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About Us

• The Organization
• Our Work
• Board of Trustees
• The Staff
• History
• FAQs

The Organization

The Need

There are approximately 100,000 young people between 16 and 21 who are about to leave, or have already left, foster care.

Most 18-year-olds coming from intact families can expect emotional and financial support for years to come, but once a foster child turns 18 the state is no longer legally obligated to provide any assistance.

Studies have demonstrated that 4 years after leaving care: 25 percent of youth who were in care have been homeless, just 46 percent have graduated from high school, 42 percent have become parents themselves, and fewer than 20 percent are self-supporting.

Mission

As a national foundation, the mission of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative is to bring together the people, systems and resources necessary to assist youth leaving foster care make successful transitions to adulthood through: making grants, providing technical assistance, and advocating for improved policies and practices. The Initiative is working in ten demonstration sites: Atlanta, Georgia; Hartford/Bridgeport Connecticut; Denver/Front Range, Colorado; Des Moines, Iowa; Maine; Detroit/Wayne County and Northern Michigan; Nashville, Tennessee; Rhode Island; San Diego, California; and Tampa, Florida

Vision

The Initiative's vision is for all young people leaving foster care to make successful transitions to adulthood. The Initiative is measuring success by improved outcomes in education; employment; housing; physical and mental health; and personal and community engagement.

Core Values

We value...

Permanence
Healthy, supportive lifelong connections for young people transitioning from the child welfare system;

Racial Equity
Parity in opportunities and in improved outcomes regardless of race;

Youth Engagement
Prepared and empowered young people making informed and healthy decisions about their lives and about improving the systems that serve them;

Integrity and Trust
Honest and transparent relationships with young people, grantees, employees, consultants, vendors and others;

Good Stewardship
Grant making and decision making practices that maximize valuable resources;

Community Partnerships
Partnerships with communities that improve opportunities and outcomes for young people transitioning from foster care;

Strong and Responsive Systems
Helpful and supportive opportunities and positive outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care; and

Measurement and Accountability
Data for decision making and continuous improvement through a self-evaluation process.

What We Do

Make Grants

The Initiative makes grants to demonstration sites that are implementing the Initiative's Theory of Change. It is in these communities that we are learning how to most effectively create opportunities and improve outcomes for this specific vulnerable population. Our national leverage and influence is derived from the efforts and learnings of our demonstration sites.

The Initiative also makes grants to other national organizations that are seeking to impact the transitioning-youth foster care population. Through these grants, the Initiative creates national partnerships to improve policies and practices at the state and federal levels; and to develop and support youth advocacy and technical assistance that is critical to communities.

Provide Technical Assistance

The Initiative provides access to the ideas, people, skills, effective examples and learning opportunities sites need to expand opportunities for young people. Sites receive customized technical assistance based on their needs and available resources. The Initiative also brings together the ten sites for convening's, workshops and trainings that are specifically focused on improving implementation of the site-level strategies. And because much of the expertise being developed resides in the sites, the Initiative facilitates ongoing peer-to-peer learning through list-serves, conference calls, and peer matches. Evidence-based and promising practices are gleaned from these technical assistance activities and shared among the sites and with the broader field.

Advocate for Improved Policies and Practices

The Initiative advocates for improved policies and practices that impact youth leaving foster care. Along with national partners, the Initiative raises awareness through presentations and by sponsoring events. Products to inform policy makers and practitioners are published and widely distributed.

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Our Work

Theory of Change

The Initiative's Theory of Change posits that there are four critical conditions that must be present in the community, which, when activated, will work to support the creation and/or expansion of these opportunities:

• young people actively engage in developing and advocating for opportunities;
• systems partners, both public and private, actively engage in creating opportunities;
• research and communications efforts consistently document results and identify and disseminate best practices; and
• public will and policy are galvanized and better focused on needed reforms.

Each condition, by itself, has some potential for stimulating needed enhancements. The Initiative believes that all four conditions, working in combination, can maximize the scale of their impact on public and private systems. This impact will create and/or expand opportunities for young people.

