YAH Study 16-17

RECOMMENDATIONS

Young people

who need help

Increase Alternate

Access Points

Word of Mouth

Young people

who need help

Social network

(friends, family)

Internet;

Google

2-1-1

School

Youth

Specialist

Team

(teachers, counselors)

Helpline

call / website

Community Center /

Library

Schedule

Assessment

Raise Awareness

2-1-1

Coordinated Entry

System in CT

Information

& Referrals

Youth

Navigator

Expand Crisis

Intervention

Helpline

DSS

Street

Outreach

Teams

EMPS

WIC

Increase

Transportation

ETC.

Schedule

Assessment

Information

& Referrals

INTRODUCTION

System Success

Follow-Up

Yes

No

Partners/Funder:

The Melville Charitable Trust

Youth / Young Adult Homelessness Workgroup

a statewide coalition of youth-serving

organizations (housing, health/mental health,

education, child welfare, justice system,

addiction services, policy analysts) focused

on ending youth homelessness

Who We Are

The Youth Action Hub is a center of

research and advocacy at the Institute for Community Research. It is staffed and led

by young people (16-24 years old) trained

as action researchers to contribute

youth voice in research and policy advocacy

around youth homelessness in Connecticut.

Summary of Findings

But first,

some

background

Recommendations

Unable to Find Help

Young people

who need help

Word of Mouth

Social network

(friends, family)

Where Youth

Turn To

Internet;

Google

1. Increase Points of Access

Summary of Findings

School

• Lack of awareness of 211

2-1-1

(teachers, counselors)

• Feels impersonal - Prefer face-to-face / physical locations

• Do not trust - Prefer talking to someone they know

Helpline

• Prefer to talk to same person and not retell story

• Need follow-up, more personalized help / guidance

Community Center /

Library

• Lack of immediate help

2. Raise Awareness

Information

& Referrals

Schedule

Assessment

Purpose of this presentation

3. 2-1-1 Youth Specialist Team

WIC

4. Expand Crisis Intervention Services

ETC.

5. Create a Youth Navigator Position

No

Yes

Follow us on Twitter:

@YouthActionHub

or on our Facebook at:

www.facebook.com/YouthActionHub

Share the results of our study and its implications for improving young people's access to information and service referral in Connecticut

RECOMMENDATIONS

1

2

The goals of the study are to:

Personalized

Proactive

Caring

• Understand barriers to accessing information and services for young people (14-24 years old)

Proactive

Survey results indicate that many young people:

Awareness of 211

1. Are not aware of 211

Awareness of 211

Focus group

participants said:

54%

"[211 is an] easy number to remember, but no one knows it. That's the problem."

of participants

were NOT aware of 211

"On websites...

when you're looking up shelters, none of them mention 211."

1. Are not aware of 211

2. Are likely to use other means to get help before

using helplines

Primary Ways

Primary Places

that young people get information / help

where young people would go to get help

58%

36%

Internet / Website

School

25%

46%

Community Center

Social Media

21%

37%

Library

Word of Mouth

17%

Medical / Health Clinic

18%

Helpline

3. Do not use helplines to get information or

help when they need it

Use of Helplines among Young People

80%

of participants were aware of at least one helpline

(n=46)

4. Would hesitate to use a helpline because they

lack knowledge about helplines or do not

feel comfortable asking for help

Of participants who were not aware of any helplines (n=33):

reported that they would use a helpline to get

information or ask for help/resources.

42%

(n=14)

Modes of Communication that Young People Would "Likely" Use to Get Information & Referrals

Top 5 Reasons Why Young People Would

Hesitate to Use a Helpline

5%

of survey respondents said that they

would ask "no one" if they needed help

Do young people not use 211 because they do not want to 'call' to get help?

1. I do not know what they can do to help (25%)

85%

81%

79%

"I thought 211 was set up for food... I never knew it was more than that. I'm used to calling them...to find doctors, stuff that's in the area that can help. I never knew they were more than a small little thing."

