Covenant House New Jersey

Short-term housing and crisis care (formerly emergency shelter and crisis care):covenant House New Jersey welcomes all young people facing homelessness with unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support, as our shelter doors are always open, 24/7. Chnj provides high-quality services and programs to meet those needs, stabilizing a young person's situation, and helping them begin to consider their longer-term goals for education, employment, and career planning. We are expertly equipped to respond to the unique needs of young survivors of human trafficking, those who identify as lgbtq, and those who are pregnant or parenting. In fy 2023, we provide emergency shelter for 402 youth in our atlantic city and newark. 59% of youth exited shelter to a positive living environment.

Drop-in services (formerly the community service center):the newark and atlantic city youth engagement centers (yec) are the core of our service provision in north and south Jersey. There, we provide an array of important supportive services to residents and non-residential clients to encourage, engage and empower youth to move to a positive living environment. These services include case management, legal assistance, physical and mental health care, and through our dove learning center: career development, educational services, financial literacy, social navigation, and wellness all with a focus on resiliency. - legal support and advocacy: at Covenant House New Jersey our youth advocacy center (yac) is staffed by licensed attorneys providing legal assistance to our youth in a variety of legal matters including family law, landlord/tenant, municipal court, public benefits, immigration, and advocacy. The yac also works on advocacy projects and conducts educational groups for youth on a variety of legal topics. In the fiscal year 2023, our chnj legal team assisted 187 youth with legal services.- health and well-being: homelessness impacts young people's physical and mental well-being in many ways, and because youth are still developing cognitively, physically, psychologically, and emotionally, those impacts can have deep effects. This is even more the case for young people of color and those who identify as lgbtq, who face unique challenges associated with racism and prejudice. Covenant House welcomes all young people facing homelessness with unconditional love and absolute respect and provides them access to a range of health and well-being services that they can use to heal and rediscover their potential. Our trauma-informed, resilience-focused programs and services range from medical care at our on-site health centers to yoga classes, music lessons, counseling, spiritual services, as well as sports and other physical activities. Through these activities, young people retake control over their lives, build on their strengths, and nourish their self-confidence.covenant House New Jersey takes pride in its behavioral health department which provides an essential service within a safe and trusting environment so our youth can overcome the obstacles they face. Through early intervention and personalized care, youth are able to approach their treatment with confidence. Chnj provides on-site group and individual counseling as well as access to a consulting psychiatric apn. This extra level of mental healthcare, in addition to medical care helps youth meet their goals and overcome barriers to treatment. In fiscal year 2023, 41% of our youth in residential programs engaged in mental health services.- dove learning center (dlc): advancing educationally and preparing for the world of work are key to a young person's prospects for leaving homelessness behind. Either directly or through referral, we guide youth to appropriate educational and vocational opportunities, matching each young person's strengths and abilities with their career interests. We help them hone the skills they need to join the workforce, become independent, and turn their back on homelessness. In fy23, 255 youth gained or maintained employment and 77% of youth participated in resilience-building activities in the dlc.covenant House New Jersey has established an innovative learning environment, called the dove learning center (dlc), to further motivate young people to meet their goals. The dlc uses a blended learning curriculum that fosters autonomy, competence and resilience with a focus on five subject areas: education, employment, social competences, financial literacy, and physical wellness. In the fiscal year 2023, 224 youth engaged in on-site job readiness programs where 97 obtained employment while participating in chnj and another 94 were assisted in maintaining employment while engaged in services. 108 youth enrolled in school.

Rights of passage (rop): Covenant House New Jersey's transitional living programs, often referred to as "rights or rop, are where young men and women take their boldest steps toward independence. Youth plan to live in rop for 18-24 months, where they tap their potential and plan for the future. Here they build basic life skills and financial literacy, participate in educational and vocational programs, seek employment with long-term advancement and career prospects, while working toward moving into their own safe and stable housing. Our staff support each young person on their journey toward sustainable independence and a hope-filled future. In fiscal year 2023, 92 young people were assisted through our rights of passage transitional living programs located in asbury park, atlantic city and newark.

- street and community outreach: street outreach teams actively seek out young people experiencing homelessness who may need help. The team assists with critical safety needs by providing transportation to a safe shelter. Young people living on the streets can receive food, water, hygiene kits, clothing, blankets, and referrals to services such as shelter, medical care, employment, and education services. In fy23, we reached 149 youth in direct street outreach. - young families program: our program dedicated to serving young families is raphael's life House. In this program, our expecting or parenting young moms between the ages of 18-21 live with us for up to 18 months and receive 3 months of aftercare support once they leave. The goals of rlh are to provide a safe, stable, living environment; to help young mothers develop skills for maintaining housing, self-sufficiency, and productivity in the community; and to support young women and their babies with aftercare services once they move on from rlh. We also provide emergency shelter to parenting young moms at our emergency shelter in atlantic city. In fy23, we provided 40 young moms and 54 children with safe and supportive housing.- nancy's place: the nancy's place program provides supportive housing for youth with mental health disorders. In fy23, we served 11 youth.- permanent housing: the permanent housing program provides housing to youth and young families through scattered-site apartments, where they receive ongoing case management and landlord relationship navigation. In these programs a portion of youth's rent is covered by a sponsoring agency through a variety of government funding sources. We served approximately 125 people across our various permanent housing programs during fy23. -human trafficking victim services (htvs): chnj is the statewide provider of services for victims and survivors of human trafficking. The htvs team provides case management and linkage to resources for survivors throughout all 21 counties in the state. Services are available for all survivors regardless of housing status, age, gender identity or expression, foreign and domestic victims and all trafficking types. In fy23, the htvs program served 180 people.- program development: development services are the costs related to developing and sustaining New and existing programs, including related funding sources. - Covenant House action and research tank (chart): chart (Covenant House action and research tank) is an initiative of Covenant House New Jersey that conducts research, develops evidence-based strategies, and seeks solutions for complex problems such as homelessness and human trafficking. Our approach rests on 3 core pillars- training & advocacy, research, and services. We provide training & technical assistance and advocate with outside entities to improve services for victims & youth, we conduct research that is geared toward developing best practices that serve as a model for service providers, and we develop innovative practices that we integrate into our own services. Our goal is to improve and disrupt traditional models of care and contribute effective, evidence-based, and client-centered program approaches to local and national dialogues.