Reno, Nev. Nov. 29, 2023. The Washoe County Human Services Agency (HSA) is partnering with the nonprofit, Youth Villages, to offer a program that will become a bridge from foster care to adulthood for those between the ages of 17 and 21.
Youth Villages is bringing to Washoe County, LifeSet, which is an evidence-based program, offering youth in foster care a high level of support as they transition to adulthood. The LifeSet program provides one-on-one assistance for foster youth working to gain employment, continuing their education, and seeking housing.
Funding for the expansion of services is coming through a partnership between the national nonprofit and Washoe County and is a part of Youth Villages’ drive to expand effective services for transition-age youth across the country. To launch LifeSet, Washoe County applied for and was awarded a three-year grant of $1.2 million in startup funding from Youth Villages.
LifeSet is the largest program model, helping transition-age youth, who reach adulthood in foster care and is the only program to have demonstrated impacts in a number of areas of a young person’s life in a large, randomized controlled trial. Young people, who have experienced foster care may struggle in the transition to adulthood, especially when working to overcome childhood adversity. The evidence-based, LifeSet program model, puts young people in the driver’s seat of their lives, with a trained specialist by their side to navigate the complexities of early adulthood. Specialists meet with young people at the location of the young person’s choosing, face-to-face weekly, helping them set and achieve their goals around housing, transportation, education, employment, health and relationships, through experiential learning. Since 1999, LifeSet has helped more than 28,000 young people in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
“We’re so pleased to be partnering with the Washoe County Human Services Agency to add LifeSet to the array of services the county offers young people, who reach adulthood in foster care,” said Patrick Lawler, chief executive officer of Youth Villages. “We’ve been so impressed with the county’s vision and commitment to ensuring that each young person, who experiences foster care, gets the support they need to reach their potential as adults.”
HSA’s current Independent Living Program provides individualized services to youth aging out of foster care, or recently aged-out of foster care, with the goal of achieving a successful transition to adulthood. LifeSet will successfully supplement the existing Independent Living Program by focusing on core areas of service, which include establishing positive relationships and connections, safety planning and crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, and continuous assessment and planning.
“We are so excited to partner with Youth Villages to bring a proven, national model to help Washoe County’s youth in foster care,” said HSA Interim Director Ryan Gustafson. “Our youth in foster care have had a difficult beginning. This is a great opportunity for them to benefit greatly from a program such as LifeSet. I look forward to seeing how this partnership guides those transitioning out of foster care along a productive path to adulthood in our community.”
About Youth Villages
Youth Villages is a national leader in mental and behavioral health, committed to finding the most effective solutions to help children, families, and young adults overcome obstacles and live successfully. Working through direct services, partnerships with innovative public agencies and advocacy, Youth Villages collaborates to bring positive change to child welfare, children’s mental health and justice systems. Our 4,000 employees, serve more than 39,000 children and young adults in more than 100 locations in 26 states and D.C. Youth Villages has been recognized by the Harvard Business School and U.S. News & World Report and was identified by The White House as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented nonprofit organizations.
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