“The adaptability and resilience of the youth we serve is inspiring and keeps me going. With the sudden advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, our drive for innovation has been put to the test. ”
PROJECT OVERVIEW
New Avenues for Youth is a Portland-based non-profit that aims to prevent and end youth homelessness. One of the populations that are most at-risk are youth transitioning out of foster care.
The experience of aging out is traumatic. Some youth have longed for permanency and yet have not been adopted. Others want simply to be out of the system and on their own- - and yet they often don’t have the social support and networks that can ensure their success as adults. No matter how youth approach aging out, one thing is certain: resources, services and supports begin to fall away once you turn 18.
Youth who are aging out of foster care face an uphill climb. They are less likely to graduate high school, less likely to attend college, and less likely to graduate from college if they do go. They are more likely to become teen parents, more likely to experience addiction, more likely to experience financial insecurity, and more likely to become homeless.
We know the COVID-19 crisis has impacted vulnerable populations disproportionately —
this includes transitional foster youth.
THE CHALLENGE
In Spring 2020, Social Impact Lab participants will have the opportunity to design solutions in partnership with New Avenues for Youth around the central theme:
Designing for resilient youth
in the era of COVID-19
There are four design tracks for lab participants to choose from:
Track A: Resource Hub Design Challenge - The goal of this track is to design a workable prototype of a Resource Hub that could support New Avenues for Youth’s ILP program. The lab process will be used to research, define, and design a prototype that can be beta-tested by youth immediately following the lab.
Tracks B, C, & D: Open Design Challenge - The goal of this track is to design creative solutions related to one of three specific focus areas:
Education & Learning (Track B)
Workforce Development (Track C)
Social Behavior (Track D)
The lab process will be used to research, define, and design creative responses to challenges that focus on youth’s specific needs in this new era of COVID-19.
Read more about the design challenges for each track below:
PROJECT LEAD
Megan Glines, the Director of Foster Care Transition Services at New Avenues for Youth, has been with the agency for four years and has been serving youth with foster care experience for twelve. Megan obtained her Masters in Social Work with an Emphasis in Community Organizing, Planning and Administration at the University of Southern California and has held various community based roles in California and Oregon during her tenure in the field. Many of those roles have been dedicated to supporting youth as they prepare to age out of the system to ensure they have every opportunity to reach their full potential and fulfill their dreams.
A word from Megan
“I joined New Avenues four years ago after moving to Oregon. It is exciting to work at this agency because New Avenues is an innovative agency that constantly pushes to create the most effective and equitable services for the clients we serve. The continuum of services we offer to address the prevention and intervention of youth homelessness enables us to maintain a client centered approach where we are able to meet the youth where they are in their lives and address their individual needs. The adaptability and resilience of the youth we serve is inspiring and keeps me going. With the sudden advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, our drive for innovation has been put to the test. The clients we serve already experience a multitude of systemic barriers to their success and this pandemic has only magnified those barriers. Access to resources available, employment, education and social connectedness are areas that the youth we serve have some of the highest need for support and these four key areas have been severely impacted by the economic shut down and stay at home orders caused by the spread of COVID-19. The Social Impact Lab is exciting because it gives the opportunity to connect with the larger community and use their expertise to think out of the box on how to creatively serve our youth through this extraordinary time.”
“The Social Impact Lab is exciting because it gives the opportunity to connect with the larger community and use their expertise to think out of the box on how to creatively serve our youth through this extraordinary time.”
The Spring 2020 Lab is not accepting applications.
Learn more about the lab here or sign-up below to receive updates about future labs.