Finding their way

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Teens and Transitions

• Finding their way

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Navigating the Wheel of Life
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Learning Objectives

• Identify significant teen transitions
• Learn communication techniques to recognize or
  celebrate important life events
• Learn how to effectively encourage teens to
  explore healthy growth opportunities

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Stay Alert

• Tune in to the things that seem important in
  their daily life.
• Notice how teen spends their days so you can flag
  changes.
• Ask how they feel about different transitions.
• Note how teen talks about transitions with
  friends.
• Talk about important transitions in your own
  adolescence. 
• Watch for signs of happiness, joy, stress,
  anxiety, or depression surrounding change.

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Voices of Youth
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Celebrate good timesoh yeah

• Talk regularly - and casually (teens hate "the
  big talk") - about the transitions you see that
  they are tackling.
• Recognize these transitions through small gifts,
  privileges, words, or deeds. 
• Celebrate with a party, a family dinner, or just
  a special time alone. 

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What to do?

• Point teen toward structured, goal-oriented
  activities where recognition and appreciation are
  built in. 
• Identify extracurricular opportunities that will
  promote their development through the progression
  of skills or contributions.  Some organizations
  such as summer camps, service-learning clubs, and
  Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have embedded rites of
  passage.
• Encourage teen to invest time and effort in
  clubs, activities, or athletics.

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KEY STEPS TO SUCCESS

• 1. Self Care skills
• 2. Community Connections/Resources
• 3. Educational needs/goals plan
• 4. Health/Mental Health needs
• 5. Affordable housing availability
• 6. Employment options/opportunities
• 7. Crisis management planning

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• Whose on your side ?
• (aka whose got your back?)

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• The first and most fundamental task of successful
  teen transitioning is to see whose on the team
  and identify what will help the youth explore
  their chosen path

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Impediments to successful transitions

• Youth who have poor or no literacy skills
• Youth who fear speaking out/asking for what they,
  because they are afraid of being labeled or
  stigmatized
• Youth with substance abuse/behavioral issues
  (drinking, drugs, or being very volatile
  psychologically)
• Youth who have complex, multiple needs.
• No supportive Adults

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Safety matters(handout)

• Unwanted sexual solicitation
• Bullying
• Substance use (or abuse)
• Lack of caring relationships with adults and peers

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Online Sexual Solicitation

• 30 of teen girls who used the Internet
  frequently had been sexually harassed while they
  were in a chat room.
• 37 of teens (male and female) received links to
  sexually explicit content online.
• 30 of teens have talked about meeting someone
  they met online.
• 19 knew a friend who was harassed or asked about
  sex online by a stranger.
• 33 of teen girls and 18 of teen boys had been
  asked about sexual topics online. (Dewey, 2002
  Polly Klaas Foundation, 2006)

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• In one state's multiyear study of gay,
  lesbian, and bisexual students in grades 9-12
• 34 were threatened or injured at school,
  compared with 7 of heterosexual students 25
  skipped school because they felt unsafe, compared
  with 5 of heterosexual students and 
• 45 attempted suicide, compared with 8 of
  heterosexual students. 

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Bullying (cyber and real world)

• Putting others down.
• Playing pranks.
• Sharing personal information publicly
• Stalking someone.
• Committing other overt attacks upon a person.

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How can we tell when Transition is a success?
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Signs of Success

• Self-Control and Behavior Regulation
• Social Confidence
• Empathy
• ?

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Creating a Timeline

• A
• Transition Goal Timetable
• will serve as a work in progress guide for
  teens as they plan for independence

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ACTIVITY
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• What about
• Chronic Medical Conditions
• Foster Youth
• Adjudicated Youth
• Disabled Youth

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At Risk TeensNeed

• Proven Self care techniques
• A committed collaborative team
• A concrete roadmap or timeline
• Community resources (medical, housing and social)
• Adequate financial support

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The Silent Epidemic

• Suicide is the second leading cause of teen
  fatality in Oregon

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A Youth Driven Collaborative team that assists
the teen in navigating the transition to
independence is the first critical step to
long-term success

