Program:
Supportive Housing for Homeless Individuals and Families, Transitional Housing for Veterans
- Budget:
-
$791,732
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Poor/Economically Disadvantaged, Indigent, General
-
Homeless
-
Military/Veterans
Program Description:
LFS Carolinas serves individuals and families struggling with homelessness through our Charlotte-based WISH (Workforce Initiative for Supportive Housing) and Supportive Housing programs. In partnership with other local service providers, these programs connect working poor families with affordable housing and long term support services such as job-skills training, employment advocacy and transportation. The ultimate goal is to help families become stable and self sufficient.
LFS has also recently opened three transitional housing facilities for veterans struggling with homelessness. Many veterans who return home from war face significant challenges including: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, health problems, shortage of affordable housing, financial difficulties, lack of applicable job skills, combat-related mental and physical disabilities, and loss of family support and social networks. All of these issues, combined with the trauma of war, can lead to homelessness.
Our homes provide basic necessities like food and shelter but also focus on the emotional, mental and educational well-being of clients. We work closely with the US Office of Veterans Affairs and other local partners to provide veterans with counseling, crisis intervention, medical and/ or substance abuse treatment, job skills training and job placement, and opportunities for community involvement. Our goal is for residents to graduate from these programs with the skills and support they need to overcome challenges and begin to experience "healing and wholeness."
Program Long-Term Success:
Working-poor individuals and families who enter our Supportive Housing and WISH programs (Workforce Initiative for Supportive Housing) will no longer face the daily threat of homelessness but will live and thrive in safe, stable homes.
Veterans struggling to overcome the myriad of challenges that have led them to homelessness will receive the support they need to heal from physical, psychological and emotional wounds and find stability and peace in their lives.
Program Short-Term Success:
22 families will complete their second year in the WISH program, bringing them closer to their goals of self-sufficiency. LFS will hire a new case worker and increase the number of individuals served through the program. Ten new volunteer HOPE teams will be formed to assist and encourage new families coming into the program.
Kinard Manor, Angels House and Faith Farm will serve at least 40 veterans this year. At least 75 percent will graduate with stable employment and housing at the end of their six-month enrollment in the program. LFS will maintain relationships with participants after they exit the program by hosting an annual barbeque for graduates.
Program Success Monitored by:
The WISH program is currently undergoing a three year study which will evaluate the long and short-term success of the model. Measurement tools being used include:
* Interviews with participants and their families
* Data tracking (through systems such as the Homeless Management Information System and Bell Data System)
* Generation of a comparison group
* Interviews and focus groups with volunteers
The success of our veterans programs are measured by tracking specific indicators that are presumed to lead to self-sufficiency.
The success of our veterans programs are measured by tracking specific indicators that have been shown to lead to self-sufficiency. Every veteran who comes into an LFS transitional home is assessed upon entering the program to determine his or her unique needs. An individual treatment strategy is then designed based on this assessment. An analysis of each resident’s progress is made daily. In order to graduate the program, they must show positive results in obtaining and maintaining employment, obtaining reliable transportation to and from work, opening and maintaining a savings account, and more.
LFS veterans programs are also monitored by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA utilizes an evaluation form, which LFS must complete annually, to measure our program success in three areas: increased residential stability, increased skill and or/income, and improved self determination. This helps to ensure the best possible outsomes for those we serve.
Program Success Examples:
About one-third of all adult homeless people served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Former Kinard Manor resident Lonnie Cobb found himself among these statistics.
Originally from Clemson, Ga., Lonnie joined the Army in 1972 where he served for 16 years. Though he learned a great deal, Lonnie battled depression and alcohol and substance abuse when he returned home. His addictions made it hard for him to hold onto a steady job.
Still working to better himself, Lonnie was referred to Kinard Manor, the LFS Carolinas transitional housing facility for homeless male veterans in Greenwood, S.C. Lonnie utilized the services provided through the veterans program and secured a job at a local restaurant. Working makes it possible for him to help his children when they are in need. Of his five kids, two are still minors and he is dedicated to supporting them.
Recently Lonnie moved out of Kinard Manor and into a rent-assisted apartment. For others who are faced with similar circumstances, Lonnie offers this advice: “There is help out there but you have to seek it. You have to ask questions and be persistent to make a better life for yourself.”
