March 3, 2008 -- Advocacy Report - March 2008

The Director of Advocacy of Covenant House New York spent the first week of February in Nicaragua serving as the team leader for the Casa Alianza Nicaragua Peer Review. This is the first time that the Casa Alianza’s in Central America have participated in the Covenant House peer review process, and Nicaragua served as the first site to have a member of a North American site serve as a team leader. The week was spent observing every aspect of every program at the site, interviewing staff and clients, and learning about the socio, economic, and political environment of this country through street outreach, home visits, and activities in the communities. This was an invaluable experience for both staff members of Casa Alianza and Covenant House.

The Advocacy Department participated in two hearings in February. The first was a joint New York City Council Youth Services and General Welfare Committees hearing examining the relationship between the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) youth shelters. According to testimony by DHS, there are approximately 4,500 young adults in the City’s single adults and family shelter systems at any given time, yet they only have 87 transitional living beds specifically geared toward this population, and no crisis beds. DYCD on the other hand testified to having 225 crisis and transitional living beds for young adults. The Director of Advocacy testified at this hearing in regards to Covenant House New York having close to 400 crisis and transitional living beds, and spending close to three times more than the city does on homeless and runaway youth. Put simply, a private agency is doing far more for this population than the City of New York.

The second hearing was also a joint New York City Council Youth Services and General Welfare Committees hearing examining DYCD’s and the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) efforts to prevent youth aging out of Foster Care from becoming homeless. The Associate Executive Director of Covenant House New York testified about how unprepared these youth are for independent living, particularly when it comes to job readiness and workforce issues. She also testified about the lack of housing options, and ACS’s inability to track outcomes for those youth who have aged out of Foster Care without receiving a permanent housing option. The Associate Executive Director provided recommendations for measures that need to be taken within the Foster Care system that would ensure that each youth is not only prepared to live independently, but is also prepared for the workforce.

The Executive Director, the Director of Advocacy, and the Chair of the Board Advocacy Committee, Mr. Will Pecau, traveled to Washington, DC to meet with representatives from Senator Schumer, Senator Clinton, Representative Meeks, Representative Serrano, Representative Nadler, and Representative Towns’ offices to gather support for the FY09 appropriations request Covenant House New York is submitting to the federal government. The requests specifically ask for appropriations funds to be allocated for the renovation of the Crisis Center Complex, and the expansion of the Regional Training Center. Follow up meetings will be conducted in the next few weeks with the New York district offices of these same elected officials.

While in Washington, DC, we also took the opportunity to meet with representatives of Senator Kerry’s office, who just recently introduced a bill in the Senate called the Reconnecting Youth to Prevent Homelessness Act. This bill makes provisions in the child welfare system, the temporary family assistance area, and the work opportunity credit to provide young adults transitioning from foster care to adulthood added support. Covenant House New York showed support for this act, and offered ourselves as partners in trying to get this important piece of legislation passed.

December 19, 2007 -- Foster Care Testimony 2007 - NY State Assembly

I would like to thank the New York State Assembly Standing Committee On Children And Families and The New York State Assembly Subcommittee On Foster Care for providing the opportunity to testify here today. My name is Nancy Downing. I am a Staff Attorney for Covenant House New York.

For nearly 35 years, Covenant House New York has been serving homeless, runaway and at-risk youth. We are the nation’s largest, privately funded, non-profit adolescent care agency serving this population. Last year, Covenant House New York served over 7,000 young people, primarily between the ages of 16 and 21, in our residential and community-based programs, and through our street outreach efforts. Our programs are designed to meet the specific needs of this age group. Our Crisis Center is open twenty-four hours a day, seven-days a week. Once the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter are met, our young people receive a comprehensive continuum of care including medical care, educational and employment assistance, legal services, transitional housing, substance abuse counseling, and mental health services.

Thirty percent of the youth sheltered at Covenant House New York, during the past year, had a history of foster care placement. Most of these young adults lacked a high school education or GED, were unemployed, and lacked adequate food, shelter, clothing and health care services. They were clearly unprepared for independent living. Most disturbing about this is that, despite legislation, regulations, and agency plans put in place over the past seven years, all of which were intended to help youth in foster care successfully transition to independent living, we continue to see a significant number of youth at our shelter who were inadequately prepared and unsuccessful in making this transition.

