True North: Forging Pathways to Healthy Relationships and Economic Stability

The investigator will use an experimental design using a randomized controlled trial for the impact evaluation of the True North program. This is a sound methodological design to assess the outcomes of the participants in the program and comparison groups. The target population is at-risk youth age 17 to 23 who have been involved in the foster care system and are preparing to "transition into adulthood." The units of analysis are young adults in the foster care system. The investigator plans to have 80-120 research study participants in each of the 3 cohorts. Over the 5-year grant period, a total of 300-360 young adults will be in the sample, with approximately 150-165 young adults in the program group and approximately 150-165 young adults in the comparison group. The inclusion criterion is: Any young adult age 17 to 23 who is aging out of the foster care system. The exclusion criterion does include an age restriction of 18 to 23 because that is the age group that receives extended foster care services in Broward County. Services end at age 24. There are no gender-based enrollment restrictions. There are no race-based enrollment restrictions.

The young adults randomly assigned to the program groups will take part in a multi-component intervention consisting of group workshops and individual sessions on relationship skills and financial stability and receive employment assistance and mentoring. For the healthy relationships component, program participants could receive 13 hours of workshops and 7 hours of individual sessions. For the economic stability component, program participants could receive 3.5 hours of financial stability and job readiness workshops and 7 hours of individual sessions about finance and employment. For the mentoring component, program participants could receive up to 7 hours of case management and 10 hours of prosocial events. All sessions will take place at the Children's Harbor Lauderhill office over a 9-month period.

The young adults in the program group will be completing a pre-test, post-test, and a followup. Answering the pre- and post-tests will take about 1 hour each and will be conducted at the Children's Harbor office, on the phone, or online. Participation in this evaluation study will take a total of approximately 106-112 hours of their time during the year-long program.

The investigator expects the True North program group to have improved relationship skills because of the participation in the Love Notes and mentoring components of the True North program. Love Notes v2.0, which was adapted from Relationships Smarts Plus, an evidence-based intervention rated by SAMSHA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), will be utilized to help participants develop healthy relationship skills. It was selected based on its proven track record in serving diverse, economically disadvantaged youth and young adults age 16 to 24 who are at risk for poor quality relationships and unplanned pregnancies (NREPP 2012). An evaluation of Love Notes for Youth Build USA found that Love Notes participants improved their attitudes, knowledge, perceived skills, and behaviors associated with healthy relationships. When compared to with the control group, the Love Notes group had higher post program scores about their knowledge of healthy relationships.

The investigator expects True North participants to become financially stable through debt reduction, increased savings, improved credit scores, and asset building. The Annie E. Casey Foundation has developed a promising a practice of providing a coordinated set of services to help low-income individuals and families get jobs, strengthen their finances and move up the economic ladder. This practice entitled, Working Families Success Network (previously entitled the Center for Working Families), will be utilized to help participants develop financial literacy and job readiness skills. The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that the Working Families Success Network model, which has been adopted at more than 100 locations throughout the country, has resulted in 4,400 people finding jobs, 3,300 getting steady 30-day employment, 2,300 obtaining public benefits, 2,800 improving their net worth, and 2,700 improving their credit score. Program participants also were five times more likely to achieve a major economic outcome - such as buying a car, getting out of debt or completing a training or education program - than the participants' counterparts who did not receive an intensive, coordinated set of services.