Lighthouse Youth & Family Services (C)
401 E. McMillan Street
Cincinnati, OH 45206
Sheakley Center for Youth – Life Skills Training
Grant Application:
A grant from the Charles H. Dater Foundation will support Lighthouse Youth & Family Services’ Sheakley Center for Youth, specifically a portion of salaries and benefits for Case Managers who provide life skills training to homeless young people staying in the shelter. The Sheakley Center serves transition-age youth ages 18-24 and includes a 36-bed emergency shelter, 39 units of permanent housing apartments, and employee offices. At the Sheakley Center, youth have access to case management, housing services, a day resource center, and mental/physical health services. Life skills training helps young people achieve long-term independence by focusing on key areas such as money management/consumer awareness, food management, personal appearance, health, housekeeping, transportation, educational planning, job seeking skills, job maintenance skills, emergency and safety skills, knowledge of community resources, interpersonal skills, legal skills, and housing.
Goals/Objectives:
Short-term and intermediate goals are achieved while a client receives shelter at the Sheakley Center. Long-term outcomes will be measured upon and after program exit.
Short-Term Goals: 18-24 year old clients who are homeless agree to participate in program services and begin the case planning process toward self-sufficiency.
• Outcome 1: Youth leave the streets and other spaces unfit for human habitation and enter shelter.
• Outcome 2: Youth engage with staff for crisis intervention and ongoing case management and support, including connection to supports such as Medicaid, regular physician’s visits, and behavioral health treatment.
Intermediate-Term Goals: Once stabilized, youth work toward employment and independence.
• Outcome 1: Youth and case managers assess needs and develop a written Individual Service Plan (ISP) detailing the services needed.
• Outcome 2: Case managers and other staff provide life skills and self-sufficiency training.
• Outcome 3: Youth maintain or increase their total income.
Long-Term Goals: Youth successfully complete their ISP and are prepared for independent living.
• Outcome 1: Youth obtain permanent housing upon discharge from the program.
• Outcome 2: Homelessness does not reoccur within 12 months from exit.
MEASUREMENTS
Lighthouse has established the following performance measures for the Sheakley Center for Fiscal Year 2022 (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023)
• Goal Proposed: 158 of 225 (70%) of youth will exit the shelter to permanent housing destinations.
• Goal Proposed: 90 of 225 (40%) of youth will maintain or increase their total income (from all sources) while in the program.
• Goal Proposed: 80% of youth do not experience homelessness within one year of exiting the program.
Grant Evaluation Report:
The Sheakley Center for Youth has been in operation since 2012 and is the only shelter in Cincinnati that focuses on serving unaccompanied youth and young adults. Existing employees and new employees at the Sheakley Center are trained in trauma-informed care principles, positive youth development, and other evidence-based programming to ensure youth receive the best possible care. These practices serve as an example to anyone in the community providing youth-centered work.
The Sheakley Center is currently on track or exceeding our projected goals for fiscal year 2023 (FY23). Since the start of FY23 (07/01/2022), 106 young adults have exited the program. By the end of FY23 (06/30/2023), we project 225 will have exited with approximately 35 still in the program, which is in line with our goal. Despite many of our clients being unable to access public housing benefits because of the limited number of landlords that accept housing choice vouchers and increased rents, we are managing to find permanent, positive housing destinations through clients’ friends and families, and when possible rentals, at a higher rate than projected. Consequently, we have seen longer stays in our residential facilities as our employees work to find affordable, positive housing but the placements have been more successful as evidenced by a lower than expected recidivism rate in the past year.
We are continuing to serve a diverse demographic. According to the Homeless Management Information System, data from 07/01/2022 through 12/31/2022, the Sheakley Center served 106 clients and was actively serving 37 clients at the end of the period for a total of 143. Of those, 68% were Black, African American, or African, 22% were white, 9% were multiple races, and 0.5% were American Indian, Alaskan Native, or Indigenous. Of the 143 clients, 3% were Hispanic/Latino. In addition, 57% of the young adults were male, 38% were female, 3% were transgender, and 2% were gender non-conforming.
Results:
Lighthouse’s proposed goals for our 2022 Application for the Sheakley Center were for a full fiscal year (07/01/2022 - 06/30/2023). Since a full year has not yet passed, the first two goals show results for the past 6 months (07/01/2022 – 12/31/2022). The third goal shows results for the reporting 01/01/2022 – 12/31/2022.
1. 88 of 106 (83%) youths exited the shelter to permanent housing destinations.
2. 69 of 106 (65%) youths maintained or increased their total income (from all sources) while in the program.
3. 90% of youth did not experience homelessness within one year of exiting the program.
Website:
http://www.lys.org Amount: $30,000
Date: June 2022
