Section #1 Executive Summary 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review The purpose of the Independent Living Program (referred to as ILP in this document) is to provide support to youth aged 14. 5 to 21, who are living in a foster care setting, were living in a foster care setting at age 16, or involved in the Lassen County Wrap Around Program. We strive to enable eligible youth to achieve self-sufficiency prior to leaving the foster care support system and through the continuum of emancipation. The goal of the ILP is to ensure that participants are successful after emancipation. One way to ensure success is through enrolment in post-secondary education. For many participants going to college can be an intimidating experience and there for seen as unattainable. This ILP is a campus based program, giving the participants exposure to the college campus and to the programs that the Lassen Community College offer. As a result of these efforts fall 2011 saw 16 former foster youth enroll in a total of 234 units. These 16 students are not part of the CARS 151 or CARS 153 classroom (the course used to deliver ILP services) which holds an average enrolment of 30-35 students per semester. Outside agencies that refer youth to ILP have been more than pleased with the efforts made in helping youth continue on track to receive their education. The program uses various campus departments to demonstrate their areas of expertise to the youth. In doing so it sets the hook for continued education, it serves as the youth s first introduction to post-secondary educational programs. At the time of writing I am collaborating with various county agencies to bring ILP to the outlying areas of Lassen County such as Herlong/Doyle, Beiber, and Westwood. This will be done via Skype and is expected to increase enrollment by an estimated 20 students. Another form of support in the spring of 2011 came in the form of a mini grant that the ILP was awarded from the Foundation for California Community Colleges. With this grant we were able to contract with Mountain Meadows Ranch to provide a high ropes course for 25 youth. This was an awesome experience, one that the youth still comment on and indicate that they learned much from in terms of personal growth. The program benefits Lassen Community College District when taking into consideration that the FTE s generated not only from both semesters of CARS offerings, but also form the continued enrolment once the youth leaves the system comes at no expense to the district. Below are the prioritized recommendations for the program: 1. The Program shall continue to employ the program coordinator as long as its budget can support it 2. Continue to look for outside funding sources 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 1
3. Continue to provide workshops that address the needs of the youth outside of the classroom 4. Continue to stay within the prescribed budget 5. The ILP will continue to ask various programs/departments on campus to make a presentation to the youth 6. The ILP will look into the possibilities of purchasing Kindle Fire or Apples ipad to assist online research for the youth in the classroom 7. Continue to recruit mentors 8. Keep the ILP program located in its current location 9. Continue to use the ACLSA to create areas of study the youth show a deficiency in. 10. Work with Lassen County Wrap Around program to establish ILP Skype satellite centers in outlying areas of Lassen County 11. The ILP hopes to purchases Kindle Fire or Apples ipad to assist online research for the youth in the classroom 12. Continue to collaborate with the Lassen County Child Protective Services in submitting reports in a timely fashion 13. The ILP plans to contact each Lassen County youth that is eligible for ILP services to encourage them to seek the services available to them as current/former foster youth at Lassen Community College (Outreach) 14. Work to inform foster parents and group home leaders of assessment dates with the hopes that they will work harder to have the youth in their care participate 15. Maintain relationship with the Lassen Community College work study coordinator to continue selecting superior students to assist in the delivery of the program. 16. The ILP coordinator will enhance services to foster youth and former foster youth by utilizing the on campus based work- study program 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 2
Section # 2 Program Goals and objectives A.) Description The purpose of the ILP is to provide support to youth aged 15. 5 to not yet 21 who are living in a foster care setting or were living in a foster care setting at age 16 and training to assist them in the transition to a successful independent lifestyle. The program embraces academic success, self-care education and life skills education as its foundation. We strive to enable eligible youth to achieve self-sufficiency prior to leaving the foster care support system and through the continuum of emancipation. The goal of the ILP is to ensure that participants are successful after emancipation. One way to ensure success is through enrolment in post-secondary education. For many participants going to college can be an intimidating experience and there for seen as unattainable. This ILP is a campus based one, giving the participants exposure to the college campus and to the programs that the Lassen Community College District offer. The ILP class is structured around the following domains: Ø Career/Job Guidance Ø Room & Board Ø Education Ø Health Care Ø Money Management Ø Transitional Housing Ø Needs Assessment Ø Mentoring Ø Educational Financial Assistance Ø Educational Post-Secondary Ø Employment/Vocational Training Ø Consumer Skills/Home Management Housing Options Ø Interpersonal/Social Skills/Parenting Skills Ø Transportation/Financial Assistance/other Fall 2011 saw 16 former foster youth enroll in a total of 234 units. The number is not duplicated by the 32 special admit students who comprised the CARS 153 class. At the time of this writing there are a total of 20 additional students who reside in either outlying areas of Lassen CO, or in other counties that are requesting ILP services. The LCC ILP has received 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 3
