PowerUp! Transitioning Youth Program

Empowering New Mexico's Foster Youth

More than 2,000 New Mexican children live in foster care. Most of these youth have suffered from abuse, neglect, or abandonment at the hands of family members who themselves may have been experiencing incarceration, domestic violence, substance abuse or mental illness. These youth are often asked to adapt to frequent moves with little notice, educational disruption, separation from siblings, broken friendships, and stigmatization. To survive, and even thrive, in this environment, they develop a level of adaptability, self-reliance, and resilience beyond their years. Still, compared with their peers, they experience higher levels of unemployment, incarceration, homelessness, substance abuse, unwanted pregnancy, limited education, and inadequate health care. At age 18, if they have not achieved permanency through reunification, adoption or guardianship, foster kids are suddenly "aged out” of state custody and expected to live as independent adults. Like most teenagers, they are unprepared to fully master the complexities of adult living, but unlike most teenagers, they lack the family and community support needed for a successful transition.

Research consistently demonstrates that the most important components in a successful transition to adulthood are: consistent adult mentors, life skills, and a sense of self-efficacy. States differ markedly in their treatment of former foster youth; many have extended court jurisdiction until age 21 or beyond. In September 2006 New Mexico convened a statewide "summit” that favored instead the development of a youth-centered, community-based mentoring and transition support program. CASA was uniquely suited to pilot such a program, since our volunteers had already developed trusting relationships with these youth until age 18 and understood their life situations and challenges.

CASA, First Judicial District had been working for some time to establish a pilot program to better support older foster youth in our district. CASA, FJD recognized the distinct needs of teens aging out of foster care and created a program to 'empower youth into adulthood' (see the page How Are The Children? to learn why such programs are necessary). Thanks to the generous support of the Infinite Possibilities Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation (SFCF), grants from the Santa Fe Community Foundation itself, and a grant from New Mexico Children's Foundation, the "Power Up” program was launched in October 2007.

"Power Up" was a 3 year pilot program serving youth aged 14-21 in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Los Alamos counties. Specifically:

Specially trained CASA volunteers worked with the teens beginning at age 14, their caretakers, Children Youth and Families Department staff, youth attorneys, educators, and health professionals to ensure that preparation for independent living was initiated and proceeded in a timely manner.
With additional training, these volunteers continued to mentor these youth as they transitioned out of state custody, helping them with a variety of challenges including housing, education, employment, health care, and finances.
We also offered training for Youth Attorneys and foster families on these topics so that all of us could better assist these young people as they transitioned to the adult world.
Along the way, we worked with the Heart Gallery of NM Foundation and CYFD on some fun, educational, and creative projects for our teens.

Throughout this process, the CASA/mentor had two important roles: (1) to develop and maintain a mentoring relationship with the youth based on trust and respect and (2) to provide practical counsel based on knowledge of available resources and services.

A core "Power Up” staff recruited, trained, and supported these volunteers and developed the comprehensive website www.YouthPowerUp.org with federal, state, and local resources and services, including:

Their legal rights -- acquiring personal information, sustaining family connections, understanding permanency plan options
Education and training -- setting goals, making educational and career plans, locating financial aid, preparing for entrance exams
Employment -- understanding job requirements, locating job training programs, preparing job applications, interviewing, job shadowing
Housing -- options for transitional, semi-independent, and independent living
Life skills -- budgeting, managing money, understanding nutrition and health, building relationships, driver’s training, and basic living skills
Psychological, physical and behavioral health -- insurance issues, behavioral health information, hotlines and information resources
Community programs and resources -- workshops, leisure activities, creative projects, volunteer opportunities, personal and cultural identity resources, mentors and support groups

The program benefited:

each transitioning young person directly;
the young person’s family in helping to end the intergenerational cycle of poverty and/or child abuse and neglect;
the overloaded court system, CYFD, and the Transition Coordinators that handle many cases and cannot provide sufficient individualized service;
the community as a whole in terms of reduced homelessness, crime, teen pregnancy, and drug or alcohol addiction;
and the business community by providing work-ready, educated, mature, skilled young employees.

Our objective was to provide knowledgeable, helpful CASA volunteers for these teens while they were in the system as well as long-term mentoring as they transitioned to adult lives.

Building Futures and Foundations

From the beginning, our goal was to create a base from which the New Mexico Child Advocacy Networks (NMCAN) could build a centrally-managed mentoring program for transitioning foster youth. In 2010 that goal was achieved, and NMCAN's "Building Futures and Foundations Mentoring Project" was born. The core principles of PowerUp have been incorporated into our standard training and best practices in advocating for older youth. Our original website redirects to Building Futures and Foundations.

Check out the Building Futures and Foundations website at

http:buildingfuturesnm.org