Community Pages - Tennessee
Initiative Partner: Vanderbilt Child and Family Policy Center
Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies (VIPPS) is the place where faculty from different disciplines and schools work together to apply theory to real-world policy problems. The Tennessee Youth Advisory Council has established a youth board that has been instrumental in policy change with the state agency that works with foster care, and it has worked with employers in the Nashville area to obtain employment for youth in care. The Community Partnership Board has established partnerships with U.S. Bank, Hospital Corporation of America, and other businesses in the community to assist with providing opportunities for youth. Through their Youth Connections program, Monroe Harding, Inc. and the Department of Children's Services implement the Opportunity PassportTM. The Youth Connections Resource Center is a "one stop shop" for youth aging out of the foster care system in Tennessee. In collaboration with other agencies, the Center helps fill the gap in services for those youth leaving foster care or other state custody with no support system. The Center is a central place where youth transitioning into adulthood can find assistance with housing, transportation, education, employment and social services. Nashville plans to begin expanding the Initiative statewide.
Contact: Debbie Miller, 615-322-8505
Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies
1207 18th Avenue, South
Nashville, TN 37212
Policy:
Public Chapter No. 415
Legislation Passed in June 2009:
• Creates a Post-Custody Advisory Council which is responsible for identifying strategies to assess and track the effectiveness of post-custody services, strategies for maintaining accurate numbers of young people served by post-custody services, reasons why young people do not accept post-custody services, the number of young people who continue their education and the number who do not. This council will make an annual report and recommendations to the Select Committee on Children and Youth, House Children and Family Affairs Committee, House Health and Human Resources Committee and Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Resources Committee.
• Mandates that all state agencies which administer cash or in-kind assistance to young people ages 18 - 24 make reasonable effort to determine if the applicant for assistance has ever been in state custody and if so, provide information about post-custody services for which they might be eligible.
• Encourages the not-for-profit community to establish a network of information, assistance, services and supports to persons ages 16 - 24 who have been in foster care at any time after their 14th birthday.
News and Events:
Click here to read about the new Memphis Dream Seekers Center