Many organizations that serve youth in and aging out of foster care will testify that increased efforts are needed to improve educational, employment, housing and health care outcomes. We agree. So, rather than echoing their observations and recommendations, we would like to focus this opportunity to testify on three situations that we see repeatedly that are impediments to successful independent living:

1. Youth signing themselves out of foster care without a clear understanding of what this means, without a clear understanding of the benefits they are entitled to or signing away, and without a safety net to fall back on when they are unsuccessful in living independently.

2. The failure of foster care agencies to ensure that youth have proper identification documents before they leave foster care including a certified copy of their birth certificate, their social security card, and a government issued photo ID.

3. The failure of foster care agencies to identify those youth in foster care who are immigrants and who may have status issues that need to be immediately addressed.
First, youth frequently sign themselves out of foster care when they turn eighteen. This is particularly common among young women who become pregnant and have a child while still in foster care. Some are encouraged to sign themselves out, others are anxious to leave a system that they view as merely having shuffled them between multiple placements while failing to provide them with the support they need. Regardless of the reason for the youth leaving foster care, what is clear when we speak with them is that they have little or no understanding of the benefits they may be leaving behind.

At the age of eighteen, youth in foster care are faced with the heavy burden of deciding whether or not to remain in foster care, since continued foster care services, trial discharge and supervision until the age of twenty-one are contingent on consent of the child once he/she reaches age eighteen. This is perhaps the single most important decision they will make in their lives, and it is often made without full information, without complete understanding, and without adequate preparation for the consequences of their decision. Once they have “voluntarily” discharged themselves from foster care, they are not given an opportunity to reconsider their decision no matter how ill-advised or inappropriate it may have been. We must ensure that these youth have a safety-net that will allow them to re-access services and housing, at least, until they are twenty-one. We must ensure that independent living education includes developing good decision-making skills and adequate preparation for living independently. And, we must ensure that youth exiting the foster care system have a solid relationship with a trusted, appropriate adult mentor to help them make challenging life decisions. We currently do not see this occurring with most of the youth who have been in foster care and who are now accessing services at Covenant House because they could not make it on their own.

Second, youth often leave foster care without adequate proof of identity. They either do not have a certified copy of their birth certificate or their social security card or both. Additionally, current New York State, Department of Motor Vehicle requirements for proof of identity to obtain a driver’s license or non-driver photo ID make it nearly impossible for youth, ages eighteen to twenty-one, to obtain a driver’s license or non-photo ID since they would need to appear before a DMV representative with their birth certificate and social security card and with their parent or legal guardian.

Earlier this week, I received a call from our Queens office about a young man, eighteen years old, who has been in foster care since age ten. He came to Covenant House seeking assistance in finding employment. The only form of identification he has is his social security card. He does not have a copy of his birth certificate or any photo ID. The foster care agency handling his case, likewise, does not have a copy of his birth certificate and advised that they would not be able to assist him in obtaining a copy of his birth certificate. In order to get his birth certificate he has to provide a government issued photo ID (which of course he can’t get without his birth certificate) or 5 documents showing his name and address, such as utility bills, a lease agreement, paystubs, etc. It will be a challenge to get his birth certificate. Once he has his birth certificate, which will take at least a month, since he doesn’t have a credit card, he will then be faced with the challenge of obtaining a government issued photo ID. Until he has adequate identification, it will be nearly impossible for him to get a job, open a bank account or live independently.

Foster care agencies and/or independent living programs must be required to assist youth, prior to leaving foster care, in obtaining proper identification (including a government issued, photo ID) without which independent living will simply not be possible. Additionally, current New York State, Department of Motor Vehicle requirements concerning proof of identity for youth under age twenty-one must be changed to make exceptions for foster care youth for whom it is impractical to require a parent or legal guardian to appear with them at the DMV office to secure a driver’s license or non-driver photo ID.

Lastly, better efforts must be made for early identification of youth in foster care who are immigrants with status issues that could benefit from Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Preparation for independent living should include knowledge of ones immigration status and identification of options for adjusting one’s status. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status is available to undocumented children who are under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court (or Family Court) and who will not be reunified with their parents due to abuse, neglect or abandon. Youth are only eligible for SIJS until they turn 21. Under current immigration policy, young people must file their application for lawful permanent residence before they turn 21 AND that application must be adjudicated before they turn 21. Young people who have been placed in foster care who miss their opportunity to obtain legal status under SIJS will likely never be eligible for any other form of lawful immigration status. Thus, delays in being informed of their immigration status, delays in being informed of SIJS, and delays in helping them access the legal services they need in pursuing this option can be catastrophic for youth who have already suffered many difficult circumstances in their young lives.

