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>View discussions about this entry Country: United States
Organization: Youth Advocacy Center
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 2005
Project URL: http://www.youthadvocacycenter.org
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
Describe your program or new idea in one sentence. - The GBS Seminar prepares young men ages 16-21 in foster care to successfully transition to independence by encouraging critical thinking, self-advocacy, and future planning.
What makes your initiative uniquely positioned to create change in your community? - Although most young men in foster care have the potential to become participating citizens, too many graduate from the foster care system unprepared to achieve their goals, and end up homeless and unemployed. The GBS approach was designed to encourage youth to identify and make steps to reach future goals, and to analyze situations in the adult world critically, and to use self-advocacy to transition to adulthood. GBS engages youth, social services professionals, and leaders in the business community.
Describe how you organize and carry out your work? - To reach the most vulnerable young men, we partner with local government and private agencies that are the legal custodians and run the group homes, foster homes, institutions. We offer seminars and trainings for social services professionals on our methods and philosophies and also broaden their minds so that they would be in a position to more effectively prepare young men for independence by placing more responsibility on the teens.
What is your plan to scale and expand your innovation into your community and beyond? - We plan to reach increasing numbers of young men in NYC by expanding the number of sites of the GBS Seminar. We have spread our innovation in other urban communities—Detroit, MI, New Haven, CT, Hartford, CT, Philadelphia, PA, and Baltimore, MD— by offering seminars and making our curriculum available. Going forward we are looking to target cities where we get ‘buy in’ from leadership at a direct services agency and from government leaders. The publication of our book, Beyond the Foster Care System and curriculum, On Your Own as a Young Adult and presentations at local and national conferences help spread our philosophy and approach.
What other resources, institutional, or policy needs would be necessary to help sustain and scale up your idea? - Formal recognition (and reallocation of funding) by government entities that all social services for young men transitioning out of foster care should be focused on them achieving future goals, rather than punitive behavior management. If government agencies rewarded private contractors for the number of young men who were successful post-foster care, we would see a greater demand for approaches like ours—and others—that would help young men fulfill their potential.
Describe your impact in one sentence, commenting on both the individual and community levels. - After taking the seminar, young men are geared towards reaching their goals while becoming contributung members of the community and positive role models for children.
What impact has your work achieved to date? - The New York Administration for Children's Services has supported the Getting Beyond the System® Self Advocacy Seminar and has discussed institutionalizing it around the foster care system. Our Partner agencies in New York are completing their 2nd semesters and preparing for future ones. Young men in other communities will benefit as organizations outside of new york begin to inquire about and even pilot their own GBS seminars. Through our advisory board, chaired by Len Elmore, ESPN basketball analyst and attorney, we have formed a powerful network of professionals who volunteer to meet with GBS grads to give career and education advice. From these meetings, professionals’ impressions of youth are then shifted to be more positive. Also, through the publishing of the book "Beyond the Foster Care System: The Future for Teens" and the GBS curriculum, Youth Advocacy Center is now recognized as an innovator in terms of preparing youth for Adulthood.
What measure do you use to gauge your impact and why? - The first step in measuring our impact is through sending our young men on informational interviews with leading professionals in the community. This allows us to see how comfortable and committed the young man is to his future and raises confidence. We also use evaluation forms to compare their knowledge after the seminar to their mindset before the seminar. Finally, we keep tabs on the progress of the graduates to ensure that they are making most of their newly acquired skills.
How is your initiative currently being financed and how would you finance further expansion and/or replication? - The Getting Beyond the System® is financed with a mixture of private philanthropy, and contracted services. Further expansion will be funded by agencies, government, and/or private sponsoring seminars.
Provide information on your current finances and organization: - a. annual budget
b. annual revenue c. sources of revenue (please provide percentages if known) d. number of staff (full-time, part-time, and volunteers) a. Annual budget: Approximately 439,000 b. annual revenue: 439,000 c. sources of revenue: foundations: 60%, contracted services: 16%, private donations: 15%, government grant 7%, dividends & int. 2% d. number of staff: 3 full time and 2 part time employees Who are your potential partners and allies? - This field has not been completedExisting partners and allies include the NY Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), the NY Department of Youth, and Community Development (DYCD), large social service agencies New York Foundling Hospital, SCO Family of Services, and Friends of Wells/Robinson. Potential Partners and allies include other foster care agencies serving young men, high schools, colleges, after school programs and homeless shelters.