Program:
Youth Residential and Independent Living Services
- Budget:
-
$3,438,682
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Youth/Adolescents only (14 - 19 years)
-
Young Adults (20-25 years) -- currently not in use
-
Mentally/Emotionally Disabled
Program Description:
LFS Carolinas offers residential and transitional living services to youth in crisis., including:
* Residential care for adolescents in the custody of departments of social services
* Independent living for young adults who are "ageing out" of the foster care and residential systems
The goal of our residential and independent living services is to provide vulnerable youth with not only a safe place to live but the structure and support they need to live healthy, productive and fulfilling lives. We strive to help youth and young adult clients suceed in school, develop independent living skills, and overcome the emotional and behavioral challenges they face, often as a result of past abuse or neglect.
Program Long-Term Success:
Youth and young adults who have suffered abuse, neglect or disruption at home and are dealing with emotional turmoil will have the loving support they need to help them grow into healthy, productive adults and meet their potential.
Program Short-Term Success:
Youth who come into LFS group homes will receive basic necessities like food and shelter and will be supported 24/7 by caring staff. In addition, these youth will receive the support they need to succeed in school and develop long-term goals for themselves as well as learn independent-living skills they will carry into adulthood.
Young adults in our independent living program will receieve help from caring staff to help them prepare for adulthood. Issues addressed will be based around the Ansell Casey Life Skills Assessment (ACLSA) and include resume building, job skills training, money management, communication and more.
Program Success Monitored by:
Every child who comes into an LFS group home is assessed upon enetering the program to determine his or her unique needs. An individual treatment strategy is then designed based on this assessment. An analysis of each child’s progress is made daily. At the end of the child’s stay with us, another assessment is done to determine what was learned and how much improvement was made during his or her time with us.
The effectiveness of our independent living program will be measured through ACLSA assessment, monthly progress reports, and quarterly consumer satisfactory surveys.
The Ansell Casey Life Skills (ACLSA) assesses the follow domains:
- Housing and Management
- Self care
- Social relationship
- Work life
- Career Planning
- Work and study
- Community
- Daily living
- Home life
Program Success Examples:
Studies have shown that four years after leaving care, only one in five former foster youth is fully self supporting. (Shirk & Strangler, 2004, as cited in Frey, Greenblatt & Brown, 2005). Statistics like this show the need for continued support for young adults leaving foster/residential care.
Young adults who enter our independent living program immediately begin working toward their independence. With assistance from Hampton Crossing Apartments in Durham, NC, each young adult signs their own lease and begins paying rent which starts at $25 and goes up by $25 increments each month until it caps at the total rent amount. Having their name on a lease allows them to build their credit while learning money management and budgeting.
In collaboration with Durham County Department of Social Services, the program gives young adults a comfort zone as well as independence, enabling them to utilize the skills they have learned. At the same time, the program assists young adults by providing additional tools and services personalized to fit their individual needs and circumstances.
In this apartment setting, they will be assisted in continuing or discovering healthy interests, developing life skills, improving interpersonal communication and problem solving. The program will assist in cultivating support systems and ultimately will enable them to become productive members of their community
Program:
Foster Care and Adoption
- Budget:
-
$8,587,078
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
-
Crime/Abuse Victims
-
Mentally/Emotionally Disabled
Program Description:
LFS works with departments of social services and with caring individuals in our communities to provide safe, loving homes for children in need. We provide a full continuum of servics including
* Family foster care
* Specialized foster care for children who are emotionally distressed, developmentally disabled or medically fragile
* Special Needs Adoption Program (SNAP) which focuses on identifying homes for children who are older, belong to a sibling or minority group, or have special medical or emotional conditions
Our goals for foster care and SNAP are to provide children with safe, stable environments, minimize the traumatic experience of being "bounced" from place to place and help create lasting, healthy relationships for them with adults who truly care about them, including, when possible and appropriate, their birth parents.
Program Long-Term Success:
Children will have safe and stable home environments and healthy, lasting relationships with loving families. Families will have the training and support they need to care for children who have experienced abuse, neglect and abandonment and may be facing emotional, behavioral, developmental or medical challenges.
Program Short-Term Success:
LFS will place at least 2,217 children in loving homes in North and South Carolina. We will recruit at least 115 new families to welcome children in need into their homes. We will also have all families trained in a new treatment model being used by the agency called the Collaborative Problem Solving. Studies have shown that this model provides a better way for children and adults to work together to solve mutual problems and is effective in reducing problems in the home.
