For homeless youths, especially those with mental health and substance use conditions, life on the streets is cold and dangerous and a dead end. According to the Institute for Urban Initiatives, from 24% to 50% of former foster care and probation youths become homeless within the first 18 months of emancipation. The Institute also reports that 1,832 people were homeless in the city of Pasadena, Calif. (population 143,000), during a recent 30-day period; one-third of them were between ages 17 and 29. More than half of the adolescents had emotional and behavioral problems and were dependent on alcohol or illicit drugs.
In response to the pressing needs of this underserved population, Pacific Clinics, based in Arcadia, California, created two programs for homeless young adults: the Healthy Transitions Program and Transitional Age Youth Drop-In Centers. Both programs were created with funding from the California Endowment. Established in 1926, Pacific Clinics operates 80 outpatient behavioral health service centers in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties.
The Pacific Clinics Healthy Transitions Program, which began in 2004, is the only one of its kind in the greater San Gabriel Valley. The program staff provide street outreach and engage homeless transitionalage youths (ages 17 to 24) by providing "whatever it takes" to assist them through crisis and move them toward independent, productive lives.
A team of outreach specialists and clinicians travels throughout identified cities in the West and East San Gabriel Valley to locate and engage the youths. "Sometimes, even with our experienced staff, it takes an average of five contacts to engage the youth. We have seen a recent shift as staff are becoming ‘known on the streets’ and can be trusted," says program director Gina Perez. "In the streets, parks, or program van, outreach youth receive mental health and substance abuse counseling, health education, condoms, meals, clothing, blankets, community referrals, and transportation services." Once the young adults have committed to getting help, they agree to participate in regular treatment and intensive case-management services and to complete an assessment and treatment plan.
"The TAY Drop-In Centers were a natural outgrowth of the Healthy Transitions Programs," Perez says. "As we engaged these homeless young adults in local parks and in the streets and gradually gained their trust, we were able to connect them with needed services. One of the things they told us was that they needed a place where they could go to and be safe during the day; a place where they could socialize with others, make friends, and find ways to turn their lives around."
Since 2006, Pacific Clinics has opened four TAY Drop- In Centers in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties to meet the needs of homeless young adults. Although the TAY Centers have a comfortable, clubhouse feeling and offer enrichment classes, a washer and dryer, showers, and socialization activities, serious work takes place — participating consumers are asked to complete an individualized treatment plan that outlines and measures their goals related to several life domains, including finances, housing, social development, vocation, education, health, psychiatric care, substance abuse, and mental health. Both Healthy Transitions and the TAY Drop-In Centers mirror Pacific Clinics’ mission of a consumer-centered, strengths-based approach to educational, therapeutic, and recovery-oriented services that reflect cultural competence and are language appropriate and multidisciplinary. The staff take considerable time to engage youths and remain flexible in their approach to service delivery, ensuring that participants achieve their identified goals at their own pace to improve their quality of life.
"Now I can focus on my personal dreams," says Isaiah, age 22, who was referred to Pacific Clinics in 2004. Although he is legally blind, Isaiah is a budding artist and attends art school classes. Several pieces of his artwork are now on display at the Pacific Clinics TAY Hope Center in Irwindale, which opened in August 2008. "While I was still in high school, my family got evicted and split up. When I was homeless, I felt like no one cared about me and I was all on my own," says Isaiah. "It was so lonely. I needed friends, someone to take me in. I called all my family, but no one called back. Pacific Clinics connected me with the right people and services. Every month that I meet the goals we set I feel better about myself. It’s great to have a good group of people to talk to at the TAY Center; they’ve really helped me turn my life completely around."
In human terms, Perez recounts the team’s success in moving the majority of participating youths out of homelessness. Many have returned to live with relatives or foster parents, in shelters, or in transitional housing. Additionally, many consumers are in residential substance abuse facilities, are in independent living or with friends, are alone in apartments, or are in permanent supportive housing.
"Considering where they were, these are major victories—a triumph of the spirit when given the opportunity," says Perez. "We touch many lives, and those who see the possibilities stay with us for a long time — and will always dwell in our hearts."
Source: National Council Magazine, Fall 2008