Street Outreach to Youth Victims of Crime

Covenant House California (CHC) is proposing to serve 750 young people aged 18-24 who are actively experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles and are vulnerable to – and have experienced – victimization by crime and other violence. They will be provided food, valuable safety information, clothing, transportation, shelter, assessments, community-based interventions, gateway services, crisis intervention, criminal justice system assistance, connections to mental health and medical interventions, referrals, life skills, legal aid, education support, intensive case management, and Positive Youth Development activities.

The goal of this project is to provide street-based services to youth experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles who are between the ages of 18 and 24 who have been subjected to sexual abuse, exploitation, violence, identity theft, physical abuse, and other forms of trauma and to build relationships with those youth and assist them into stable housing, ultimately preparing them for independence and illuminating pathways toward upward mobility. Street outreach engagement is the gateway to stable housing and safety. Further, this street outreach engagement is the gateway to a continuum that thoughtfully takes into account the needs of youth victimized by crime; human trafficking case managers fully trained pursuant to California Evidence Code §1038.2, leveraged trauma-informed legal aid, the use of the evidence-based RTI International's Outcomes for Human Trafficking Survivors instrument for case planning, and an intentional environment in which victims of crime, exploitation, and trafficking can heal.

The objectives of this project are to A) assist a minimum of 750 unduplicated young people, B) make a minimum of 3,000 contacts of 15 minutes or more on the street (and use those contacts to distribute items that address safety and nourishment), and C) provide 300 young people with intakes to emergency shelter (i.e., CHC’s ‘Safe Haven’ program).

As a result of this project, a minimum of 750 unduplicated young people in Los Angeles will be safe from the dangers of the street and its corresponding risks, will be encouraged in a strength-based environment by staff with lived experience, and will have a safe place to work on their ultimate transitions to stability and sustainability. At the same time, they increase their protective factors and experience improvements in well-being and social connectivity.