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LEASE
When kids don’t have families who are able to care for them, they
are likely to go into the foster care system that exists to fill that
gap. Those
who fall through the cracks of the foster care system instead end up
on the streets, and hopefully find their way to Larkin Street Youth Services
or other programs that can help them. But even those who do benefit
from foster care face a dilemma that can lead to homelessness. As
soon as a foster child turns 18, the system is no longer there to help. The
San Francisco Department of Human Services estimated that over 800 youth
will emancipate from the foster care system in the next five to six years,
many of whom will be completely dependent on their own resources for
self-support. As
a result, a large percentage of young people who are emancipated from
foster care go from the system straight to the streets. For the 18- to 21-year-old former foster kids who are cast adrift, LSYS has created LEASE (Larkin Extended Aftercare for Supported Emancipation). LEASE is not a shelter. It is a program which places youth in studio apartments while providing support in the form of counseling, employment training, referrals, and case management to ensure that they retain stable housing beyond their participation in the program. LEASE program participants are screened and referred by Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP), an organization which facilitates transitions for recently emancipated foster youth. After an intake process, LEASE clients settle into their new homes and begin working closely with case managers to plan for the stable futures they will achieve after they leave the program. An emphasis is placed on developing life skills – from managing money, retaining employment, and living independently to becoming a successful adult. LEASE helps the youth create individual plans to meet their diverse needs. For example, a single young mother may go through job training, learn budgeting skills, and develop some educational goals while in the program. Another young person may gain the skills he needs to be promoted in his current job, take care of neglected chronic health problems, and enroll in community college. All participants in the LEASE program receive education counseling and most attend college on a part-time or full-time basis. Whatever path the LEASE participants take toward success, LSYS staff are there to support them along the way. As their 21st birthdays approach we ensure that, unlike their exit from foster care at 18, their graduation from LEASE is a true emancipation from dependency on a system into the freedom of self-sufficient adulthood.
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