kudos from probation and social workers who place youth in foster care facilities in Lassen County. They are pleased with the quality that the campus based program delivers. At the time of writing I am collaborating with various county agencies to bring ILP to the outlying areas of Lassen County such as Herlong/Doyle, Beiber, and Westwood. This will be done via Skype and is expected to increase enrollment by an estimated 20 students. Another form of support in the spring of 2011 came in the form of a mini grant that the ILP was awarded from the Foundation for California Community Colleges. With this grant we were able to contract with Mountain Meadows Ranch to provide a high ropes course for 25 youth. This was an awesome experience, one that the youth still comment on and indicate that they learned much from in terms of personal growth C.)Recommendations/plans Continue to look for outside funding sources The ILP plans to contact each Lassen County youth that is eligible for ILP services to encourage them to seek the services available to them as current/former foster youth at Lassen Community College.(Outreach) The ILP coordinator will continue to work to find mentors for all the youth that are enrolled in the program. Research supports the issue of mentoring a youth that is in foster care shows huge success for the youth as they reach adulthood. Students at Lassen Community College will be the first source to be considered as mentors. The ILP coordinator will enhance services to foster youth and former foster youth by utilizing the on campus based work- study program. The ILP hopes to purchases Kindle Fire or Apples ipad to assist online research for the youth in the classroom. Work with Lassen County Wrap Around program to establish ILP Skype satellite centers in outlying areas of Lassen County. Section 3 Outside Compliance Issues A.)Description Independent Living is a program that is mandated by AB 1979 focuses upon the emancipation preparation by requiring standardization of core emancipation preparation services provided by county Independent Living Programs and highlighting accountability issues to ensure that youth will be able to emancipate successfully. Emergency regulations are mandated in the bill to assure that young people will be provided with these services expeditiously. The state of California Department of Social Services monitors these activities by the completion of a quarterly report named the SOC 405A. This document reports on the statistical data regarding the youth that have case files. Please see attachment A 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 4
The SOC405E is a quarterly report that is due to the state department of Social Services and outlines the status of youth who have exited the system. Please see attachment B The county of Lassen has asked that the Lassen Community College ILP coordinator report to them quarterly on issues that involve the youth. Along with this report the ILP coordinator bills the county of Lassen for services provided. Currently the ILP curriculum is being delivered through the classroom setting. The group meets once a week for 2 hours. CARS 151 and CARS 153 are the class s that are offered each semester for the youth to enroll in. The curriculum of these two classes meets the standards of AB1979. Other workshops are developed and held outside of the classroom that addresses the group s special needs. C.) Recommendation Continue to collaborate with the Lassen County Child Protective Services in submitting reports in a timely fashion. Continue to provide workshops that address the needs of the youth outside of the classroom Section 4 Student Learning Outcomes A.)Description All youth enrolled in the program are given a pre and post Ansell Casey Life Skills Assessment. It is through this tool that the ILP coordinator can best determine which areas the youth need more attention in and work to adapt a curriculum that is specific to the individual. Often times the youth request a copy of the ACLSA to take to court with them to show the judge the improvements they have made in reaching successful emancipation. See attachment C. In the 2011/2012 all youth who had taken the pre and post ACLSA evaluation showed growth in all 9 domains. C.) Recommendations 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 5
Continue to use the ACLSA to create areas of study the youth show a deficiency in. Work to inform foster parents and group home leaders of assessment dates with the hopes that they will work harder to have the youth in their care participate. Section # 5 Personnel and Support A.) Description Because of the nature of the class content many guest speakers are asked to come into the classroom and make presentations. They range anywhere from a Psychologist to a dental hygienist. A sample of the campus based programs that have made presentations to the youth have been fire science, auto shop, welding, agriculture, graphic arts and fire science. The students have shown a positive response to the campus based speakers. The classroom teacher is one who passed minimum qualifications to teach in the careers subject area. She is employed by the district to teach the class. This class has a minimum of 25 students enrolled every semester, with an average enrolment of 32. The ILP coordinator is currently a 100% FTE employee, the funding for the ILP coordinator s position is funded 100% by non-district funding. This