By Julie Freccero and Audrey Taylor
Picture Credit score: Freedom Ahead
In December 2022, the UC Berkeley Human Rights Heart’s Well being and Human Rights Program launched Household and Me (FAM): A New Mannequin of Foster Look after Youth Impacted by Industrial Sexual Exploitation in San Francisco in partnership with the San Francisco Security, Alternative, and Lifelong Relationship (SF SOL) Collaborative. The report shares findings from a multi-year examine of the Household and Me (FAM) pilot, an progressive new mannequin of foster care designed to fulfill the housing wants of youth who’ve skilled or are liable to industrial sexual exploitation (CSE) within the San Francisco Bay Space.
The intention of this in-depth analysis was to determine successes, challenges, and classes realized in designing and implementing the FAM mannequin of care. Primarily based on these and different findings from this examine, SF SOL has revised the FAM mannequin and introduced FAM 2.0, an thrilling new iteration to be piloted between 2023-2025, and evaluated by HRC. To finish the preliminary examine, HRC researchers collected 4 rounds of information between 2020 and 2022, together with interviews with service suppliers, interviews and surveys with caregivers and youth; and youth referral case notes. The report highlights 5 key classes, amongst others:
- Youth impacted by CSE urgently want emergency housing choices. Many of the youth referred to FAM didn’t have secure housing—they incessantly modified placements, left placement altogether, or in some circumstances, have been dwelling with their exploiters. This made it difficult for suppliers to have interaction them in providers. Youth in these circumstances will not be able to transition straight right into a family-based foster dwelling setting. Due to this, it’s essential to develop a short-term, versatile, hurt reduction-focused mannequin of housing the place CSE-affected youth in disaster can entry providers and stabilize earlier than shifting right into a extra structured dwelling setting.
- CSE-affected youth require inventive, tailor-made options to engagement and family-based care. Youth referred to FAM confronted quite a few distinctive challenges, from being pregnant and parenting, to psychological and bodily well being challenges, to involvement within the juvenile justice system. For FAM to adequately attain this inhabitants, it’s essential that providers and assist are responsive and adaptable to the distinctive wants of every youth, and that they account for the vary of challenges that will come up throughout youth engagement.
- The FAM mannequin of care needs to be simplified and provided in partnership with foster household businesses already serving CSE-affected youth. FAM proved difficult to implement due to its complexity—the mannequin concerned coordinating quite a few providers throughout a number of organizations, there have been limitations in recruiting caregivers, and challenges partaking youth away from their care placement. By specializing in the brand new parts distinctive to FAM—specialised CSE coaching for caregivers, shared caregiving with a secondary caregiver, and versatile funding to fulfill youth wants—the FAM mannequin might be simplified and extra simply applied by foster household businesses already serving CSE-impacted youth. This may develop the attain of FAM, cut back duplication of providers, and enhance the replicability and sustainability of the mannequin.
- Stigma in direction of CSE-affected youth and difficult housing necessities are main limitations to recruiting caregivers. Potential caregivers worry that youth impacted by CSE have tough behavioral points which they are going to be unable to handle. Group schooling and outreach campaigns by social media and different channels are essential for elevating consciousness of CSE and destigmatizing this neighborhood. Likewise, caregivers are sometimes deterred by Useful resource Household Approval necessities associated to housing, significantly that youth have their very own room. Native authorities and repair organizations ought to discover methods to assist caregivers who’re struggling to fulfill housing necessities. For instance, discretionary funds might be used for safety deposits, software charges, furnishings, shifting prices, or momentary rental help. Lengthy-term coverage options are additionally essential. These may embrace making foster caregivers a precedence inhabitants to realize inexpensive housing, or pursuing extra versatile necessities for secondary caregivers. Such an association may enable supportive family and friends to strengthen their dedication to youth liable to CSE of their neighborhood, and permit them to learn from FAM’s specialised coaching and assets.
- Each permanency and neighborhood housing choices needs to be made obtainable to youth impacted by CSE. You will need to present youth with the choice to have interaction in permanency providers to strengthen current relationships and discover potential caregivers inside their household or current networks. Such providers could also be extra prone to result in robust commitments and long-term relationships that proceed after FAM or their time in foster care ends. Nevertheless, some youth don’t have members of the family or different supportive adults who’re prepared or capable of take care of them, or who’re able to assembly foster caregiver approval necessities. These youth needs to be provided community-based placements with caregivers who they haven’t beforehand recognized. By making certain each choices can be found, youth needs to be allowed to pursue the pathway to placement that most closely fits their distinctive wants.
The following iteration of this mission, FAM 2.0, contains three progressive and important assist parts for CSE-affected youth: secondary caregivers to create a shared mannequin of caregiving, specialised coaching and peer assist teams for caregivers, and quick and versatile funding to fulfill a wide range of youth wants.
Throughout the first yr, the mannequin can be piloted by Seneca Household of Businesses in San Francisco, later increasing to different foster household businesses and counties throughout the state. Whereas the FAM mannequin of care has undergone vital adjustments for the reason that pilot’s inception, the objective has at all times been the identical—to reimagine foster take care of youth impacted by CSE so they’re protected, empowered, and supported. This mission continues to information FAM 2.0, the subsequent iteration of FAM that can be piloted in 2023.