Country: United States

Organization: Rediscovery, Inc.

Year the initative began (yyyy) - 2001

Project URL: http://www.rediscoveryhouse.org

Describe your program or new idea in one sentence. - Rediscovery promotes independent living skills for some of the most vulnerable youth in America, young men aging out of foster care.

What makes your initiative uniquely positioned to create change in your community? - YYoung people in state custody often have extensive trauma histories of abuse and neglect, few positive role models, and no way to break the cycle they are in. These intense needs must be met with intense services. Rediscovery provides a full suite of wrap-around services to meet the needs of these youth while progressing them toward independent living. Traditional residential programs do not give youth enough opportunities to stand on their own and learn the skills they need to thrive as adults. However, with no support services these youth flounder and are at risk for a number of negative outcomes including homelessness, incarceration, unemployment and government dependence. Rediscovery sits between these two alternatives, giving necessary support while allowing youth to stand on their own two feet and pursue their goals. This unique perspective puts Rediscovery at the forefront of helping foster youth successfully transition to adulthood and become productive citizens.

Describe how you organize and carry out your work? - Rediscovery uses a wrap-around services model. At the core are our two housing programs -- Rediscovery House Group Home and Independent Living. Youth residing with Rediscovery also have access to an Alternative Education Program that offers GED tutoring, help with school work, guidance toward higher education, job readiness and financial literacy training. In addition we provide clinical services through a local children's trauma clinic. In the next year we are beginning an out-patient substance abuse treatment program.

What is your plan to scale and expand your innovation into your community and beyond? - Rediscovery is currently working to expand the reach of our education programs. Although residential programs are key to our base, we have come to realize that we can reach more youth by expanding education programs. First, Rediscovery is working to bring its financial literacy program to other human services agencies around the state of Massachusetts. After spending the last two years working to adapt curriculum from various sources to meet the needs of our specific population, Rediscovery is currently looking for community partners. Rediscovery will bring the program to these partners, dramatically expanding the number of youth we reach from 75 per year to 300. Also, the board is seriously considering a proposal put for by the CEO to open a charter school aimed at youth aging out of foster care. The school would not only increase Rediscovery's reach, but also provide a structure through which to present our programs to the public.

What other resources, institutional, or policy needs would be necessary to help sustain and scale up your idea? - States are only mandated to help youth in their custody until their 18th birthday. Massachusetts allows some youth to remain in state custody until their 22nd birthday, or for part of that time, at the discretion of Department of Social Services employees. Some states do not even have that provision. Even the most mature 18 year old is ill-equipped to live on their own the day after their birthday. A basic change in policy is needed, one that allows youth to stay in state custody until they are 22 at their own discretion, not social workers, and to restart services if they leave the system after their 18th birthday. Although Rediscovery can scale and expand slightly within the state of Massachusetts without this change, to truly eradicate the issue of unprepared foster youth struggling to make it on their own larger systematic changes are needed in the way that state social service agencies deal with late adolescents.

Describe your impact in one sentence, commenting on both the individual and community levels. - Rediscovery gives youth aging out of foster care the skills they need to thrive independently as adults ensuring they are not burdens to society.

What impact has your work achieved to date? - To date Rediscovery has had remarkable success at affecting the lives of the youth we serve. 72% of Rediscovery youth have received, or are on track to receive, a high school diploma or GED compared to only 39% of foster care youth nationally. Rediscovery stresses the importance of employment and consequently 90% of our youth gain job experience while they are in the program. Nationally, only 31% of foster care youth have any employment experience when they leave state custody. Homelessness is also a major problem for youth leaving foster care. Almost a third of homeless people were once in foster care. Rediscovery places 93% of its youth in permanent housing when they leave our programs. These individual changes make youth dramatically more prepared to live independent adult lives reducing the burden on communities to care for adults that were previously in state custody as youth.

What measure do you use to gauge your impact and why? - Rediscovery has invested in a software program called Efforts to Outcomes that helps us to track youth in the program and alumni. We work toward measures of self-sufficiency in adulthood including obtaining permanent housing, avoiding bad debt, maintaining employment, and receiving appropriate education. While youth are in the program we use shorter-term measures to check progress. These include things such as attendance at GED class, financial literacy participation, finding a job, and making a monthly budget.

How is your initiative currently being financed and how would you finance further expansion and/or replication? - Rediscovery currently receives approximately 75% of its funding from government reimbursement and 25% from private donations. Further expansion would be funded with the same mix of funding sources. Our private funding is from foundations, corporations and individuals. We have established strong ties with all three groups and anticipate continued support from most of our donors. We are looking to diversify funding on all levels, including working with different government agencies.

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. 1.8 million
b. 1.8 million
c. Massachusetts Department of Social Services (75%)
Private Donations (25%)
d. 24 staff all full-time. Over 20 volunteers throughout the year.

Who are your potential partners and allies? - Rediscovery works with a variety of other organizations to provide our youth with a full range of services. Our longest running partnership is with Children's Charter, a local children's trauma clinic that provides therapy to our youth. We also work with other organizations aimed at the same population including a social enterprise, several specialty schools and afterschool programs. We are always looking for innovative ideas to serve more youth or to provide services we can not.

Who are your potential investors? - Rediscovery works with a wide range of partners to provide the highest quality services for the youth in our care. Potential investors include foundations and corporations interested in at-risk youth, child welfare and homelessness/incarceration prevention. Rediscovery's private donors are people who share similar interests and realize that Rediscovery is an effective means to change the lives of severely disadvantaged young people and help society by preventing further dependence on government services.

What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - Rediscovery was founded in 2001 by a recent Harvard College graduate, Arden O'Connor. Arden had volunteered during her undergraduate years as a tutor in the adult prison system. As she spoke to the men she tutored a pattern began to emerge. The men did not have the skills they needed to get decent jobs and, seeing no alternative, had ended up committing crimes. Also, many of the men had been in foster care at one point in their lives. Arden wanted to stop this problem before it started and founded Rediscovery, Inc. to work with young men leaving the foster care system who needed to learn to live independently. She opened a six bed group home in 2002 after a year of private fundraising and then went on to expand the group home to 12 beds. Rediscovery has added other program over time, including an independent living program, an alternative education program, a clinical program and most recently financial education and substance abuse prevention. Two years ago Arden stepped down as CEO, although she remains active as President of the Board of Directors. She handed the reigns of the organization to Danielle Ferrier a licensed clinician who also holds an MBA degree and has over 15 years of experience working with youth in foster care. Danielle has worked to consolidate Rediscovery's operations and give the organization a platform for new growth.

Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. - Danielle Ferrier, Rediscovery's current CEO, has over 15 years of experience working with youth in state custody. In addition to her wealth of experience, she holds dual masters degrees in social work and business administration. Before coming to Rediscovery she worked at the Walker Home and School and for the Key Program in Western Massachusetts. Her expertise in the field of social services has helped Rediscovery to solidify its programs and now to begin plans for expansion.