SPRING
New
HEIGHTS FAMILY VICTORIES FROM YOUTH VILLAGES
2021
UPDATE
FROM YOUTH VILLAGES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NORTH CAROLINA ADVISORY BOARD Sara Boehm
As we continue through 2021, a shared sense of hope continues to grow for what could be. There are many lessons learned from the past—not the least of which are to focus on what is within our control, practice gratitude as often as possible, and show kindness to those around us.
Terry Butler
As we remember the past and hope for the future, we seize the opportunity of the present. That is exactly what we are doing at Youth Villages.
Craig Paridy
As you are reading this, our programs, services, staff retention and most importantly—long-term success rates for children and families—have never been stronger. Our LifeSet™ program for young people aging out of foster care boasts an 86% success rate for youth successfully transitioning to adulthood. We are expanding a new program, Intercept®, which aims to prevent children from entering the foster care system and reunites them with their families if and when a short-term placement is required. We remain excited about building an evidence-based approach to transforming our state’s child welfare system and realize that the opportunity is here and now. I’m grateful for those who continually support our life-changing work. As you look toward the year ahead, take full advantage of the present moments we all experience—both within your family and your own personal community. Stay well and safe,
Devon Cains Bradley Curelop Tia McLaurin
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How are we doing? Paul Enderson EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NORTH CAROLINA paul.enderson@youthvillages.org 865-560-2548
P.S. Even as COVID-19 remains present, we have a variety of ways to support Youth Villages. Please email me directly if the stories in our newsletter inspire you to take action in helping children and families live successfully.
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© 2021 Youth Villages, Inc. All rights reserved.
BUILDING STRONG FAMILIES STUDIES SHOW EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERCEPT PROGRAM
In 1995, Youth Villages began providing intensive help for children with emotional and behavioral issues and their families through Intercept, intensive in-home services. Over the years, the program has helped more than 43,000 children from birth to age 18 and demonstrated high success rates. Two important recent studies have further shown the program’s impact and allowed the program to receive a national rating that may make it available to more families who need it. The Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse announced recently that the Youth Villages Intercept program model is rated as “supported” after two studies from the Center for State Childhood Data at the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall showed the program had positive impacts on the use of foster care. This means the program can be used by states through federal funding provided by the Family First Prevention Services Act passed by Congress in 2018. “This is a milestone for Intercept and Youth Villages,” said Youth Villages CEO Patrick Lawler. “More than 30 years ago, we made providing intensive help for families the center of what we do. We’re pleased that Intercept has been recognized as one of the first 10 In-Home/Parent-Skill programs in the country to receive a favorable rating.” Two separate evaluations of Intercept were conducted using data made available by the state of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. In the first, researchers found that Intercept reduces the chances of out-of-home placement by 53% following an abuse or neglect investigation. The effect of Intercept is sustained at six and 12 months after services end. In the second, the data showed the odds of achieving permanency were approximately 24% higher for children receiving Intercept than a comparison group. Intercept provides intensive in-home services and works in all the systems that surround the child: the family, school, neighborhood and peer group. The Intercept program was launched in Memphis and became an integral part of child
welfare reform in the state of Tennessee. Youth Villages expanded the model, and it is now being implemented in 13 states. The Clearinghouse was established by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct an objective and transparent review of research on programs and services intended to provide enhanced support to children and families and prevent foster care placements. It determines what services can be funded under the Family First Prevention Services Act. “The Clearinghouse is helping states identify evidencebased interventions that really work to strengthen and restore struggling families,” Lawler said. “It is a transformational moment for child welfare in this country.”
YOUTH VILLAGES 2020
PROGRAM SUCCESS ONE YEAR AFTER DISCHARGE AT HOME
NO TROUBLE
IN SCHOOL
WITH FAMILY
WITH THE LAW
OR GRADUATED
87%
90%
95%
Includes only youth who received at least 60 days of service and reflect a response rate of 45% (2,482 out of 5,510).
