Youth Development Institute
This white paper explores policy issues associated with two New York-based foster care programs.
Good Shepherd Services (GSS) Prevention Services at the P.S. 15 Beacon school in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn engages children and their families in “strengthening experiences” – such as after-school activities, community events, counseling, workshops and case management – in an effort to keep children at risk of removal in their homes.
The F·E·G·S Academy in the South Bronx relies on a “no ejection/ no rejection” policy to provide academic help, paid internships and work preparation to 200 youths over the age of 16 in foster care, including those with such “extraordinary needs” as mental illness and multiple foster care placements.
Policy issues discussed include overcoming divisiveness between city departments and the nonprofit sector; considering changes in the cutoff deadlines for education and employment training that “ignore the years of … instability” for youths and that get precedence over more pressing income and housing concerns; and making the case that foster care prevention and transition support are less expensive than incarceration, government subsidies, unemployment and illiteracy. Free, 48 pages. (646) 943-8820. Read the report, “Community-Based Programs for Foster Care”.
