In
some states, at-risk young people and their families can be coached together.
One evidence-backed program is Youth Villages, which is a bit like a
Nurse-Family Partnership for at-risk teenagers and their families. A nonprofit
founded in 1986, it coaches low-income moms and dads - or some other relative -
and gives them support so that they can do a better job of parenting. Today
Youth Villages works with adolescent boys and girls in eleven states, offering
both residential centers and home support-what it calls "building strong
families."
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Among
those helped by Youth Villages is Fred Burns, one of ten children born to an
impoverished couple in Tennessee who struggled with drug addiction and domestic
violence. The family moved in and out of homeless shelters and rarely had much
food; Fred sometimes had to steal so that he and his siblings had something to
eat. Fred grew up with a serious anger and aggression problem, and at age
thirteen he was placed in foster care. That led to a roller coaster of eight
foster homes in succession, and his behavior problems finally landed him in a
Youth Villages residential facility. Mentors began to work with Fred, hearing
him out and coaching him on patience in a longterm relationship that deepened
into friendship. "You felt like they were really trying to work together
and make things better for you," he said. "They supported me and they
made sure I kept going."
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As
Fred calmed down, Youth Villages looked for a relative stable enough to
continue raising him. An aunt, Shirley, agreed a bit reluctantly, because she
wasn't sure that she could handle a teenager, but a Youth Villages social
worker supported them during this adjustment process. Gradually Fred settled
down, and Shirley formally adopted "him when he was sixteen years old.
With this new stability in his life, Fred began to excel in sports and
academics. He became the first member in his family to graduate from high
school, and he did it in style: he was valedictorian, with a 4.25 GPA. Fred
accepted an academic scholarship to Mississippi State University, was
successful as a walk-on to the football team, and later transferred to Jackson
State University to major in computer engineering.
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Now
twenty-three and a college senior, Fred tutors and mentors other youths,
coaches football, and gives gifts at Christmas to other families. "The
time that everyone has put into me is the reason that I am what I am
today," he told us. "I'm giving back because people have been
believing in me, and somebody believing in me has helped me believe in myself.
I'm doing for others what others have done for me."
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The
Youth Villages programs, which have been rigorously evaluated, claim a
long-term success rate with troubled adolescents of 80 percent, meaning that
they are living with families or on their own and have had no trouble with the
law. That success rate is twice the national average, even though Youth
Villages programs cost only one-third as much as traditional approaches. Youth
Villages argues that with the right support and scrutiny, half of the 600,000
kids in America being raised in effect by the state (including foster care)
could remain with their families or relatives, saving tens of millions of
dollars annually and reducing the trauma and upheaval for those children.
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Nicholas
Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn "A Path Appears" (2014)