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LIFESET PARTICIPANT MAKES MASKS TO HELP IN COVID-19 CRISIS TAE’S FRESHMAN YEAR IN COLLEGE DIDN’T GO AS PLANNED. HE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SECOND SEMESTER AT JOHNSON & WALES UNIVERSITY, STUDYING CULINARY SCIENCE, WHEN THE COVID-19 CRISIS BEGAN. “I was a little confused, as I hadn’t been following the news,” he said. “With my school schedule, it’s back-to-back classes, and I was very busy. But I tried to be calm about what was happening.” Tae is a participant in the Youth Villages LifeSet program in North Carolina, which is helping nearly 350 young people make a successful transition to adulthood. He had his first meeting with LifeSet Specialist Elaine Cadichon when he was moving into the dorms. She supported him as the dorms closed, and he moved back home. She helped Tae work through the anxiety and practical challenges the pandemic has caused. Tae misses his classes—particularly baking and pastries. Because cooking is such a hands-on activity, his courses weren’t continued online. “Cooking is something I am good at,” Tae said. “So, when it came time to think about what to study after high school, I focused on that.”
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Isolation hasn’t been easy, but Tae gets support weekly from sessions with Elaine, who is available 24/7. During a phone call, he was preparing halibut for his family’s evening meal. Since the pandemic began, he has found a new way to keep busy and help others. He started making fabric masks to help reduce the spread of the virus. “We were watching the news, and they said that people wouldn’t be able to go into grocery stores in our town without masks,” Tae said. “We didn’t have masks, but I know how to sew.” He had been in the theater group in high school, mostly working backstage and making costumes. Tae had a sewing machine and some leftover theater fabric. He downloaded instructions from the internet and made a few masks so his family could shop. Later, his mother saw a Facebook post from a place where masks were needed. “So, we went to Walmart and got more fabric, and I made about 50,” Tae said. “It’s actually pretty easy.” His next set of masks was donated to Wine to Water, a nonprofit he supports that does work in North Carolina and around the world. Tae misses his classes but has gotten word that the university may open again in July. One day, he’d like to travel and thinks a career in the culinary arts will let him experience life in different countries.
During COVID-19, Arnold Hill performed a virtual concert fundraiser for Youth Villages’ Holiday Heroes program.
LOCAL BAND’S SUPPORT ROCKS ON DURING PANDEMIC
There are two things Youth Villages Clinical Supervisor Sam McCarson loves—playing music with his band, Arnold Hill, and helping kids in need. Sam has been playing with Arnold Hill for more than 10 years. The band, based in western North Carolina, has a great local following and is known for crossing genre lines. This love of music and helping kids collided a few years ago when Arnold Hill set out to create a fundraiser to support Youth Villages’ annual gift drive, Holiday Heroes. Thanks to a loyal fan base, Arnold Hill raised enough funding to provide gifts for almost 20 local youth and families in need. “Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to combine my passions of music and helping young people,” Sam said. “My Arnold Hill bandmates and I are honored to serve Youth Villages and the families they support.” What began as a regular benefit concert shifted in 2020 to a virtual performance on Facebook Live, complete with song requests, online donations and plenty of laughs along the way. Even with the change in format, fans gathered virtually to continue the holiday tradition of helping kids in need—raising $1,300 to make sure children at Youth Villages experienced a holiday they’ll always remember. Thanks to Arnold Hill and their fans for being rock stars for underserved children.
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Over the past five years, The Joey Logano Foundation has generously supported Youth Villages’ LifeSet™ program, which helps youth successfully transition from foster care to adulthood. During this time, Youth Villages has expanded the evidence-based service nearly 250% and now helps former foster youth in 90% of North Carolina. Since 2016, The Joey Logano Foundation has provided more than $470,000 to help youth aging out of foster care transition successfully to adulthood. These funds have provided ongoing support to sustain LifeSet, so that every youth aging out of foster care has access to this evidencebased, life-saving program. Moreover, with their most recent gift, Joey and Brittany will help ensure that more than 3,000 youth over the next four years will have a second chance at life and a successful adulthood.
JOEY LOGANO’S OFF-TRACK PASSION HELPS FOSTER YOUTH SUCCEED
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NASCAR CHAMPION JOEY LOGANO AND HIS WIFE, BRITTANY, HAVE A UNITING PASSION: HELPING CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS IN CRISIS GET A SECOND CHANCE IN LIFE.
