Next Steps for Success Pilot: Transitional Housing Program Serving Youth in Two Oregon Counties

Next Steps for Success Pilot: Transitional Housing Program Serving Youth in Two Oregon Counties

Jackson Street Youth Shelter, Inc (Jackson Street) is requesting funds to support a community-based Transitional Housing Program for at-risk, vulnerable youth and youth transitioning from foster care, 16 to under 25 years of age, in Oregon’s Benton and Linn counties.

With this funding Jackson Street will prepare at-risk, vulnerable youth for self-sufficiency by providing gateway services, transitional housing in tiers, case management, skill-building, and aftercare (follow-up) services. Youth will be supported by strong partnerships with other youth-serving organizations, schools and colleges, law enforcement, and local governments. The grant will fund innovative models of service delivery based on best practices including Jackson Street’s tiered housing approach, Aftercare services, and weekly peer-support groups where youth actively guide their own skill development. All efforts will be geared toward improving the lives of at-risk youth and youth transitioning out of foster care through supportive housing with intensive skills-training to build competency for independent living. This work will focus on increasing each client’s personal safety, social-emotional well-being and readiness for employment. Jackson Street will strive to help youth build permanent connections with families, schools, communities, and other positive social networks, reducing their risk of chronic homelessness or isolation and enabling them to develop their full potential as productive, successful adults.

Jackson Street has provided emergency shelter for runaway and homeless youth for 20 years and − with the help of many community partners − has created a robust continuum of care to give vulnerable youth the tools and support they need to live healthy, productive adult lives. Jackson Street is well-qualified to implement an effective Transitional Housing Program and already has staffing, support services and infrastructure in place as a result of past funding and support from the Family and Youth Service Bureau, including Basic Center Program Grants (2011–present), Transitional Living Program Grant (2017–present) and Street Outreach Grants (2014-17, 2019-present), along with an array of other private and public funding. Jackson Street’s primary service area covers two Oregon counties: nearly 2,000 square miles, a population of over 223,000 (more than a third living in rural areas), and a 30-mile stretch of Interstate 5 which is a popular travel corridor for runaway and homeless youth on the west coast and a route notoriously used by sex- and labor-traffickers.