about – Your Solutions Foster Care Youth Project

OUR STORY

About Us, and our plan to assist these young people gain independence through community involvement

“Your Solutions LLC”

Foster Care Youth Project

“When children cannot return home to their families, child welfare systems must move quickly to find them alternative homes. As time goes by, the prospects for landing in safe, loving, permanent homes grow dimmer for foster youth. Many will simply “age out” of the system when they turn 18, without a family and without the skills to make it on their “In 2014, of the 415,000 children in foster care, more than 18,000 had case goals of emancipation, or aging out after leaving foster care without a permanent family.

Your Solutions LLC was created in 2005 to impact this statistic by conducting research for young people aging out from the State’s Foster Care System. Data was gathered with the assistance from twenty young people connected to the foster care system; the project was designed to develop a systematic process/program that promotes success skills on an individual basis for this population. Additionally, help these young people understand the value of education and skill development on a personal level as a vehicle to assist them as they transition into productive individuals.

As a consulting firm we were able to conduct research with a group of youth that represented a cross selection of youth from the foster care system.

The following is an overview of the research project conducted by the youth and "Your Solution Consulting Firm"

With their input we were able to design a series of interaction with community resources that assisted them in achieving independent living and prepared them for the responsibility of assisting other family members. The project was discontinued after all youth had achieved their personal goals. The project was funded out of pocket and we were unable to continue for lack of funding. Your Solutions LLC have continue fighting for family reunification as a meaningful alternative to the aging out process… the process with systemic methodology for reconnecting to other sibling within the system.

Youth interacted and engaged in the activities within the project from May of 2005 until November of 2008 followed by a two addition two years of monitoring to assist as needed and to ensure they could maintain their transition into the community. Additionally, sixty other youth also interacted on different levels where they received individual assistance. (These sixty were mainly family members, cousin and siblings of the original 20 youth).

We discovered that youth that had younger siblings within the system were more motivated than those who did not.

Research done by “Your Solution LLC”/Foster Care Youth Project beginning 2005 with twenty young people from the foster care system identified the following concerns…”youth voices”:
When families with three or more members enter the foster care system most are separated and many lose that family connection and sometimes that family bond
In many cases family members outside foster care don’t keep in touch with those within the system especially when they spend long periods within the system
Many children become emotionally detached because of multiple foster care placements; accompanied by fear of being emotionally hurt because of never knowing when that placement will end and relationships severed again
Many youth experience gaps in their education when they have to change school districts many have issues in adjustment to new surrounding and making new friends
Family members age out of the system at different periods many don’t reconnect to other family member within the system or those that have left the system especially when there’s a gap of a few years.

Twenty Youth Research and Pilot program Conducted from 2005-2010	Four 16 years old boys , Three 16 years old girls, Five 17 year olds boys
continued	Six 18 years old boys Two 18 years old girls
African American boys	Three 16 years old/Six 18 years old

African American Girls	Three 16 year girls
Caucasian Girls	One 18 years old Girl
Arab Girls	One 18 years old Girl
Caucasian boys	One 16 year old/one 18 year old
Homeless	Eight /two girls/six boys
Foster Care	Twelve /Four 16 years boys /Three 16 years old girls Five 17 years old boys
Family	Three brothers/16, 17, 18 year old

Results of the Twenty youth
Four went to Bakers College in Flint Michigan	Three African-American boys/ One Caucasian girl
Two went to Wayne State University	Two African American boys
Four went up North to MTI	One Caucasian girl/ Three African American boys
Five started with a Landscaping company and after	Four African American boys One girl
Two years open their own Landscaping business
Three received internships with Mentors	Two African American boys One girl
from International Detroit Black Expo
Two dropouts in the early stages	One Caucasian boy One African American boy

BELOW ARE A FEW OF THE ORGANIZATIONS AND THE SERVICES THEY OFFER: OTHER PAGES WILL OFFER CHURCHES, BUSINESSES, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, AND EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS REACHING OUT TO ASSIST

Our goal is to introduce young people to community programs:

Here is a brief overview of the services they offer>>>

**Peckham, Inc,

www.peckham.org

**Child and Family Charities

www.childandfamily.org

**Corporation For Artistic Development (CAD)

https://www.facebook.com/pg/CorporationForArtisticDevelopment

Your Journey

Could being here

Peckham is a nonprofit vocational rehabilitation organization that specializes in training, employing and preparing individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment for workplace success in Manufacturing Services, Supply Chain Solutions, Business Services, Environmental, Apparel Sewing.

Child and Family Charities is a nonprofit organization that offers a group of programs like Gateway, Higher Ground, Crossroad, Street Outreach and Housing Young Families, Click on their Websites to learn More

Corporation For Artistic Development is a nonprofit organization that offers a group of assist programs for Aged Out Foster Care Youth, Teens and Special Needs Job Placement, On-The Job Training Programs, Life Coaching, Arts and Business Ownership Experience.

Community Resource Networking

THE YOUTH THEY ARE HELPING