85%

of participants said that they were likely to call to get information / help

76%

"A lot of my friends are going through pretty much the same thing I was going through...and don't speak up cuz they're embarrassed. That's how I was.... I just kept it all in, and it was even hard for me to tell Peacebuilders about it, cuz you know, it's kind of like... embarrassing. When you are going through things like that, you don't want other people to know... My first two years that's what it was and then my third year Peacebuilders came in."

70%

67%

2. I do not feel comfortable asking for help (19%)

48%

3. I don't want to burden others (19%)

Search a website

Physical location

4. I do not want to talk to someone I do not know (14%)

"It's not the phone [that makes 211 inaccessible.]

It's the system that is set up."

Use an "app"

Social media

Chat/IM

"A lot of younger kids ... just wait for somebody to notice... Kids act up in school so people notice...and that's how people end up getting help. We just don't come out and simply say what we're going through."

Email

Text

Call

5. I do not know what helplines exist or how to access

them (12%)

Personalized and Caring

Proactive

Findings indicate that an accessible I & R system for young people would offer:

Findings suggest that an accessible I & R system for young people would:

Face-to-face / Physical Location

• Reach out to young people in places where they are at

"I wanna be able to SEE who you are... Eye to eye contact just shows one person that you're listening, like you're hearing them. If you can't show eye contact or I don't know who you are, how am I going to be able to trust you with my life, with my information, with my identity?

"Talking over the phone, it's not really gonna help... It would actually be better if you would be able to go see the person you're actually talking to to get that help. Cuz over the phone, it's not... you know... that helpful."

Participant 1: "I'd rather go in person to talk to them in person and see."

P2: "Me too."

P3: "Me, I like both. I feel like if I go in person, you can actually hear what I'm

trying to say.

Staff that are Relatable

"Just having someone who can relate with you, even a little bit can be such a huge difference, rather than someone who's like literally gone through nothing that you've been through at all."

"[To be able to talk to] people that went through what we're going through now, who experienced it. Like other adults who are trying to [help] teens and they know how it is because they've been through this. So they can relate."

Results show that schools, libraries and community centers would be places to reach young people

Young People Prefer to Talk to:

"To have someone to relate to [is] a lot better than just sending [you] somewhere to get answers."

42%

knowledgeable peer

56%

knowledgeable adult

"[Age doesn't] matter to me. As long as you can relate, I don't see an age limit."

21%

okay talking with someone

do not know

• Face-to-face / a physical place to go
• Staff that are relatable
• Ability to talk to the same staff consistently
• Guidance and support

Talk to Same Staff Consistently

"You can't trust anybody...We've been let down... multiple times."

"I'm not gonna go through multiple people."

"Explaining over and over what happened is difficult."

"That's when I stopped going to (name of program) cuz they kept switching people. I'm not going to keep starting over and expressing myself all over and over...As soon as I felt comfortable, they switched it...I switched [staff] three times. After the third time, I never went back."

• Use communication channels that young people use

Improving young people's access to information and services in Connecticut

Guidance and Support

"Everything shouldn't have to go through 211. [It] doesn't really help you, by referring you to this number or that number... How is that helping? I mean, it’s helpful because they are giving you [numbers to] resources, but at the same time, it’s not helpful cuz there’s no actions being took. You’re just giving me numbers."

"[I want someone to] sit there and explain to me, and basically guide me. 'Okay, when you go here, this is what you're going to ask for'.

"Someone who can actually help you change."

"When you come from somewhere that you don't have family to lean on, you try to lean on somebody that's willing to help and be there for you."

The internet, social media, email, texting, and using an"app" were different ways that young people were likely to use to get information and referrals.

• Use Facebook to reach young people

Facebook is used by most (76%) participants.

"A lot of teenagers go on Facebook... [211 could post] ads on Facebook."

A study by the Youth Action Hub and Youth/Young Adult Homelessness Workgroup

• Identify effective strategies to improve access to information and services

79%

E

C

3

Minors

DCF-involved

Young parents

Housing insecure

Young adults

LGBTQ+

Justice system-involved

S

transportation

C

housing

Responsive

I & R

S

legal

food

A

Young people

who need help

Responsive

Findings suggest that an accessible I & R system for young people would:

Follow Up

"Simple things like you want them to call back [when they] tell you they're gonna call back. I'm waiting there, nothing."

