Client(s):
Oregon Department of Human Services
Program Reviews of Oregon’s Independent Living Programs
Helping foster youth transition to independence in Oregon
Working with the Oregon Department of Human Services, we’re conducting program reviews of Oregon’s Independent Living Programs (ILP) that assist youth who are aging out of the child welfare foster care system to gain the skills they need to achieve independence.
Impact
Independent Living Programs give youth an opportunity to learn valuable skills necessary to make a successful transition from state or tribal custody to living on their own in the community.
Our study findings are helping ILP providers in Oregon to improve programs to better serve youth aging out of foster care.
Services
- Evaluation
- Data Collection Protocols and Instruments
- Quality Improvement
- Dissemination
Collecting Data
Independent Living Programs in Oregon provide valuable services to youth aging out of foster care. These services—contracted out to local non-profits, for-profits or tribes—can include training in daily skills like money management, household maintenance, transportation, employment readiness, and more. They can also include educational assistance in the form of tutoring, study groups, college tours, and information on financial aid/scholarship applications.
HSRI is leading a team of reviewers—including a state ILP representative, an ILP peer reviewer, and an ILP youth reviewer—to conduct staff interviews, youth focus groups, and caseworker focus groups at 19 ILP sites across Oregon. Additionally, audits of case records allow us to explore adherence to contract guidelines. These diverse perspectives enable us to provide a comprehensive description of each site’s unique processes, successes, challenges, and to give targeted recommendations for improvement.
Independent Living Programs prepare youth for life on their own. HSRI is conducting program reviews at ILP provider sites around Oregon.
Sharing Findings
Our team holds exit debriefings with stakeholders the day after each review is completed. Covered topics include general themes, successes, challenges and recommendations for program improvements. Upon completion of each program review, we synthesize the information collected by the entire team of reviewers into a formal program-specific report. We distribute these to the State ILP Coordinator, ILP Staff and local DHS program managers within 30 days of the exit debrief. These expedited debriefings and written reports allow directors to immediately begin work on any necessary program improvements.
Once all the individual program reviews are completed, we’ll develop a comprehensive final report that synthesizes the information gathered across the 19 different sites, documenting the extent of program adherence to ILP contract performance measures, and providing recommendations for program improvements.
Project Partner(s):
Pacific Research and Evaluation