Those new and expanded opportunities will, in turn, enable the young people who access them to achieve improved outcomes in the areas of employment, education, physical and mental health, housing, and personal and community engagement.  To download the Initiative’s logic model, click here (PDF, 55KB).

Implementation

To test the Theory of Change, the Initiative is partnering with the demonstration sites that are implementing five core strategies:

• Youth Engagement: Developing the skills and leadership techniques of young people so that they are meaningfully involved in all aspects of implementation, and become advocates for themselves and others.
• Partnerships and Resources: Bringing together key local decision-makers who take responsibility for leveraging public and private resources to provide increased opportunities for young people in foster care.
• Research, Evaluation and Communications: Documenting results, and identifying and disseminating evidenced-based and promising practices.
• Public Will and Policy: Galvanizing public will in order to influence local and state policies and practices to increase opportunities for young people leaving foster care.
• Increased Opportunities: Organizing resources and creating opportunities for young people leaving foster care through the Opportunity Passport™.

The Opportunity Passport™ is a package of resources that helps young people make a successful transition to adulthood that includes:

1. Personal bank account for short-term expenses and instant cash;
2. Matched savings account (or IDA for asset-building); and
3. Door openers, which are opportunities developed on a local basis (e.g., expedited access to job training or adult education courses).

For more information about the Opportunity Passport™, click here (PDF, 109 KB).

Permanence is a goal for all young adults in, leaving or formerly in foster care. Research suggests that having a permanent supportive relationship with, and feeling connected to, a caring adult matters in the long-and short-term well-being of youth and young adults. Our vision is that every young adult leaving foster care has a safe, enduring relationship that lasts a lifetime.

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Board of Trustees

The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative Board of Trustees is comprised of three members from The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs and the Executive Director of the Initiative. The members are:

William C. Bell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Casey Family Programs

Douglas W. Nelson, President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Sharon L. McDaniel-Lowe, Founder, President, and CEO of A Second Chance, Inc.

Joseph R. Moderow, retired Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, UPS

Gary J. Stangler, Executive Director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative

Calvin E. Tyler, Jr., retired Senior Vice President of Operations, UPS

Robert (Bob) Watt, Former Vice President of State and Local Government Relations, The Boeing Corporation

The Staff

Sherry Amen
Administrative Associate
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Kent Berkley
Senior Associate Director
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Leonard Burton
Chief Operating Officer
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Jim Hoke
Chief Financial Officer
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Deborah Kestermont
Administrative Associate and Receptionist
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Carla A. Owens
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
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Liz Squibb
Associate Director—Operations
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Gary J. Stangler
Executive Director
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Barbara Toth
Administrative Associate
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For site consultants or more information about the Initiative's staff, please Contact the Initiative >>

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History

The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative is a collaboration between Casey Family Programs and The Annie E. Casey Foundation, two of the leading foundations focused exclusively on child, youth and family well-being.

The Initiative was created in 2001 to focus specifically on youth in, leaving and formerly in foster care. We are named after the founder of the United Parcel Service (UPS), Mr. Jim Casey, who not only helped revolutionize package delivery, but also improved the prospects of millions of America's children by founding several of the nation's leading child welfare-oriented foundations. Click here for more information about Jim Casey and our Casey Connections.

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FAQs

1. What are the ten demonstration sites?

   Atlanta, Georgia; Connecticut; Denver/Front Range, Colorado; Des Moines, Iowa; Maine; Michigan (Detroit/Wayne County and 10 Northern Counties), Nashville, Tennessee; Rhode Island; San Diego, California; and Tampa, Florida (a co-investment site with the Eckerd Family Foundation).

2. Do you plan on expanding anytime soon or giving other grants?

   No. We are working in our ten demonstration sites to learn what works for improving outcomes and how best to export what works.

3. Who is the target population of in the demonstration sites?

   The target population is young adults that have been in foster care between the ages of 14 to age 24 who are about to leave, or already have left the foster care system.