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• In 2003, the homeless population was estimated
  to be
• 49 African-American
• 35 White
• 13 Hispanic
• 2 Native-American
• 1 Asian-American
• and while Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender
  and Questioning youth make up only 10-15 of the
  Foster Care population
• they comprise approximately
• 20-42
• of homeless youth

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National Fact Sheet 2007 Child welfare League
vulnerable Youth

• In 2004, 22,718 children aged out of out-of-home
  care. 
• In 2004, 8 of teens ages 16-19 (or 1,138,000)
  were high school dropouts, a 36.5 decrease from
  2000. 
• In 2005, 8 of teens age 16-19 were not enrolled
  in school and were not working. 
• In 2004, 1,262,000 children ages 12-17 needed but
  did not receive treatment for illicit drug use in
  the past year. 
• In 2004, 1,444,000 children ages 12-17 needed but
  did not receive treatment for alcohol use in the
  past year. 
• In 2003, 2,226 children under age 20 committed
  suicide, a rate of 2.6 per 100,000 children in
  the population.

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Facts continued

• In a study of young adults who had spent a
  year or more in foster care between the ages of
  14 and 18, 25 had experienced post-traumatic
  stress compared with 4 of the general adult
  population. 

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Having their say.

• .. young people today generally tend not to have
  much of a say in society, they generally tend to
  be dismissed. And when youre a sub-set of a
  sub-set, you know youre young and youre gay or
  lesbian, or whatever, then you get pushed aside.
  So I thought if there were more of us we could
  actually achieve a chorus
• 18 year-old African- American young woman,
  member of a gay, lesbian and bi-sexual support
  group

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Interactive Module (15 min activity)

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Transitioning youth need strong foundations to
ensure lifelong stability
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Kinship Connections and Self Care

• Work closely to help youth identify supportive
  people already in their lives
• Help teen find ways to re-connect/maintain their
  culture and identity
• Identify potential familial/community resources
  when youth loses their way after obtaining
  independence
• Interweave fun and stress reducing activities
  into the planning timetable

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Community Resources

• Library based youth programs can provide
  opportunities for teens to develop positive
  relationships with adults and peers
• Local churches/places of worship are
  underutilized resources for teens
• Public community (YMCA/YWCA, Boys Girls Club)
  centers offer numerous services to teens in
  transition

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Educational goal planning

• 1. Clarify what the teen does and does not want
• 2. Attempt to find mutual goals and purpose
• 3. Create a safe environment for honest dialogue
• 4. Gather and use facts directly related to the
  needs of the teen to make a sound educational
  plan
• 5. Encourage teen to share their thought process
  to reinforce their commitment

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Health and Well Being

• Create medical and mental health records folders
  with and for teens to take with them when they
  leave the system. Taking charge of their well
  being is an important lifelong skill.
• Help youth insure medical coverage will remain
  intact PRIOR to their reaching age 18.
• Check with the Department of Rehabilitation
  (DORs) as their primary mission is to assist
  people with disabilities in obtaining and
  retaining employment to maximize their ability to
  live independently in their community

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Housing

• Explore housing options and finances with youth
• Create and implement a housing plan that includes
  contingencies
• Help teen develop housing savvy and connections
  within the community prior to transitioning to
  adulthood

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Putting it all Together!

• Support and maintain strong kinship bonds for
  teens
• Listen and trust youth
• Focus on the positives and the skills that young
  people already have
• Provide adequate financial resources

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How does this relate to me?

• Remembering we are all on common ground

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RESOURCES USED www.youthcomm.org
Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in the
Child Welfare System Synthesis of Research
on Disproportionality in Child Welfare An
Update Robert B. Hill, Ph.D., Senior
Researcher, Westat
Young peoples support and campaigning groups
A review and Good Practice Guide Summary Report
March 2005 Funded by a grant from the Carnegie
UK Trust Debi Roker and Louise Cox Trust for
the Study of Adolescence (TSA) 23 New Road
Brighton BN1 1WZ 01273 693311 www.tsa.uk.com
droker_at_tsa.uk.com