 beds Rapid Rehousing Plus – provides a longer runway for youth with up to 36 months of rental support and 42 months of case management Operationalizing the USICH criteria and benchmarks (RARE, BRIEF, and Non-Recurring) with projects (5 criteria) Austin has had the benefit of having YHDP $ to do this work, but current projects could be used to operationalize the criteria

Partnerships Continuum of Care Organization – Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) Service Organizations – LifeWorks, Caritas of Austin, SAFE Alliance, Front Steps, and many more…. Public Systems – Integral Care, City of Austin Housing Authority, Austin Independent School District, Department of Family and Protective Services, Travis County Juvenile Justice, Local Government Other – Texas Network of Youth Services, Texas Appleseed Facilitated a planning process that was centered on an authentic collaboration between the CoC lead agency/community convener, service providers and young people. Strong lead partnership between the RHY provider and the CoC lead. Step up and lead in collaboration Worked hand in hand to design a plan to prevent and end youth homelessness and confronted controversial topics along the way. That includes housing first for youth, definitions of homelessness, working across systems   Success with both local government support for the match and private philanthropy – both foundations and individual contributors.  I think the key on this one is that we have engaged several entities a “learning partners” not just transactional funders.  There is philanthropic appeal in solving a community problem collaboratively, not just adding more services.  There is also strong philanthropic interest in being part of the learning journey.  Creating a System Response To End Youth Homelessness in Austin, TX

System Cost projections Started by looking at what would have the biggest impact and then funded what would have impact by thinking about this work and the planning for it in terms of the “end goal” of building a sustainable system that houses all youth experiencing homelessness We needed to start somewhere in terms of the number of youth entering the homeless system over time, how much it cost to provide services over time and started to put together figures on how much it would cost our community. Assumptions might not be accurate, but our thinking had to be more strategic than just “needing more money” The resource planning continues to be an iterative process for us as we learn more about the youth on the by-name list; the strategies and resources needed to help youth persist and succeed in housing; and the changing trends of youth entering the system. Perspectives in Ending Youth Homelessness In Austin, TX

Still Figuring out Collaboration with School System, Child Welfare, and Juvenile Justice Scaling up Rapid Rehousing Continuous Quality Improvement Launched all 3 projects in October. We continue to figure out how to work with schools, child welfare, and Juvenile Justice to keep youth from becoming homeless and build diversion efforts that interrupt homelessness early and keep youth from needing long-term assistance. How to make a gigantic investment in RRH work for youth. Utilizing Housing Specialist, relationships with landlords, realtors license, same CM from outreach to housed, settings goals for ramp up and enrollment What actual CQI looks like in a community process- not just for programs for youth. How does USICH criteria and benchmarks work fit in? Creating a System Response To End Youth Homelessness in Austin, TX

Data & Evaluation: Where We Are Over the past 12 months: We built out the local data elements in HMIS and trained program staff in their collection We developed comprehensive screening and assessment tools to assist diversion staff in identifying potential natural supports and identifying opportunities for supporting such placements We began participating in the USICH pilot project, identified opportunities for strengthening the benchmarks tool, and reorganized our community plan to align with the federally defined criteria We are partnering with CSH and A Way Home America to develop dashboards to monitor our progress Our collaborative undertook an initiative to contact all youth on the By-Name list to determine actual housing needs.  Approximately half were reached, and the data collected resulted in significant learnings about the needs of youth on the By-Name list and the characteristics of youth who self-resolve. We developed a progressive engagement tool to standardize our approach to rental assistance We launched our comprehensive local evaluation to better understand the implementation of the three projects, their evolution over time, and their impact Across the community data and evaluation not just LifeWorks Not just program outcomes, but more broad

Data & Evaluation: Where We’re headed Our local metrics are being used to drive continuous quality improvement efforts at the program and systems level Our revised community plan will go through the formal approval process Our community is committed to advocating for meaningful metrics for ending youth homelessness Key learnings and recommendations for practice will be submitted for publication to support other communities and contribute to the broader literature We will continue to leverage our data in innovative ways to support ongoing learning and program refinement Austin remains a wiling partner and resource for other communities interested in engaging in meaningful local evaluation

Lessons Learned When engaging the public systems, finding the right champion within the system is key.  Normalize mistakes and decide how to learn and grow from them Bullet 1: They need to be at a high enough level to enact decisions; close enough to the work to make sure it gets done; and above all, highly motivated around this issue.  Also, it helps if they have enough tenure and stability in the job to see the work through. Bullet 2: We are all in uncharted waters, and the more we embrace this as a learning journey, the more successful we will be. Creating a System Response To End Youth Homelessness in Austin, TX

Want to learn more? Lyric Wardlow Member, Austin Youth Collective lyric60180@gmail.com Erin Whelan, LPC-S, LCCA , Senior Division Director of Housing and Homelessness Services LifeWorks erinwhelan@lifeworkaustin.org Creating a System Response To End Youth Homelessness in Austin, TX