First Place for Youth

First Place works to eliminate the disparities between transition-age foster youth and their non-foster peers and empower them with tools to lead healthy, responsible lives. Our nationally recognized program model shifts these vulnerable young adults away from poverty and toward self-sufficiency by providing a safe place to live accompanied by wraparound support. We actively reduce barriers to educational success and economic security with one-on-one support to help youth complete their high school diploma or GED certificate, enroll in college, and develop healthy living skills. We also support participants to develop professional skills, and secure employment. Through our Steps to Success program, we provide linked learning opportunities for our participants to receive the academic and job training support necessary to progress toward industry-recognized program certification.

Our most recent annual outcomes for participants upon program exit:

• 98% received a high school diploma or GED certificate, or were actively pursuing a high school diploma or equivalent.
• 87% successfully enrolled in post-secondary education (of those eligible)
• 93% remained in their apartment or moved into other stable housing upon exit from program
• 84% obtained employment, and/or realized a wage increase or promotion

First Place also advocates for systems change and supports the removal of legislative, regulatory, and systemic barriers that prevent foster youth from successfully transitioning to adulthood. With CEO Heidi McIntosh and Chief Regional Officer Hellen Hong, and supported by our full-time Policy Manager, Jane Schroeder, the organization is uniquely qualified to pursue changes at the local, state, and national levels. In the coming year, First Place will continue to use our data, along with our status as the largest provider of housing and supportive services in California to influence the regulatory agencies that have created barriers to youth success.

We provide foster youth, ages 18-24, with stable housing, ongoing intensive case management and critical education and employment support. By providing housing, we are best positioning our youth to accomplish critical employment and education goals. Each participant is assigned a Youth Advocate (Master's Level Social Worker) and an Employment & Education Specialist (EE). As a team, the three develop a personalized, supportive action plan with short- and long-term goals to guide their time in program. Housing Specialists also support youth in developing good tenancy habits and communicate with landlords, providing mediation between youth and landlord when necessary.

Specific services for success include:

First Place Apartment: Youth are provided a shared two-bedroom apartment (a single apartment if they are pregnant or parenting). First Place leases apartments throughout the community based on affordability and safety, accessibility to public transportation, and proximity to community resources and education and employment opportunities.

Independent Living Skills Training: Youth Advocates are limited to no more than 12-15 young adults on their caseloads and they meet weekly with each to develop their individual goals around education, employment, health, and personal relationships. Independent living skills are further cultivated through trainings in financial management, conflict resolution, identifying unhealthy influences, and setting boundaries with friends and family.

Individualized Education and Career Readiness Support: EEs support youth to complete high school or achieve a GED certificate, and once eligible, to enroll in college. EEs provide in-depth education assessments and academic tutoring. Youth enrolled at the post-secondary level receive help in course selection and identifying resources for financial aid and academic support. With the support of their EE, youth gain skills around employment readiness, including goal setting, resume and cover letter development, interviewing techniques, and job retention skills. Youth attend career panels and job fairs, participate in mock interviews, and visit work sites to explore career options. EEs support youth to enroll in linked learning programs to achieve industry-recognized certificates that lead to living-wage employment.

In addition to our direct service work in California, we provide technical assistance and data evaluation support to other organizations through our My First Place™ Network, allowing them to implement our model and/or to refine and improve their existing services. Current partners include Hopewell, Inc. in Boston, MA; New Path and Hamilton County in Ohio; Mecklenburg County in North Carolina; The Children's Village in New York; and the Mississippi State Department of Child Protection Services.

First Place for Youth was founded in 1998 to prevent poverty and homelessness among youth growing up in foster care. We were the first organization in Northern California dedicated exclusively to providing housing for this particularly vulnerable and often overlooked population, and we have grown to become the state's largest provider. We operate in six counties: San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Solano, and Los Angeles. In Fiscal Year 2017, First Place served 1,460 youth across all programs, and provided housing and supportive services to 556 youth in all six counties.

First Place is guided by a strong leadership team under the direction of Chief Executive Officer, Thomas G. Lee. Before joining First Place for Youth, he launched and grew the Los Angeles Chapter of Friends of the Children. Under his leadership, the chapter became the fastest growing of 22 offices across the country, demonstrating at multiple regional sites how professional mentors can prevent entry into the foster care system to help end multi-generational cycles of poverty and foster care. During his tenure, Friends LA added services for relatives caring for the children of parenting foster youth, and for families noted to be at risk of entry into the foster care system. Before Friends LA, Thomas led Opportunity Youth Collaborative, which grew to nearly 50 organizations partnering with Los Angeles City and County to collectively remove educational and employment barriers and engineer better outcomes for transition-age foster youth. The Collaborative increased foster youth access to college financial aid, and helped create more youth-centered workforce development opportunities.

The organization is governed by an active volunteer Board of Directors whose primary responsibilities are to approve and oversee the financial health of the organization, ensure that policies and programs adhere to necessary code, law, and mission, as well as assist in the development of funds and other resources, and oversee the CEO. The Board of Directors meets four times each year and has five committees: Executive, Finance, Development, Governance, and Audit.

Our program model and strong outcomes have been recognized at the state and national levels. First Place has been featured as one of the country's most innovative and highest-impact organizations in Moneyball for Government, a book that encourages government at all levels to improve social outcomes by investing in programs that use data, evidence, and evaluation. First Place has also been selected as one of the top 100 nonprofits creating social impact by the Social Impact Exchange, a national association highlighting nonprofits that create scalable solutions to America's most significant social problems.

In addition, First Place has an active, robust fundraising plan that involves diverse resources, including public funding from local, state, and federal sources, foundation and corporate partners, and individual donors.

Since inception, First Place has helped fundamentally reshape the landscape for transition-aged foster youth using our successful outcomes to drive and influence the foster care field to adopt policies and practices that will help all foster youth live healthy, productive lives. First Place was a key participant in the development of a sustainable public funding source within the state of California in 2001, and played an instrumental role in the passage of California's Fostering Connection to Success Act. Our Policy Department has also worked with the California Alliance of Child and Family Services to draft a best-practices document for extended foster care (THP+FC) that will offer guidance to other providers on the legal requirements of operating a THP+FC program. And additionally, our Evaluation & Learning and Policy departments have been integrally involved in developing a toolkit for homeless transition-age youth (TAY) service providers and funders that will recommend strategies for deploying universal outcome measures for this population.

First Place is grateful for the opportunity to continue to attack ambitious goals to help older foster youth transition to self-sufficient adult lives. Since its launch in 2017, our My First Place™ Network has established in New York City, Boston and Springfield, MA; Cincinnati, OH, and the state of Mississippi. In Boston, Cincinnati and New York, our partners have rolled out the My First Place program to more than 100 youth in their care. In Mississippi, our partnership with the state and Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative is focused on building independent living skills, raising the voices of youth with lived experience in foster care and extending foster care from age 18 to 21 in the state.