Program Goals

The goals of the My First Place program are:

• Increase housing stability skills
• Increase likelihood of exiting with stable housing
• Increase employment attainment
• Increase likelihood of exiting with employment
• Increase enrollment in education, progressions, and completion of either secondary or postsecondary education
• Increase skills in household management, interpersonal relations, independent living, health and well-being, financial literacy, and parenting (when applicable)

Logic Model

View the Logic Model for My First Place (MFP).

Essential Components

The essential components of My First Place (MFP) include:

• Housing:
• First intervention provided upon entry into the program
• Considered foundational to meeting a young person’s basic needs and providing stability
• Fully subsidized (typically a room in one- or two-bedroom furnished unit) for the youth’s entire time in program
• Selected through a collaborative process where the young person’s needs (e.g., school, place of work, family, and other natural supporters) are taken into consideration along with general safety and accessibility of the neighborhood.
• Selected based on their proximity to school, work, transportation, and other community resources
• Units also evaluated for safety and stability
• Inspected to ensure it meets habitability standards
• Neighborhood safety also assessed
• Intensive Case Management (ICM):
• Each youth has team supporting them with low youth-to-staff ratios of no more than:
• 15:1 for Youth Advocates (YAs)
• 30:1 for Education & Employment Specialists (EEs)
• Strives for adequate:
• Intensity
• Frequency
• Responsiveness
• Individualization of services
• Community-based and face-to-face:
• Ideally 80% of meetings between staff and youth occurring in person in the youth’s community, including their:
• Home
• School
• Place of employment
• Team-oriented:
• Incorporates formal and informal supporters
• Centers on youth-driven services and identified needs
• Service intensity and frequency changes over the course of a young person’s tenure in services based on their phase of service (e.g., engagement, skill-building, or transition to independence).
• Recommended that meetings with youth occur often enough and with structure to ensure the necessary support is provided for critical skill development. Typically, meetings with each youth on their caseload occur as follows:
• YAs meet weekly
• EEs meet 2x /month
• Practice Philosophy:
• Delivery of the My First Place program model is informed by and anchored in philosophies, principles, and practices which guide the implementation of core components. These practice philosophies include:
• Positive Youth Development
• Trauma-informed Approach
• Harm-Reduction
• Cultural Humility and Responsiveness
• The practice philosophy
• Guides:
• Staff hiring
• Onboarding
• Training
• Informs regular supervision with managers
• Phased Service Approach:
• There are three phases of service delivery:
• Engagement (0 to 6 months)
• Skill-Building (6-18 months)
• Transition to Independence (12 to 24+ months)
• Time allocations for each of the three phases listed below are a guide, and ultimately depend on the needs and progress of individual youth in achieving key milestones within each phase.
• Specific activities that occur within each phase are described below.
• Engagement (0–6 months): Meet with youth regularly to:
• Build relationships
• Cultivate foundational skills
• Establish trust
• Understand needs
• Set goals around:
• Well-being
• Safety
• Education
• Employment
• Home management
• Skill-Building (6–18 months):
• Alongside the young person, staff coach and support youth to build skills to become independent
• Through continued youth engagement in services, youth have the opportunity to:
• Practice with a safety net
• Demonstrate skills
• Build critical community connections including education and employment partners
• Transition to Independence (12-24+ months):
• Intentional and proactive transition planning to help young people feel supported and confident while exiting from program into independent living.
• Supervision:
• Structured, weekly supervision of team members from staff experienced in the implementation of the MFP approach
• Can be either group or individual but cannot be peers-only supervision without a supervisor
• Youth-centered and explicitly addresses the MFP model and principles, and how it applies to specific youth situations
• Recommended to be at least 1 hour long each week
• Progress and outcome measures specific to the key focal areas and results utilized in supervision to monitor and coach staff to performance
• Skills Development:
• A skills and competency-based approach used to:
• Build young people’s assets
• Increase their personal self-efficacy and grit in making progress along a continuum within each of the key focal areas
• Technique involves:
• Modeling
• Practice
• Reflection
• Feedback
• Positive reinforcement
• Support young people to develop the knowledge and behaviors that support:
• Goal attainment
• Weathering changes and transitions
• Encourage young people to reframe mistakes or setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow
• Key Focal Areas & Outcomes:
• Key focal areas include:
• Education
• Employment
• Stable housing
• Healthy living
• Focuses specifically on:
• The provision of services
• The achievement of skills, competencies, and milestones that promote self-sufficiency
• Aims to increase youth:
• Strengths
• Assets
• Protective factors
• Support services and interventions provided within these focal zones are:
• Developmentally and culturally appropriate
• Mindful of the youth’s lived experience
• Integrated into the provision of housing and other support services in partnership with young people served
• Core progress measures and outcomes in these four focal areas are integrated into planning, monitoring, and decision-making in partnership with youth
• Monthly Stipends:
• Youth receive monthly stipends to cover basic needs in addition to grocery and transportation cards
• Youth are encouraged to contribute money each month to a savings account that is paid out upon exit to support expenses after program ends (e.g., moving costs, security deposit, rent, etc.)
• Parenting youth receive larger stipends and focused support to connect to additional resources around education, child-care, etc.

