In the United States, Transitional Living Programs usually refer to programs and efforts to teach independent living skills to homeless youth and help them transition to adulthood. The United States government supports a grant program to fund such efforts.
The Transitional Living Program for Older Homeless Youth (often referred to as TLP), funded by the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, [1] provides residential services for up to 18 months for homeless youth ages 16 to 22. [2]
Often older runaway, thrownaway, and homeless youth either have no home or are unable to return home because of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or severe family conflict. These youth must transition to adulthood without the support of family, leaving the youth to learn to cook and care for themselves, find jobs (often without a high school degree), and apply to college on their own. Many of these youth end up using drugs and alcohol or participating in prostitution to earn money. [3]
TLPs provide youth with safe and stable living arrangements, which can be in the form of host family homes, group homes, maternity group homes, or supervised apartments. [2]
TLPs also provide training and support services, either directly or by referral, to help youth develop the life skills needed to gain independence and live on their own. Types of services include: life skills training, including financial planning and responsibility, food preparation, and parenting skills; educational opportunities, including GED preparation, high-school completion support, college counseling, and vocational training; employment opportunities and assistance like career counseling, resume writing, and interview skills; substance abuse treatment or prevention; group or individual counseling; and medical care, including routine physicals and emergency treatment. [3] Maternity group homes provide the same services as other TLPs, but also provide parenting instruction and child care. [4]
The United States Congress first authorized funding for Transitional Living Programs through the 1988 Amendments to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. The program has since been funded through the Runaway, Homeless, and Missing Children Protection Act of 2003. It is currently funded by FYSB under the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–378). [2]
Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives, and is an active "community services and funding" stream across the United States. It was developed by different professional academics and US governmental departments that supported housing. Supportive housing is widely believed to work well for those who face the most complex challenges—individuals and families confronted with homelessness and who also have very low incomes and/or serious, persistent issues that may include substance use disorders, mental health, HIV/AIDS, chronic illness, diverse disabilities or other serious challenges to stable housing.
Boys & Girls Aid is a non-profit organization that provides services to children in crisis in the state of Oregon, United States.
So Others Might Eat (SOME) is a nonprofit organization that provides services to assist those dealing with poverty and homelessness in Washington, D.C. The organization provides affordable housing, job training, counseling and other healthcare services, and daily needs such as food and clothing to the poor and homeless. It spends the largest portion of its annual budget on affordable housing, with a majority of its residents recovering from addiction. SOME describes its mission as helping "our vulnerable neighbors in Washington, DC, break the cycle of homelessness through our comprehensive and transformative services".
A group home, congregate living facility, or care home is a structured and supervised residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children or young people who cannot live with their families or afford their own homes, people with chronic disabilities who may be adults or seniors, or people with dementia and related aged illnesses. Typically, there are no more than six residents, and there is at least one trained caregiver there 24 hours a day. In some early "model programs", a house manager, night manager, weekend activity coordinator, and four part-time skill teachers were reported. Originally, the term group home referred to homes of 8 to 16 individuals, which was a state-mandated size during deinstitutionalization. Residential nursing facilities, also included in this article, may be as large in 2015 as 100 individuals, which is no longer the case in fields such as intellectual and developmental disabilities. Depending on the severity of the condition requiring one to need to live in a group home, some clients are able to attend day programs and most clients are able to live normal lifestyles.
Transitional living refers to any type of living situation that is transitional. The primary purpose or mission of transitional living environments is temporary. Transitional living facilities often offer low cost housing. Transitional living residents that cater to those recovering from economic hardship often graduate from a shelter to lesser crowded living situation. Transitional living may or may not have other common threads among residents. Transitional living provides professional support, education, and a stable living environment. Common types of transitional living include transitioning from jail or prison, an addiction treatment center or a mental health facility. They may also target homelessness, especially among youth. Transitional living is provided by many well known private and non profit organizations, by government, churches and other charitable organizations.
Transitional age youth can reference both a developmental period and be a descriptor regarding eligibility for certain services. While there are variations in definitions, the age ranges do consistently overlap and include late adolescence to early adulthood. This range is considered a critical period in human development characterized by several changes socially, environmentally, and cognitively. During this time, individuals can experience changes in their social roles and function, family and peer supports, exposure to substance use, educational and vocational programs, as well as changes in healthcare providers from pediatric to adult settings.
