Youth Villages is opening a third round of philanthropic funding designed to help public agencies around the country expand services to transition-age foster youth.

Up to $3 million per jurisdiction will be available through the national nonprofit organization in a competitive process, with applications accepted through Oct. 1 for services launching in 2020.

Funding from Youth Villages is for three years and will match public dollars for launch and implementation of the YVLifeSet model. Funding will vary based on the scope of each project. 

Since 2017, the initiative has generated $26 million in public-private funds as part of an effort to help ensure all older foster youth have access to effective services that can help them become independent adults. This is the final round of match funding spurred from an initial philanthropic grant to Youth Villages from Blue Meridian Partners. More than 3,300 young people are receiving YVLifeSet services across the country this year.  

YVLifeSet is one of the only service models for older foster youth that has shown positive impacts across many areas of a young person’s life in a large, randomized controlled trial. The five-year study by MDRC showed the program decreased homelessness, increased employment and earnings, economic well-being, and mental health, and decreased domestic and partner violence. The model utilizes individualized clinical and best practice interventions at a critical time in a young person’s life – the ages of 17 to 22.

Youth Villages trains public agency staff or local private providers selected by the jurisdictions and provides program implementation, clinical and outcome evaluation support. The organization offers YVLifeSet through partnerships in Seattle,  New York City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Washington, D.C. Youth Villages implements YVLifeSet through direct services in Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon and Tennessee. 

For more information, go to partnerwithyv.org or email:  strategic.partnerships@youthvillages.org. 

About Youth Villages

Youth Villages is a national leader in children’s mental and behavioral health bringing help and hope to tens of thousands of children, families and young people across the U.S annually. The organization offers a continuum of evidence- and research-based programs, including its two national models: YVIntercept, which offers intensive in-home services, and YVLifeSet^TM, which gives transition-age foster youth a good start on successful adulthood. Youth Villages also offers foster care, adoption, crisis services and residential treatment. The organization 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. Learn more at www.youthvillages.org.