Program Delivery

Child/Adolescent Services

My First Place (MFP) directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:

• Older foster youth, preparing to transition to adulthood:
• Who are aging out of foster care/probation systems
• Have already aged out of/emancipated from foster care
• At higher risk of experiencing:
• Homelessness
• Disconnection from school and work
• Negative legal system involvement
• Teenage pregnancy than their same-age peers
• Already expecting or parenting young child(ren)

Services Involve Family/Support Structures:

This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: The My First Place provider works with youth to identify and increase positive relationships with adult supporters in order to increase their circles of support. Youth are encouraged to include positive family members and other adult supporters on their team for team meetings, goal setting conversations, etc.

Recommended Intensity:

Youth meet at least once per week, up to 60 minutes, with a Youth Advocate (Case Manager); also meet twice monthly, for up to an hour, with their Education & Employment Specialist. Meetings occur in the office, community, and at times virtually.

Recommended Duration:

1 to 3 years, unless otherwise approved

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community Daily Living Setting
• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)
• Virtual (Online, Telephone, Video, Zoom, etc.)

Homework

My First Place (MFP) includes a homework component:

Services are individualized for youth and all youth work on short- and long-term goals related to housing, healthy living, education, and employment. This at times requires youth to complete homework or action steps outside of meetings with their team.

Languages

My First Place (MFP) has materials available in a language other than English:

Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

• One Youth Advocate for every 12-15 housed clients
• One Education & Employment Specialist for every 30 youth
• One Housing Specialist for every county served to secure apartments and act as liaison with property owners
• Furnished Living Units for youth to be housed
• Relationships with vendors who are able to provide repairs to ensure habitability of living units
• Resources such as food vouchers, move-in stipend, and move-in support; classroom for economic literacy trainings and transition support groups
• Emergency number for youth to reach staff
• Cell phones for all staff to be used in emergencies
• Support Service Resources such as interview clothes, work materials, school supplies, training uniforms, transportation assistance

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Youth Advocates (YAs) require a bachelor's level degree, ideally they have a Master of Social Work or Master's degree in a related field to help focus on Mental Health and Substance Abuse issues more effectively. A clean driving record is required since they may transport the youth.

Education & Employment Specialists (EEs) require a bachelor's level degree in a related field to help focus on workforce development, education, and career coaching. A clean driving record is required since they may transport the youth.

Housing Managers require a bachelor's level degree and experience being part of a management team. Members of the Housing Staff require a background in fair housing laws, property management, and affordable housing.

Program Managers require a Bachelor of Social Work (Master of Social Work preferred), supervision experience, background in working with at-risk youth, housing, and a strong clinical background.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual details:

• My First Place Program Manual. First Place for Youth.

My First Place program manual and program training manual are provided to each new employee and affiliate MFP staff; all staff have access to their online learning management system.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Matt Levy
  First Place for Youth
  mlevy@firstplaceforyouth.org
  phone: (510) 272-0979

Training Type/Location:

Provided in-person and virtual both initial and ongoing training. Additional training also occurs regionally.

Number of days/hours:

Ongoing consultation and coaching are provided. In addition, there are preimplementation materials, fidelity measures, and other implementation resources available. Please contact the training contact above for more information.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Currently, there are no published, peer-reviewed research studies for My First Place (MFP).

Additional References