“It’s been our life’s passion to live a life of generosity, especially in helping those youth who are truly falling through the cracks,” Brittany said. “The Joey Logano Foundation has created a legacy of supporting the very best programs for youth who experienced foster care, and partnering with Youth Villages has been both honoring and eye opening—in terms of the hurting youth they help.” In 2008, Youth Villages launched LifeSet in North Carolina to help youth who experienced foster care make a successful transition to adulthood. LifeSet was studied in the nation’s largest and most comprehensive clinical trial for the “aging out” population. Young people receiving support from the LifeSet program had higher earnings and employment levels, increased housing stability and economic well-being, and improved mental health. Youth Villages is committed to ensuring every young person in the state who ages out of foster care will have access to this evidence-based program. And thanks to The Joey Logano Foundation, this vision will continue to be a reality for so many young people in foster care. “Joey and Brittany are so very generous—with all of their resources,” said Paul Enderson, executive director of Youth Villages North Carolina. “Whether they give their time or their financial resources, their family is always looking to make a difference in the lives of others. They are an example for everyone as to what a life of service looks like.”
LEE PREVOST YOUTH VILLAGES CHAMPION
Q: How did you become involved with Youth Villages? A: My friend, Doug Miskew, introduced me to the organization. Doug was impressed by the extensive validation of outcomes that was being tested by Youth Villages and how impressive those outcomes were relative to the alternatives. Q: What do you think sets Youth Villages apart in its work with children and families? A: I believe there are many programs that support children and their families but what [makes Youth Villages] unique is how they measure and sustain their outcomes. Q: Why do you personally support Youth Villages with your philanthropic investment? A: Because I see tangible results, particularly in Youth Villages’ transitional living programs, where staff seek to get families involved in the process for long-term success. Q: Why should someone consider becoming more involved with Youth Villages? A: Before the pandemic, children who aged out of foster care without help from organizations like Youth Villages [had] frighteningly low chances of success as measured by jobs, happiness, healthy relationships and upward mobility. The global pandemic has made this exponentially worse. You can make a difference by supporting high return on investment solutions like Youth Villages right here in your state.
Lee Prevost—former Youth Villages North Carolina board member, Dude Solutions co-founder, tech strategist and investor—has been involved with Youth Villages for nearly 10 years. He and his wife, Scharme, call the Triangle their home, and invest their time, talent and treasure to support the vulnerable in their community. Lee’s generosity to support some of the most vulnerable young people and families throughout the state is truly an inspiration.
NORTH CAROLINA DONORS The Joey Logano Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Lee Prevost Triangle Community Foundation United Way of the Greater Triangle
PILLAR
PROTECTOR
VISIONARY $
$
50,000 to $99,999
25,000 to 49,999 $
Evergreen Foundation
LEADER $
10,000 to $24,999
The Cemala Foundation
$
5,000 to 9,999 $
Brian & Sara Boehm Griffin and Griffin Private Investment Group LLC Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Miskew Mr. Richard Ruby
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Sweeney Truist Bank
BUILDER $
1,000 to $4,999
Arnold Hill Band B and M Vending, LLC BridgePoint General Contracting Ms. Angela Burgess Jim & Betsy Edmonds Forrest Firm
JULY 1 THROUGH DEC. 31, 2020 Ms. Phylecia Krebs Mr. Rick Linville Mr. Cameron Shelton Ms. Madison Shue Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation Mr. Tres Vance
Only includes gifts of $1000 and greater
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YOUTH VILLAGES
NONPROFIT ORG
1822 E. NC Highway 54, Suite 300 Durham, NC 27713
U.S. POSTAGE PERMIT 1324
(Address Service Requested)
YOUTH VILLAGES
Youth Villages is a private nonprofit that serves more than 33,000 children and their families each year from offices in the following cities: Alabama: Auburn, Birmingham, Mobile Arkansas: Searcy, West Memphis Florida: Lakeland Georgia: Atlanta, Douglasville Indiana: Bloomington, Columbus, Evansville, Indianapolis, Jasper, Jeffersonville, Madison Kentucky: Lexington, Louisville Massachusetts: Marlborough, West Springfield, Raynham, Woburn Mississippi: Biloxi, Greenwood, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Jackson, Meridian, Tupelo New Hampshire: Manchester North Carolina: Asheville, Boone, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, Louisburg, Pinehurst, Raleigh-Durham, Waynesville Ohio: Worthington Oklahoma: Oklahoma City, Tulsa Oregon: Bend, Portland, Salem Tennessee: Chattanooga, Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Dickson, Dyersburg, Jackson, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Morristown, Nashville, Paris Washington, D.C. New Heights North Carolina is published by Youth Villages Prefer not to receive a printed newsletter? Email cynthia.vanelli@youthvillages.org or call 901-251-5000. To receive a digital copy of our newsletters and join our email list, sign up at youthvillages.org/stay-informed.