is the first time that this position was been at 100%. Continuing it at this rate will depend upon funding. Under the current climate of funding instability the use of work study student(s) has been very beneficial in the role of assistant to the coordinator, or of a classroom assistant. Because they too are students the relationship that develops between the work study students and the ILP students is one of mentorship. For a sample of the course syllabus please see attachment D The above mentioned professionals not only tell they youth what requirements are needed to obtain their degree s or positions, but they tell the youth about the services they offer and how they can be contacted. In this regard this has been a very successful method to approach career decisions for the youth. They are often times the hook used to encourage the youth into postsecondary education. In the 2010-11 school year we tried a part time temporary employment situation in two different areas of the program, one for general office assistance and one in mentor recruitment. This resulted in much work being accomplished in regards to record keeping, and development of curriculum. Few new recruits were produced. Neither position was made permanent. In the 2011-12 school year the director position went to full time and in late November an eager work study became available to assist in the program needs. C.) Recommendations 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 6
The Program shall continue to employ the program coordinator as long as its budget can support it. The ILP will continue to ask various programs/departments on campus to make a presentation to the youth. Maintain relationship with the Lassen Community College work study coordinator to continue selecting superior students to assist in the delivery of the program. Section #6 Facilities/Equipment A.) Description The ILP coordinator is currently located in the Creative Arts building in 2 office spaces, with a few items remaining in a third. The classroom setting has moved from Middleton Hall to HU 107. Since the last NIPR the program has purchased a new desktop computer and most recently a smart board compatible laptop. The office space that the ILP Coordinator and work-study student now occupy is working well for the program. The youth that come to see the coordinator have the privacy they need, while giving the work-study student ample space to accomplish required tasks. With the onset of the smart classrooms, the program is hoping to expand its equipment to incorporate the use of several ipads for small group use in the classroom setting. C.) Recommendations Keep the ILP program located in its current location The ILP will look into the possibilities of purchasing Kindle Fire or Apples ipad to assist online research for the youth in the classroom Section # 7. Budget A.) Description In 2005 the County of Lassen issued a RFP (request for proposal) to run the ILP program and to perform case management for all of the two (Child Protection Services and Probation) agencies referrals. The county of Lassen receives its funding from the California Department of Social Services. 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 7
It is important to note that none of the district s reserves are used for the ILP program; it is based entirely upon the MOU with the County of Lassen. Please see attachment E The program has always managed to stay with its budget. There are portions of the budget that go unearned each year. The areas are specifically in mentoring. C.) Recommendation Continue to stay within the prescribed budget Continue to recruit mentors Section # 8 Summary and Prioritized Program Recommendations 1. The Program shall continue to employ the program coordinator as long as its budget can support it 2. Continue to look for outside funding sources 3. Continue to provide workshops that address the needs of the youth outside of the classroom 4. Continue to stay within the prescribed budget 5. The ILP will continue to ask various programs/departments on campus to make a presentation to the youth 6. The ILP will look into the possibilities of purchasing Kindle Fire or Apples ipad to assist online research for the youth in the classroom 7. Continue to recruit mentors 8. Keep the ILP program located in its current location 9. Continue to use the ACLSA to create areas of study the youth show a deficiency in. 10. Work with Lassen County Wrap Around program to establish ILP Skype satellite centers in outlying areas of Lassen County 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 8
11. The ILP hopes to purchases Kindle Fire or Apples ipad to assist online research for the youth in the classroom 12. Continue to collaborate with the Lassen County Child Protective Services in submitting reports in a timely fashion 13. The ILP plans to contact each Lassen County youth that is eligible for ILP services to encourage them to seek the services available to them as current/former foster youth at Lassen Community College (Outreach) 14. Work to inform foster parents and group home leaders of assessment dates with the hopes that they will work harder to have the youth in their care participate 15. Maintain relationship with the Lassen Community College work study coordinator to continue selecting superior students to assist in the delivery of the program. 16. The ILP coordinator will enhance services to foster youth and former foster youth by utilizing the on campus based work- study program 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 9
CONTENTS OF ATTACHMENTS Attachment A SOC405E Attachment B SOC405 A. 1 Attachment C Attachment D Attachment E Attachment F Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessment Class Syllabus Contract with Lassen CO 2011/12 SLO Assessment 2012 Independent Living Program Non- Instructional Program Review Page 10