Who are your potential investors? - Funders with an interest in bringing innovative approaches that engage young men intellectually as a way to help them transition to adulthood to scale. These could be foundations, corporations/employers, or philanthropic individuals. Government agencies that are unafraid to pilot new initiatives that place more responsibility for critical thinking on young people.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - In 1992 Betsy Krebs and Paul Pitcoff were family court lawyers who realized that regardless of how many cases they won, teens were still failing after leaving the foster care system. Upon deciding that something needs to be done to better prepare these foster teens for adulthood, Betsy and Paul –teaming up with young people in foster care-- created the Youth Advocacy Center. After working directly with the teens for several years they eventually came up with the Getting Beyond the System® Self-Advocacy Seminar, which teaches teens self-advocacy skills using the Socratic and case methods. After running several seminars themselves, improving the curriculum and monitoring the success, Betsy and Paul decided that they would reach more young men by training agencies to facilitate the seminars. Since YAC has collaborated with New York’s SCO Family of Services, New York Foundling Hospital, and Safe Space, Baltimore’s Friends of Wells/Robinson and the NY Administration for Children’s Services. The GBS curriculum has been published as On Your Own as a Young Adult and a book on their experiences with the foster care system Beyond the Foster Care System: The Future for Teens has been nationally published.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. - In 2005, while living in a homeless shelter, i enrolled in the GBS seminar, taking place there. Upon graduating, Betsy offered me an internship. Since coming to YAC, I have been able to better grasp young men's need to be better prepared for adulthood. I have experienced the seminars effectiveness through my own accomplishments since graduating. I've presented at conferences, orientations and fundraising events and am currently a senior accounting major at Hunter College. I have been with YAC for 2 years.
Contact Information:
Kendall Franklin
Youth Outreach Coordinator Youth Advocacy Center (non-profit youth advocacy group) kfranklin@youthadvocacycenter.org 281 sixth avenue New York, NY 10014 United States Tel: (212) 675-6181 Fax: (212) 675-5724 Website: This field has not been completed Discussions about this entry |
The Getting Beyond the System® (GBS) Self-Advocacy Seminar Expansion Project: Preparing young men for life after foster care.
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Hi Kendall!
I think that this is a GREAT entry! So many of our young men and boys are homeless, in foster care, and , eventhough their biological parents are alive, they are living the lives of orphans (11 year old brothers caring for much younger siblings). GBS is right on target!
Kendall, thank you for sharing your journey as a testimony of how a challenge of living in a homeless shelter can be used as fuel to to instill hope in other young men such as yourself ,and I would venture to say.....to give hope to ALLl of us.
I am DEFINITELY interested in learning more about the GBS curriculum. We , Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Inc. (LPTM) actually have young men who are not in foster care but DESPARATELY need to separate from some very toxic households. We have found that as our young men begin to shift their thinking and adopt values that support healthy, happy and peaceful human development, it is difficult for a number of them to cope with so much pathology that exists in their own homes. (Go to www.lifepieces.org for more info). We promote family cohesion, however, a growing number of our participantswould benefit from separation.
Have you ever used your GBS curriculum and training with such a population (young men, not in foster care but ready to live independently)?
This is a WONDERFUL entry and I wish you continued growth and success!
Peace
Mary Brown, LifePieces To Masterpieces
We actually have used the GBS curriculum outside the foster care system. In fact, I wasn't in foster care when I took part in the seminar. The seminar has also been held in high schools, and homeless shelters and we believe that GBS is relevant outside of foster care because so many young men are eager to transition towards independence and pursue their future goals.
Because the curriculum appeals to teens whom are future oriented, not simply teens in foster care, GBS can be held in any environment and not need to be tweaked for a specific audience.
Thank you for your interest in GBS and Youth Advocacy Center
Kendall
Hi Kendall, It is great to see your entry in the competition. You mention that in 2007 about 75 young people in NYC went through GBS seminars. Could you share a story of someone's experience to demonstrate what individuals learn and how it impact their lives? Also, you mention that you keep tabs on the progress of the graduates and help set them up with informational interviews. Beyond that one interview, do you put any emphasis helping these youth gain permanent employment? Thanks
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
Hi, Kendall,
Congratulations on conceiving and running such a worthwhile program.
I am very interested in the tools and methods you utilize to encourage the young men to participate in the program. How do they find out about it? Is there a "qualification step" before these men are accepted into the program? I would love to find out more!
Thanks & best regards,
Reggie Kellum
PURPOSE BOUND, LLC
We typically work with foster care agencies, which have teens attend mandatory workshops. They get the students to attend the orientation where we basically tell them everything like it is. The key to this is that we want them to see themselves as adults, so we treat them like adults by telling them what is expected of them, and what they stand to gain. The hook is usually the promise of an informational interview with a professional in the career field of choice. For example, when I was in the program my field of choice was business, I was connected with an accountant at HBO. Wehn potential students find out that they may have the chance to meet someone like that, they usually move forward with program.
Thank you for you interest
Best Regards
Kendall Franklin
Youth Advocacy Center