Another Outlook on Outcomes

Back in the mid-90’s I was program director for Willamette Bridge Programs (WBP), the runaway and homeless youth services component of Janus Youth Programs in Portland, Oregon. WBP had a range of programs including street outreach, crisis shelter, emergency shelter, transitional living, independent living, case management, and an entrepreneurial program. During this time we were experimenting with a new approach. Instead of simply creating programs for young people, we started hiring young people to work in the programs. Initially, we weren’t even sure why we were hiring them, but we thought it was a good idea, so we found ways for them to be involved -- including Youth/Adult Liaison Teams (whatever they were), a pizza business, and peer counseling opportunities.

The young people we hired weren’t the “successful” graduates of our programs. We were hiring young people right off the streets, often young people who were staying at Street Light, our 30 bed overnight emergency shelter program. The reason I’m bringing this up today is because last week I heard from one of those young people.

Well, at least he was a young person back then. Today he’s pushing 30, and I hadn’t heard from him in well over a decade. Like so many of the young people we work with, he disappeared one day and we had no idea how things eventually turned out for him. Thanks to him emailing me out of the blue, now I know.

He and I have been exchanging a few emails back and forth and, for the next few days I’m going to be sharing some of what we’ve been discussing (he has graciously given me permission). I do so because our discussion is so relevant to the topic I addressed in this month’s JTFest Online Library article; An Outlook on Outcomes. I think you’ll find his perspectives as interesting as I have.

So, to begin, today I’ll share the relevant parts of the initial email I received last week.

Hello there, Jerry.

We worked together at Willamette Bridge Programs about a decade ago. I was the youth member of the Youth Adult Liaison Team, which in turn was mostly a front for E.A.T.P.Y.E.*, as I recall. When I first started working for Willamette Bridge Programs, I was still staying at the Streetlight Youth Shelter.

It doesn't really matter if you remember me specifically. Because of the programs that were in place in Portland all those years ago, and because of the chance I was given to work directly for WBP, I was able to remove myself from the cycle of homelessness. The unique opportunities presented to me as a youth taught me the skills I needed to take control of my life and leave the day to day existence of the streets behind. It takes bold conviction to even consider hiring a homeless youth.

It seems to me that you have worked a great deal on the “problem end” of things, but likely have little indication of the long term effects these programs and opportunities can have. There's not really an “exit poll” with which to gather statistics on the transition from homelessness to... um... Home-ed-ness. Does it really work? Or is it simply a temporary fix?

My thanks to you is the report that all these years later, all is well. I am now married, with children, and composing orchestral music. My life is now mundane, predictable, productive, and all of those wonderful things that one might reasonably hope for life to be. There is no question that a large part of my success as an adult owes to your work, and the chance you gave me to be more just than some ‘street scoundrel’. By providing a path of “do’s” I was given a foundation upon which to build my life. After that, the don’ts came naturally enough.

It's not much, but again, thanks.

I wrote back to him, which began a dialog concerning outcomes. I’ll share more of that discussion with you tomorrow.

*EAT PYE, or Entrepreneurial Action To Promote Youth Employment, was the name of the WBP’s youth-lead pizza business.