Youth aging out of foster care will have a much greater chance of transitioning to a successful, self-sufficient life as an adult if we can provide them with life skills that include lessons in good decision making, independent living resources that include obtaining proper identification documents and early identification of immigration status, the necessary skills and services in the areas of education, employment, housing and medical care, and by providing a true safety-net for those times when they don’t get everything right the first time.

Thank you again for providing this opportunity to testify.

December 19, 2007 -- HomelessYouth Count Testimony 2007 - City Council

I would like to thank the New York City Council and the members of the Youth Services Committee for providing me with the opportunity to testify here today. My name is Elizabeth Garcia. I am the Director of Advocacy for Covenant House New York.

For nearly 35 years, Covenant House New York has been serving homeless, runaway and at-risk youth. We are the nation’s largest, privately funded, non-profit adolescent care agency serving this population. Last year, Covenant House New York served over 7,000 young people, primarily between the ages of 16 and 21, in our residential and community -based programs, and through our street outreach efforts. Our programs are designed to meet the specific needs of this age group. Our Crisis Center is open twenty-four hours a day, seven-days a week. Once the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter are met, our young people receive a comprehensive continuum of care including medical care, educational and employment assistance, legal services, transitional housing, substance abuse counseling, and mental health services.

Covenant House New York actively participated in all stages of the 2007 Homeless Youth Census spear headed by the Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services and the New York City Association of Homeless and Street Involved Youth Organizations. We were part of the strategic planning meetings, volunteered and certified a number of our staff members as interviewers, surveyed close to 300 of our clients (one of the top survey submitting agencies of the Census), and submitted all follow up information needed to round up the final report. We did this because we strongly believed that a formal count of homeless youth in New York City was long over due, with current estimates being too wide ranging in number. In order for policy makers and social service providers to adequately assess the current services and systems in place to assist this population, and to best prepare for future program development and funding allocation, an accurate census of this population must be established.

While the 2007 Homeless Youth Census that we took a part of for six weeks this summer was an honest, valiant, and well intentioned endeavor, I believe there are many lessons we learned that we can hopefully utilize to engineer a more thorough and inclusive census in the future. For example, in order for a future census to be more successful, and more accurate, a greater number of resources must be in place before the project can be taken on. A census of this magnitude and caliber requires a greater financial backing, an increase in man power, more time allotted to design and implementation, a stronger collaboration between private and public agencies, and a research team that is solely focused and dedicated to the project.

Because of the limited resources available for this census this time around, the project evolved into a mostly volunteer spear headed endeavor. As a result, while we were able to survey as many youth as our volunteer interviewers could handle, we did not by any means have the ability to survey the number of youth originally intended. Even a large organization like ours, who has greater manpower abilities than some of our smaller counterparts participating in the count, was only able to survey approximately fifty percent of the youth we served during that six week period. This despite the fact that we surveyed youth coming through our Intake Department, living in our Crisis and Transitional Living programs, and whom we encountered during our Street Outreach.

Another barrier this census encountered was the lack of support and participation we received from the Department of Homeless Services. Their refusal to be a part of this important census meant that countless numbers of youth in their system, who are not connected to any of the service providers participating in the census, were not accounted for. Likewise, because of a lack of manpower, many of the youth living on the streets, or couch surfing, who are disconnected from many of the social service agencies working with this population, were also not included in this census.

Moving forward, I believe that it is important that we take the final results from this census and understand what it is telling us about the population we surveyed. But even more pertinent is the need for us to scrutinize this census and the process that was undertaken, and learn what we can do better the next time around. I strongly believe that we need to repeat this count in the near future, taking into account everything we learned, perfecting the process, acquiring greater resources, and getting closer to a more accurate number. Only then will we be better equipped to take care of this vulnerable and much deserving population.

Thank you.

December 7, 2007 -- Mental Health Testimony 2007 - City Council

TESTIMONY OF CAILIN MCGREEVY, DIRECTOR OF MENTAL HEALTH
AT THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL HEARING ON ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH

(NOVEMBER 27, 2007)

Good morning. My name is Cailin McGreevy, and I am the Director for the Mental Health Day Program at Covenant House New York. For over thirty years, Covenant House has been providing crisis care, social services, and transitional living for the homeless, runaway, and at–risk youth of New York City. The majority of the youth we serve are between the ages sixteen and twenty-one. Our programs are designed to meet the needs of this specific age group. Once their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are met, our young people receive a comprehensive continuum of care including medical care, educational and employment assistance, legal services, transitional housing, substance abuse counseling, and mental health services. However, it is clear that even with the services offered by city agencies and non-profit agencies, like Covenant House, additional steps need to be taken for our city’s youth.

