FY2020HFY2: 

This year, 19 young people were enrolled in both rapid rehousing and workforce development services. Due to the grant not continuing in FY21 no additional young people were enrolled in quarters 3 and 4.  Unfortunately, the target participant count was not met for the year and the program will serve two less participants than anticipated.  The program will not bring on the additional participants late in the year due to the funding ending at the end of June and the many months of housing supports that would be needed beyond June to help sustain housing long-term for the individual.  

In quarter 3 all youth had been housed for a period of 6 months or more, were working through barrier removal and turning their attention to GED internships and employment. Unfortunately, only 52 percent of young people were housed in 45 days. This is due to the initial difficulties of finding housing for a young person. This is including finding landlords who will work with the program, setting up viewings of units/taking youth to view different apartments, doing inspections of units, and having people sign leases. Additionally, staff support with ensuring housing is maintained according to habitability standards and addressing other barriers to pursuing a youth’s goals. Those barriers include supporting pregnant and parenting youth, young people who use substances, and those who need access to mental health services. Each of these situations individually requires intensive work from each case manager and many participants fell into more than one category (and some all three). Even with a stable place to live it can be difficult to address these issues. Case managers recognized these needs and made sure that young people were supported and moving forward with their goals. There were 8 young people who were completing or completed internships, 5 taking GED classes and overall, 42% of the enrolled youth were placed in employment.  

Unfortunately, services were deeply impacted by COVID 19 towards the end of Quarter 3.  Across the City many services stopped, including home visits. The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic is felt hardest by those experiencing homelessness, in low-wage jobs or receiving and those living at the intersections of multiple forms of oppression.  Youth who gained stable employment were getting laid off, unable to provide for themselves and their families. Neighborhood resources like YES and MOED had to begin closing and limiting physical hours of operation to keep our communities safe. And a large movement to virtual and remote engagement magnified the digital divide and concerns around connectivity access.  Overall, there are fewer spaces to access the same level of community and connection that sustain wellness, stability, and connection to resources. 

As a result, work was shifted to be largely remote and virtual.  YES and YO were working closely with youth in the program on life skills counseling and access to critical basic services like food by acting as a resource hub and community connector to services across the city.  Connectivity support was provided to young people in the program without access to phones or computers by purchasing phones with service plans over several months.  Emergency travel support via Lyft Concierge to access critical appointments or interviews based on the restricted transportation system schedules due to COVID-19 was provided.  And youth were recruited for virtual workforce development and wellness support discussions occurring multiple times a week.  The Rapid Rehousing case management team, Housing Program Coordinator, workforce development staff, and Family League were all involved in this effort.  

FY2020: This program provides Rapid Re-Housing (housing identification, rent and move-in assistance, and Rapid Re-Housing case management and barrier removal), employment training, and job placement services to unaccompanied homeless youth who were also Opportunity Youth in Baltimore City. The intent of the program is to re-engage participants in the workplace and/or classroom. 

Recognizing that the needs of Opportunity Youth and unaccompanied homeless youth are interconnected, but that service delivery is often fragmented and siloed, Family League partnered with the Youth Empowered Society (YES) and the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) to holistically support program participants. Specifically, YES delivers Rapid Re-Housing services and MOED is the provider for direct workforce readiness training and support through their education and workforce pipeline at YO! Baltimore Alternative Learning Program. YES and MOED also provide co-case management to participants to ensure the cross-system coordination is intentional and focused. 

FY2020: The target population for this program includes youth ages 18-24 who are Opportunity Youth and unaccompanied homeless youth. 

FY2020HFY2: 

# of youth ages 18-24 enrolled in rapid re-housing and workforce development services: 

In FY2020 HFY2, there were only 16 young people enrolled, however, there were 19 enrolled at some point over the course of the fiscal year, so the first half count was removed to avoid duplication in the annual measure. 

# of youth assessed for housing and workforce needs: 

The FY2020HFY1 count was removed to avoid duplication in the annual measure. 

#/% of youth ages 18-24 enrolled in a rapid re-housing services that remain housed for a period of three months after rapid re-housing assistance ends: 

This performance measure cannot be reported on until three months past the end of housing assistance for an individual.  This is based on each individual’s housing start date and removal date based on income and other factors. All youth from the FY19 cohort continued services in FY20. All youth will have hit their three month follow up at the end of September 2020 and these data will be reported once available.  One youth was discharged due to being arrested and she is currently incarcerated, therefore she will not be included in the housing follow-up denominator.  The FY2018 (last reported time period) measure appears blank due to the update to the FY20 denominator.  

#/% of youth ages 18-24 that complete an internship opportunity: 

Two young people have an ongoing internship opportunity at the close of the fiscal year. In lieu of an internship, five of the young people chose to pursue to GED classes.  

#/% of enrolled youth housed within 45 days of program entry: 

All youth were housed prior to FY20 and 11/19 (58%) were housed within 45 days at that time.