Program Success Monitored by:
Children who come into the LFS Foster Care program are initially assessed to determine their needs. An individual treatment strategy is then designed based on this assessment. An analysis of each child’s progress is made daily. Plans are reviewed and updated every 90 days. Goals are met, ongoing, or extended. At the end of the child’s stay with us, another assessment is done to determine what was learned and how much improvement was made during his or her time with us.
Prospective parents are also initially assessed regarding their experience and tolerance for a wide variety of disorders, issues, behaviors, etc through a child behavior checklist. This assists in helping make successful matches between parents and children. Parents complete monthly and annual reviews with their case worker as well as satisfaction surveys. They are expected to attend initial and ongoing training to ensure the best outcomes for them and most importantly for the children in their care.
Program Success Examples:
Thousands of children in the Carolinas have experienced abuse, neglect or other traumas that have stripped their lives of all security. Removing them from unhealthy environments and finding the right family to help them move forward is the ultimate goal but takes careful screening and consideration. Often children develop special emotional and physical needs, making the right foster care placement more complex to find.
Knowing this, Lisa and Eliot Swiger put a lot of thought into fostering a child. By the time their oldest son was away at college and their youngest was in high school, they knew they were ready to open their home and heart to a child in need. Through LFS Carolinas, they began taking the necessary steps to obtain their license and eagerly awaited the chance to answer their call to serve as foster parents.
In February 2005 the Swiger family was introduced to Jack. At 21 months old, he was a victim of shaken baby syndrome, had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and had a number of strokes leaving him unable to talk or walk.
“Seeing him for the first time was heartbreaking,” said Lisa as she recalled their first meeting in the hospital. “He had a large three part scar on his head and had just been taken off of a feeding tube.”
Jack had lost almost half of his brain functioning and the ability to control the right side of his body. Despite that, Lisa and Eliot took to him instantly; and although he would require extra care, they welcomed him as their foster child on March 23, 2005. When it became clear that reunification with his birth mother was no longer an option, the Swiger family decided to give Jack a permanent home.
Under their care, Jack began showing improvement in both his motor skills and speech. He attends regular therapies and visits specialists to help him gain more independence. Around his third birthday, Jack was faced with a new problem. He began having frequent seizures that have progressively gotten worse.
Although Jack’s life revolves around therapy and doctors appointments, it hasn’t slowed him down one bit. Today Jack can walk with the support of his cane and attends mainstream kindergarten. To put it simply “Jack is rock star,” said Lisa. “Everyone knows when Jack is there because he engages everyone.”
Program:
Adult Residential, Supported Living and Home-Based Services
- Budget:
-
$1,990,306
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Disabled, General or Disability Unspecified
-
Mentally/Emotionally Disabled
-
Adults
Program Description:
LFS operates programs across North and South Carolina that provide shelter and supportive services to adults with serious and persistent mental illness, developmental disabilities and brain injuries. Through residential facilities that offer 24-hour live-in support, apartments that offer independent but supported living, and home-based services, staff work with clients and their families to develop plans that meet their individual needs.
We assist clients with transportation, counseling, social skills development, participating in recreational activities, vocational training and much more. Our goal is to help clients progress to the least restrictive environment appropriate to their needs.
Program Long-Term Success:
Adults who are diagnosed as developmentally disabled, mentally retarded, traumatically brain injured or seriously and persistently mentally ill will live safe, healthy lives in the least restrictive environment possible. In addition, they will overcome their labels, grow as individuals and meet their fullest potential in life.
Program Short-Term Success:
LFS will serve special needs adults through residential homes, supported apartment living and community-based support services. Clients will show improvement in personal care, social skills development, daily living skills and speech/language skills. Appropriate to their varying degrees of disability, clients will take part in recreational and educational activities, counseling, pre-vocation training, employment and volunteer opportunities, and more.
Program Success Monitored by:
Every individual who comes into an LFS group home or supported living apartment is assessed upon entering the program to determine his or her unique needs. An individual treatment strategy is then designed based on this assessment. An analysis of each person’s progress is made quarterly. Plans are reviewed and updated every 90 days. Goals are met, ongoing, revised, or extended.