Aging out is American popular culture vernacular used to describe anytime a youth leaves a formal system of care designed to provide services below a certain age level.
National Safe Place is a non-profit organization based out of Louisville, Kentucky. It originated in 1983 from an initiative known as "Project Safe Place", established by a short-term residential and counseling center for youth 12 to 17. The organization is intended to provide access to immediate help and support for children and adolescents who are "at risk" or in crisis situations. The purpose is to both defuse a potential crisis situation as well as provide immediate counsel and support so the child in crisis may be directed to an appropriate shelter or accredited care facility.
Endeavors, formerly known as Family Endeavors, is a non-profit organization that provides programs and services towards community, disaster relief, employment, housing, mental health, and veteran family services in the United States.
The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 aims to assist youth aging out of foster care in the United States in obtaining and maintaining independent living skills. Youth aging out of foster care, or transitioning out of the formal foster care system, are one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. As youth age out of the foster care system at age 18, they are expected to become self-sufficient immediately, even though on average youth in the United States are not expected to reach self-sufficiency until age 26.
Ozone House, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to "meet the needs of runaway, homeless, and high-risk youth and their families." Ozone House addresses these objectives through a variety of services and venues, including a 24-hour youth crisis hotline, emergency youth shelter, transitional living programs, a drop-in center, and street outreach. It is a state-licensed Child Caring Institution and a Substance Abuse Prevention provider. Ozone Houses offers support throughout the state of Michigan, but is focused more directly in the surrounding Washtenaw County area. The organization takes its name from the Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen song "Lost in the Ozone", owing to its roots as a drug-counseling program. Historically, it is among the first-generation alternative service providers that emerged in the 1960s dealing with runaways and the needs of at-risk youth.
Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA) is an anti-poverty community action agency that helps people in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom meet their basic needs and become self-sufficient. The agency is a partner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families and is primarily funded by federal and state government resources.
St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families, formerly known as St. Ann's Infant and Maternity Home, is administered by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. It is located at 4901 Eastern Avenue in Avondale, Maryland. It provides housing and support to pregnant and parenting young women and their children, as well as quality day care to the children of working families.
The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) is a state agency of Massachusetts. Its Administrative Office is headquartered in 600 Washington Street Boston. The agency operates the state's juvenile justice services.
St John of God Bendigo Hospital is a 167-bed private hospital located in central Victoria.
Family homelessness refers to a family unit who do not have access to long term accommodation due to various circumstances such as socioeconomic status, access to resources and relationship breakdowns. In some Western countries, such as the United States, family homelessness is a new form of poverty, and a fast growing group of the homelessness population. Some American researchers argue that family homelessness is the inevitable result of imbalanced “low-income housing ratio” where there are more low-income households than there are low-cost housing units. A study in 2018 projected a total of 56,342 family households were recognized as homeless. Roughly 16,390 of these people were living in a place not meant for human habitation. It is believed that homeless families make up about a third of the United States’ population, with generally women being the lead of the household.
The Foyer housing model is a method of transitional housing for youth that evolved from temporary housing for laborers in Europe. After World War II, foyers were used to provide accommodation for a movement of people from rural France to cities seeking work. The term "foyer" means hearth in French. They later developed to house migrant workers, primarily from Algeria, serving as a path to independent labor and accommodation.
The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is a division of the US Executive Branch under the Administration for Children and Families and the Department of Health and Human Services. The FYSB's primary purpose is to support programs for at-risk youth and their families.
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act is a US law originally passed in 1974 as Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The bill sets the federal definition of homeless youth, and forms the basis for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program, administered by the Family and Youth Services Bureau. It has been reauthorized multiple times, and is due for re-authorization as of March 2018.
Covenant House Toronto is a nonprofit organization that serves, at-risk, homeless and trafficked youth between the ages of 16 and 24. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is one of many Covenant House locations based in North America. The Toronto location is the largest agency of its kind in Canada, with 80 per cent of their annual funding coming from donors. The house serves as many as 300 youth a day regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or the circumstances that have brought them to their doors. Covenant House also offers services such as education, after-care, counseling, health care, employment assistance, and job training. The organization has also offered their services to more than 95,000 young people since its start in 1982.