A partnership between University of Kentucky Extension (UK), Jefferson County Extension, and Louisville YMCA Safe Place, made possible by a Children, Youth, Families At-Risk (CYFAR) grant, is focusing on those homeless youth in Louisville. Through the grant, UK hired a “Life Skills Coordinator,” based in the Jefferson County Extension office and the YMCA Safe Place. This Life Skills Coordinator delivers life skills programming to homeless youth ages 12 to 23 in the YMCA Shelter House and Youth Development Center. The life skills programming uses a set curriculum from the University of Missouri called “Tackling the Tough Skills” and supplemented with “Skills to Pay the Bills” from the U.S. Department of Labor. During the same period as the census mentioned above, the YMCA Youth Development Center served young adults age 18 to 22 and the YMCA Safe Place Shelter House program served youth under the age of 18. 

This project aims to provide life skills education (e.g., workforce prep, communication, conflict resolution) to homeless and unstably housed youth ages 12 to 24 years. Participants completed an adapted common measures pre-survey (workforce preparation) which resulted in them indicating a need to acquire more skills to be career ready. During this reporting period, 581 group and 76 one-on-one life skills lessons were provided. Staff worked with 566 youth and young adult participants at the 2 grants sites with 3979 contacts during the year. Youth were given an option to create a monthly personal development plan that outlined their self-sufficiency goals and steps to reach their goals. A total of 247 youth created development plans between both sites. Classes were taught by CYFAR staff, Shelter House staff, interns, volunteers, community partners, and youth. Topics included workplace readiness, goal setting, emotional regulation, gardening, healthy choices, safety, communication, money management, conflict resolution, teamwork, decision making, problem solving, stress and anger management, etc. Approximately 89% of the youth who participated in the Shelter House site have successfully returned home. At the Youth Development Center site, 33 youth were assisted in completing job applications and 22 gained employment directly through the program. Eleven homeless young adults gained access to stable housing with the assistance of site staff. Two youth accepted referrals to a GED program and one obtained their GED. Eleven participants from the YDC site attended higher education classes. By the end of the reporting period, 35 of the 40 young adults still active at the YDC site were working or attending school.

Sustainability:The project will be sustained through the YMCA Safe Place of Louisville, Kentucky. They have been our primary collaborator on the grant since its inception and will continue the life skills programming implemented through the grant at both the Shelter House and the Youth Development Center. Efforts through the CYFAR project partnership were used to leverage/secure a $2 million grant for the city of Louisville that will support initiatives for homeless youth.