Metropolitan Atlanta
Youth Opportunities Initiative

Organization helps foster youth in Georgia make successful transitions to adulthood.

BY LESLEY GRADY AND TYRONDA MINTER

There are more than 14,000 children in foster care in Georgia. As of January 2007, 4,557 of these youth were between the ages 13-18. Between 400 to 500 teens “age out” or emancipate at the event of their 18th birthday. Outcomes for many of these teens are bleak ranging from losing health care, to becoming homeless and/or incarcerated, to not earning a high-school diploma, getting training, or finding steady employment.

A group of foster care alumni volunteers for the It's My Life Conference '07.

Under the auspices of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Opportunities Initiative (MAYOI) is a local initiative that is part of a national effort to help foster youth make successful transitions to adulthood. MAYOI is one of the original sites funded by the by Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative (Jim Casey) as part of a national demonstration project. After five successful years, MAYOI is in the process of taking its philosophy and program components to scale by transitioning strategies over to other community partners and expanding services to serve a greater number of foster youth throughout Georgia .

MAYOI started as a three-year pilot initiative designed to test strategies involving what is known as “The Opportunity Passport.” The Passport provides financial literacy training; an Individual Savings Account (IDA) that provides a 1:1 match for all money youth save to purchase specific assets; a debit card; and “door openers” for youth in the areas of employment, education, health, and housing. As of July 31, 2007, 65 unduplicated youth have purchased 83 assets with assets purchased totaling $72.039. MAYOI, which has enrolled 254 foster youth, is unique in that youth voice drives its decision-making through an active Youth Leadership group, consisting of current and former foster youth. MAYOI also supports a Community Partnership Board made up of interested, committed and diverse adult community stakeholders.

Having completed the pilot phase in February 2006, Jim Casey and The Community Foundation entered into a reduced funding agreement for an additional two years to transition successful program components to appropriate organizations to sustain the community’s support of transitioning youth:

• The Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) will assume administrative and financial responsibility for the matched IDA savings accounts by contracting with a nonprofit organization and extending this opportunity to foster youth statewide.
  
  
• The Multi-Agency Alliance for Youth (MAAC) will build on the success of the current Youth Board and expand it to form a diverse statewide youth leadership group. The group will focus on individual leadership development and advocacy on behalf of foster youth. To date, nearly 40 new youth from varying backgrounds and geography have been recruited to participate with the 10 existing members. The youth have already been advocating for automatically extending Medicaid to foster youth through age 21.
  
  
• MAYOI is working with the Georgia Family Connection Partnership to develop regional Community Advisory Groups to support transitioning youth across the state. The groups will consist of citizens/stakeholders organized to galvanize local resources to support youth.

The child welfare agency is realigning its program policy and practice to improve outcomes for youth, ages 14 through 21 through its Independent Living Program. The project includes improving data management, and developing strategies to help youth access employment, education, housing, and health.

Representatives from MAYOI and from Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative provide technical assistance to the state during the planning and implementation of Retreats that include sessions involving various outcome areas.

Another effort supported by MAYOI is the Making My Way Home program, which addresses homelessness experienced by youth who have aged out of foster care. The program is now in operation through a partnership with a nonprofit agency, Dekalb’s Community Development Agency and the DeKalb County Housing Authority. To date, nine youth ages 18-24 have been placed in subsided housing and are engaged in intensive counseling and service coordination. A secondary intent of the program is to serve as a case study that will provide information and data that might be useful to communities wishing to replicate the project across Georgia.

Tyronda Minter (right), program officer for MAYOI, enjoys a moment with participants at the It's My Life Conference '07.

Also to improve how systems collaborate, MAYOI has brought together representatives from the Department of Labor and the Independent Living coordinators from the Department of Human Resources to increase employment and training opportunities for foster youth. Two convenings have occurred as a result of recommendations made in a research project commissioned by MAYOI titled "Georgia's Guide to Federal and State Sources that Support Youth Workforce Development With a Focus on Foster Youth."

MAYOI recently served as the local partner for the national “It’s My Life” Conference, which was held in Atlanta Sept. 30 - Oct. 2, attracting 800 people attended from various parts of the country. A record number of participants attended from Georgia. Casey Family Programs sponsors the program, which is geared primarily toward foster youth. Each year the conference brings together youth in foster care, alumni, caregivers, practitioners, and advocates to create synergy in sharing innovative practices designed to guide preparation for adulthood services for youth aging out of foster care. This year MAYOI recruited 50 volunteers (pictured below) who gave their time, energy and talents, expecting nothing in return to assist with the conference.

The promise and potential for this work remains strong. Addressing the needs of transitioning youth has become a rallying cry and our communities are stepping up to the challenge.

And, over that time, MAYOI has played diverse and key roles: direct service provider, co-investor, program developer, and consultant as we have partnered with Georgia ’s Department of Human Resources and our most trusted civic leaders and community based organizations.

Lesley Grady is vice president of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta's Community Partnerships. Tyronda Minter is program officer, MAYOI.

Download a brochure for more information about MAYOI.

Visit the Georgia Department of Human Resources Web site.

Learn more about the Multi-Agency Alliance for Youth.

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