4. What is the relationship between the Initiative and the Annie E. Casey Foundation/ Casey Family Services, Casey Family Programs and the Marguerite Casey Foundation?

   The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative (based in St. Louis, Missouri) is a collaboration between the Annie E. Casey Foundation (based in Baltimore, Maryland-www.aecf.org) and Casey Family Programs (based in Seattle, Washington-www.casey.org). A board of trustees is comprised of members from The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Programs, and the Executive Director from the Initiative.

   Casey Family Services (www.caseyfamilyservices.org) is the direct service agency of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and operates in eight sites in the Northeast. The Marguerite Casey Foundation (www.caseygrants.org) is a national grantmaking organization founded by Casey Family Programs and located in Seattle, Washington. For more information about the history of all of the Casey foundations, see http://www.jimcaseyyouth.org/specialtopics/whowasjimcasey.htm

5. What does the Initiative do?

   The Initiative's mission is to bring together the people, systems and resources necessary to assist youth leaving foster care make successful transitions to adulthood. As a national foundation, the Initiative seeks to achieve its mission through three strategies: making grants, providing technical assistance, and advocating for improved policies and practices. These strategies are designed to support ten demonstration sites; and to support and collaborate with national organizations that are working to improve outcomes and opportunities for youth leaving foster care.

6. How does the Initiative's Theory of Change work?

   The Initiative's vision is for all young people leaving foster care to make a successful transition to adulthood. The Initiative is measuring success by improved outcomes in education; employment; housing; physical and mental health; and personal and community engagement.

   The Initiative believes that there are four critical conditions which, when in place in a community, will support the creation and/or expansion of opportunities:

   • young people are actively engaged in developing and advocating for opportunities;
   • systems partners, both public and private, are actively engaged in creating those opportunities;
   • research and communications efforts consistently document results and identify and disseminate best practices, and
   • public will and policy are galvanized and better focused on needed reforms.

   Each condition, by itself, has some potential for stimulating needed enhancements. The Initiative believes that all four conditions, working in combination, will maximize the impact on public and private systems. This impact will create and/or expand opportunities for young people leaving foster care.

7. Can a community implement the Opportunity Passport™ only?

   No. The Opportunity Passport™ is one component of a set of strategies and we are not supporting its implementation separately. For more information about the Opportunity Passport™, visit: http://www.jimcaseyyouth.org/opportunitypassport.htm For more information on Individual Development Account (IDA) programs, see Juma Ventures (www.jumaventures.org), the Center for Enterprise Development (www.cfed.org) or your local United Way agency.

8. Do you accept grant applications?

   No. We do not accept unsolicited grant applications.

9. When did the Initiative begin?

   The Initiative was begun on May 1, 2001. After a planning process, the Initiative launched operations in fall 2001.

10. How is the Initiative measuring its work?

    The demonstration sites utilize indicators and performance measures to determine and measure their work. Indicators measure the long-term effect of programs, services or activities, i.e., whether the work has contributed to positive change in individuals, communities or systems. Performance measures are measures of effort that reflect the level or quality of activity.

    All sites and the Initiative have a self evaluation team that use data to make decisions. With input from young people and all other key stakeholders, the Initiative designed a number of data collection tools for use by the self-evaluation teams. These tools include an Environmental Scan, the Opportunity Passport™ Participant Survey; Management Information System for Individual Development Accounts (MIS IDA); and a Progress Report. All sites use this common set of tools.

11. Why is this Initiative needed?

    Data indicates an increase in the number of young people who are transitioning from foster care (cite some data) with very poor outcomes. Existing supports/services for them do not seem to be improving their outcomes. For example, youth transitioning from foster care suffer from significantly higher rates of incarceration, homelessness, school drop-out, unemployment, unwanted pregnancy, and lack of access to health care. Click here for more statistics on this population. The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative was created to bring together the people, systems and resources necessary to assist youth leaving foster care make successful transitions to adulthood.