Program Success Examples:
Since 2004, Jeff McDaniels has been a resident at Lippard Lodge, an LFS Carolinas group home for adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). When he was just four years old, Jeff was involved in a serious accident involving a tractor that left him in a coma for several days and caused damage to his brain.
While this accident has brought about some challenges in Jeff’s life, he has taken them on with strength, determination and an increasingly positive attitude. Since Jeff arrived at Lippard Lodge four years ago, the staff has seen him grow into a motivated, goal-oriented individual. From opening and maintaining his own savings account to taking part in activities outside of the group home, Jeff has achieved many of his own goals in the last five years. He attends a weekly life skills class at The Enrichment Center which offers instruction in computer skills, independent living, job readiness, self-advocacy and social health and takes classes at Goodwill, focusing on reading, writing and money management.
Jeff also works two days a week at a local horse farm, which he enthusiastically claims as one of his proudest accomplishments. His positive attitude is evident to everyone who meets him. At a luncheon held for his job, Jeff was honored as the most inspirational employee.
With the support of LFS staff, Jeff is currently working towards gaining more independence for himself. His hope is to save enough money from his job at the farm to buy, among other things, a white, four-door pickup truck so he can drive to see his parents.
With all he as accomplished so far, Jeff is sure he will continue to achieve greater things.
Program:
Refugee and Immigration Services
- Budget:
-
$1,966,876
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
-
Ethnic/Racial Minorities -- General
-
Crime/Abuse Victims
Program Description:
Since 1979 LFS has offered refuge to people who have suffered persecution in their homelands. More than 13 million people worlwide have been forced to flee their country becuase of war, violence or persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion (among other things). Many of these individuals escape with little more than the clothes on their backs and all are in need of a safe place to call home.
In partnership with local faith organizations, LFS offers welcome to vulnerable refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking and other immigrants and helps ease their transition into a new culture and a new life. Our Refugee and Immigration Services program offers assistance with: housing placement; access to social services, public benefits and health care; school enrollment; self-sufficiency planning; employment and skills training; English language training; and immigration assistance.
Program Long-Term Success:
Refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking and other immigrants will experience welcome, peace and stability in their new home. They will be able to assimilate successfully into American culture and enrich their new communities with their own experiences and culture.
Program Short-Term Success:
Refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking and other immigrants served by LFS will have safe housing, access to social services and health care, and assistance with communication and educational needs. They will be able to enroll their children in school, find jobs, adjust their status to "permanent resident" and/or "citizen" and, when possible, be reunited with family members still living in other countries.
Program Success Monitored by:
RRIS staff continually track the number and demographics of clients resettled/served through our agency. The success of services such as health screening referrals, housing placement, job training and placement, and immigration assistance are monitored through tabulation of monthly reports of service delivery. Staff then analyze program performance against outlined annual goals.
.
Program Success Examples:
Often times, the faces of refugees are those of families – mothers and fathers in search of a place where their children can grow up happy and safe. Unfortunately, unbearably long separations are not unusual for refugee families seeking to be reunited with children and spouses who have been separated by war.
Originally from Uganda, Kenneth Waiswa fled to Ethiopia to escape persecution in his home country. It was there he met his wife, Aamina, and began to raise a family. Unfortunately, conflict broke out in Ethiopia as well, forcing him and his family to flee once again. To truly be safe, the family decided to come to the United States. Kenneth and Aamina traveled to Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to obtain the proper paperwork to be brought to the United States but they faced a dilemma; one of their children was not with them.
Amidst the conflict they had been separated from their 4-year-old daughter who was with relatives in a village roughly 400 miles away. Getting back to her was nearly impossible. The village was so remote that a motorized vehicle only traveled to it once a year. There was no way to reach her and the authorities refused to issue her a visa unless she was present with her parents. The family had to make the difficult decision of leaving while the application for her visa was processed. They hoped she would be able to follow soon after but authorities suspected the little girl was lying about her age and denied the visa.
After arriving in the United States, Kenneth and his family tried for years to reunite with their daughter. Finally, they came to LFS Carolinas for help. In addition to finding the family an apartment and helping with Kenneth’s job search, the agency assisted the family with their federal immigration benefits application and coordinated their efforts with the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa. A private laboratory conducted a DNA test using a sample sent from their daughter in Ethiopia and one provided by Aamina.
The test finally resulted in confirmation of their biological relationship. In October 2008, after more than a decade of separation, the family was reunited.