I have been asked to come here today to speak about the limited access in mental health services for the specific group of kids we service: young adults, between the ages of 18-21, with diagnosable mental health/mental retardation disorders and/or substance abuse issues.

What we are seeing at Covenant House’s Crisis Center is a steady increase in youth requiring such services: this is evidenced by staff testimonials and by the amount of referrals the Mental Health Day Program is receiving from in-patient mental health programs citywide. The main correlate to the early onset of these psychiatric issues for the youth we serve, and the one Covenant House works to remedy, is environmental stressors placed on our young adults. Mentally ill clients seeking services at Covenant House often report family histories where poverty, poor access to healthcare, substance abuse, physical abuse/neglect, and mental illness are more often the rule than the exception. This chronic instability both precipitates serious psychiatric disorders and inhibits positive emotional growth. Ultimately, these childhood experiences have a profound effect upon our young people as they try to prepare themselves for the adult world.

There are limited housing options for this population. I would like to use a couple of examples to demonstrate my point: Michael is a twenty-year-old, African-American male who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He was forced to leave his mother’s apartment six months ago, and was living on the streets until he was committed to an in-patient psychiatric unit. A direct referral was made from the hospital to the Crisis Center. Michael has been residing at our Crisis Center’s Older Male Unit for almost two months, and is a participant of the Mental Health Day Program. Michael meets regularly with the staff psychiatrist and takes medication for his symptoms. Despite his good intentions, Michael’s disorder has prevented him from attaining employment. The staff has helped Michael apply for disability benefits and supportive housing. However, Michael is ambivalent about his housing options: he is aware that a placement may not open up for a while, six months in some cases; he is also aware that his future roommates could be on average twenty to thirty years his senior. Staff has the same concerns and worries that the lack of peer-support and age-appropriate activities, offered at the supportive housing program, might set him up for failure.

Isabelle is a nineteen-year-old runaway, who has been residing at Crisis Center Older Females Unit for over thirty days. Upon intake, Isabelle reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, including sad mood, nervousness, loss of appetite, and decreased sleep. Floor staff referred her to the mental health unit for an assessment. Isabelle also reported being the victim of past sexual abuse, and was diagnosed with having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Isabelle stated that she often feels overwhelmed, and finds it difficult to attain and maintain employment. However, her diagnosis does not qualify her for supportive housing. Case managers have made referrals to two independent transitional living programs, but her application was denied because she is not ready for independent living. Her uncertainty over her future has increased her symptoms.

I hope these examples have been helpful. Since it’s inception in 1996, the Mental Health Day Program at Covenant House has provided treatment to over 2,500 mentally ill young adults. Only nineteen percent of this number has received supportive housing placements. The remaining eighty-one percent struggle to make it in the city shelter system or return to the streets. These numbers do not reflect the large number of youth who, despite having mental health issues, do not qualify for placement in the Mental Health Day Program.

Those lucky enough to receive supportive housing placements contend with a separate set of counter-therapeutic problems. The average age of a person in Mental Health/Mental Retardation supportive housing is forty-five. Therefore, it is more than likely that someone we refer to supportive housing will be matched with roommates who are twenty-five to thirty years their senior; and if you do not think this makes an impact on that youth’s experience, picture your college age child living in the dorms with a fifty-year old roommate. Peer support does have an affect on treatment efficacy.

Treatment models that utilize age-specific developmental services shows promise in helping our young adults cope with their disorders. These models specifically focus on the issues affecting this age group, such as the need for structure and support, identity formation, sexual development, and formulating life goals. This does not appear to be the current focus of the city’s supportive housing programs.

The wait time for entrance into a supportive housing program could be as long as six-months. In many cases, our clients are rejected because they exhibit poor insight into their diagnosis or have not had their diagnosis long enough to be considered for placement in supportive housing. It is fair to say that most agencies, if they had to choose, would rather take a fifty-year-old woman for a placement than a nineteen-year-old young adult.

In conclusion, I hope that my testimony has highlighted the crisis that we are currently facing and can be of help to those who formulate public policy on this issue.