12. Why is youth engagement so important?

    The evidence all points in this direction: there's more success for young people and the community if youth and young people have a voice in decisions that affect their own lives. Communities and state systems are helping young adults develop the skills they need to be able to speak for themselves and to advocate for themselves and others. Research from the University of Wisconsin, among other schools, shows that involving young people in their own transitions improves their sense of mastery, health, and compassion, and enhances the perception by adults of young people's competence. Our early findings have shown that young adults actively involved in youth leadership boards are more likely to save at higher rates because of the support and encouragement of their peers.

13. Does the Initiative provide direct services to young people?

    No. The Initiative provides grants and technical assistance to grantees in ten demonstration sites.

14. Is the Initiative looking for change in the child welfare agency?

    Yes. The Initiative seeks improvement in child welfare policies and practices which would include establishing lifelong connections for young adults; determining funding priorities; developing multi-collaborations across state agencies and with community partners, and creating connections to leverage resources.

15. Are there other resources that are available in states where the Initiative is not working?

    Yes. Many organizations have also identified the need to help youth transitioning from foster care. Here are a few websites that can assist in understanding Chafee resources, scholarships, and other research:

    • The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development
    • Kids Are Waiting-Pew Commission
    • National Foster Care Month
    • National Foster Care Coalition
    • Orphan Foundation of America
    • Chapin Hall Center for Children
    • FosterClub
    • Foster Care Alumni of America
    • Child Welfare League of America
    • National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning
16. How does the Initiative provide technical assistance to demonstration sites?

    The Initiative provides technical assistance to sites as they work to effectively implement the site-level strategies. The Initiative provides access to the ideas, people, skills, effective examples and learning opportunities sites need to expand opportunities for young people. Sites receive customized technical assistance based on their needs and available resources. The Initiative also brings together the ten sites for convenings, workshops and trainings that are specifically focused on improving implementation of the site-level strategies. And because much of the expertise being developed resides in the sites, the Initiative facilitates ongoing peer-to-peer learning through listservs, conference calls, and peer matches. Evidence-based and promising practices are gleaned from these technical assistance activities and shared among the sites and with the broader field.

17. What can states do to support youth transitioning from foster care?
    • Exercise the Medicaid option to provide health insurance to young people 18-21
    • Commit to a goal of making sure every child leaving foster care is discharged to a permanent, enduring family relationship
    • Extend the availability of foster care and legal advocacy to young people 18-21
    • Waive tuition at public colleges and universities
    • Require child welfare agency staff to receive training in racial equity
    • Make sure young people receive all needed documents for personal identification
    • Support an Individual Development Account that matches savings for young people transitioning from foster care to purchase the approved assets of the Opportunity Passport™
    • Ensure that young adults are actively engaged in decisions affecting their case deposition, and that youth engagement permeates the policy process
    • Guarantee visitation rights for the siblings of youth in care
18. What can supportive adults do to assist youth transitioning from foster care?
    • Hire young adults as full-time or part-time employees
    • Provide apprenticeships, entrepreneurial classes, internships or any other career preparation
    • Develop tutoring and college access opportunities
    • Offer housing options, such as waiving deposits, co-signing requirements, and assisting with rental agreements
    • Provide or make available dental and medical care
    • Support match funding for the IDA of component of the Opportunity Passport™
    • Become a foster parent, provide an adoptive home, or become a caring adult that can be supportive
    • Provide a home for a students in college during the holidays, college breaks and special occasions
    • Encourage a faith-based organization to provide opportunities and supports for youth leaving care
    • Offer advice on pre-purchase inspection or assist with the purchase, repair or maintenance of cars or vehicles
19. What organizations do you work with nationally?

    The Initiative's strategy and work nationally are focused at improved policy and practice either federally or within the states with several organizations. Please check our resources page for more information.

20. Do you have any job openings?

    No. We currently do not have any job openings. When we do, we utilize recruiters and post job openings on our website.

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