"211 doesn’t follow up with you to make sure that you got help, made sure you’re okay. Or call you later on and like, “Are you good?” or something like that. To make sure that [your situation is] at least better than what it was a few hours ago when they called."

call / website

• Respond immediately/quickly
• Follow up after interaction with young person
• Remove barriers to accessing housing services, such as:
• Transportation
• Language
• Discrimination
• Documentation requirements

Lack of Transportation

Of those survey respondents who had experienced housing instability (n=70):

47%

Nearly half reported that a lack of reliable transportation made it difficult to access housing/shelter resources.

Language Barriers

Of those survey respondents who had experienced housing instability (n=70):

11%

reported that language barriers made it difficult to access housing resources

*Language preference: Spanish

Discrimination

Of those survey respondents who had experienced housing instability (n=70):

20%

felt discriminated against while trying to access resources

(n=14)

Reasons:

• The way I look/dress (50%) (7 of 14)
• Race (43%) (6 of 14)
• Age (36%) (5 of 14)
• Mental health (29%) (4 of 14)
• Gender identity (21%) (3 of 14)

Lack of Proper Documentation

Of those survey respondents who had experienced housing instability (n=70):

34%

had difficulty accessing information or services due to lack of proper documentation

(n=24)

2-1-1

Coordinated Access

System in CT

Helpline

employment

STUDY FOCUS

mental health

Schedule

Assessment

Information

& Referrals

Research

RESULTS

Question

What factors contribute to the accessibility & success of an information and referral

(I & R) system for young people?

In other words:

• What do young people want or need from an I & R system?
• What are easy and youth-friendly ways for young people to access information and services?

Proportion of young people in sample who

had experienced housing instability

Total N =191

No UH

UH

Age Groups

70

94

Number of

participants

57%

43%

Percent of

total sample

%

Proportion of participants in group (%)

Participant Recruitment

35

STRATEGIES

164

%

• Direct outreach to youth in Hartford
• Referrals by youth/young adult service providers
• Peer referrals
• High school classes (Bulkely HS, Domus Academy)

UH = participants who experienced unstable housing

23

survey respondents

No UH = participants who never experienced unstable housing

INCENTIVES

• Group interview: $25 + snacks

• Survey: Pizza + enter Sweepstakes to win a prize

44%

Of the participants who were housing unstable in the last year:

met HUD's definition of literal homelessness

had couch-surfed and considered themselves safe.

18-20 yrs old

21-24 yrs old

14-17 yrs old

26%

(n=68)

(n=58)

(n=38)

Gender Identity

33%

Race/Ethnicity

of full sample (n=164)

29%

of full sample (n=164)

18%

Human Subjects Protection

16%

White

• Approved by Institute for Community Research's Institutional Ethics Review Board (IRB)

Mixed Method Approach

Latino

Why Use a Survey?

• To learn how a large number of young people in Connecticut access information and services, their needs and expectations for service access.

• Examples of questions addressed by survey:
• How many young people are aware of 211?
• How many young people have used 211?
• Of those people who have used 211, how many would use 211 again if they needed to?

Why Use Group Interviews?

• Obtain an indepth understanding of the barriers for young people to access housing-related information and services

• Gather input from young people on ways to improve access to information and services

Quantitative

Qualitative

Black

(n=164)

(n=27)

Multiracial

15

6

-min Online Survey

Group Interviews

• Justice system-involved
• Young parents
• LGBTQ+
• Minors

• All staff trained and certified in the ethical conduct in research to protect participants

Survey participation per Counties in Connecticut

Other Demographic Characteristics

of full sample (n=164)

%

66

%

49

%

35

1

%

Proportion of participants in group (%)

35

%

30

22

%

20

3

%

8

%

16

%

18

Parent

Student

LGBTQ+

DCF-

involvement

Justice

system-

involved

(n=20)

(n=57)

(n=109)

(n=80)

(n=36)

METHODOLOGY

STUDY SAMPLE

.