Nineteen-year-old Trinity has learned many life skills through the Youth Villages LifeSet program, which serves as a bridge from foster care to successful adulthood and helps young adults build the skills they need to live independently and successfully.
Leaders from all 20 implementing LifeSet partner agencies attended a convening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to learn more about effectively implementing the program model and to share insights from implementations in their states and jurisdictions.
At 6 years old, Brett entered foster care. He spent 11 years in and out of group homes and different foster placements. Finding a permanent home felt like it was never going to happen for him.
LifeSet helps young people identify and achieve their goals, but it also does more. For Tresja, it was the intangible benefits the program provided that meant so much to her.
LifeSet is moving east in the Evergreen State. In mid-June, Catholic Charities Serving Central Washington was announced as the new partner to provide LifeSet in the area. The organization will serve youth in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties with LifeSet under contract with the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).
Helen Baker is the LifeSet program director at the Y Social Impact Center, a part of the YMCA of Greater Seattle that serves King and Pierce Counties in Washington. Baker, who started as a LifeSet specialist, has been with the YMCA’s program since it began in 2016. In this Q&A, she offers insight into the successes and challenges that LifeSet has experienced in Washington.
Ares Epps is a LifeSet participant, LifeSet Scholar and a North Carolina State University student athlete, who has accomplished many of his goals through track and field, and with the support of Youth Villages. The LifeSet program offers youth who are aging out of foster care tools to ease the transition from childhood to adulthood.
The Youth Villages Massachusetts and New Hampshire Spring Celebration gala raised $830,000 to help young people live successfully. The annual event celebrated the organization’s milestone of 15 years of serving children, youth and families in New England.
When many teenagers enter their junior year of high school, their life pathways are somewhat charted. For some, the path leads to college. For others, a trade or technical school. For still others, finding employment. But often that path is set up starting with the freshman year.
LifeSet, a Youth Villages program for young adults who experienced foster care, meets young people where they are in life. Some need major support to help achieve goals as they enter adulthood. Others, though, already have the drive, but a little assistance is needed along the way.