Covenant House New Orleans

Short-term housing and crisis care (formerly shelter and crisis care) - the organization welcomes all young people facing homelessness with unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support, and our shelter doors are always open, 24/7. Even during the worst public health crisis in a century, we quickly adjusted our procedures, provided for social distancing, and kept our programs going. We know young people experiencing homelessness can't wait for a crisis like this to be over. Their unmet needs for nutritious food, clothing, shelter, safety, medical care, and mental health care require immediate attention. Covenant House provides high-quality services and programs to meet those needs, stabilize a young person's situation, and help 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. Of the thousands of young people who find safety and sanctuary at Covenant House, our research indicates that approximately one in five are survivors of human trafficking. Young people experiencing homelessness are vulnerable to traffickers, who prey on their need for love, support, a safe place to sleep, and food to create a trauma bond with them. The organization has pioneered intake screening tools to quickly reveal a history of trafficking that young people, otherwise, may find difficult to name. We meet trafficking survivors' immediate needs for nutritious food, clothing, shelter, safety, and medical care. And we recognize their unique needs for extra levels of protection, including safe spaces at our site and/or transporting them to safe houses around the country. Total unaccompanied youth served during fy23 - 602; avg daily census - 46. Total young families program served during fy23 - 93; avg daily census - 5. Total crisis care and young families program served during fy23 - 692; avg daily census - 51.

Permanent supportive housing - the permanent supportive housing program provides housing to youth and young families through scattered-site apartments, where they receive ongoing case management and behavioral health services. The organization helps chronically disabled youth to secure permanent supportive housing (psh) by covering a portion of their rent, a portion that dwindles as their capacity for independence increases. Total unaccompanied psh youth served during fy23 - 26; avg daily census - 23. Community apartments and rapid rehousing (rrh) programs are emerging as an increasingly important part of our continuum of care. Within this program, the organization provided rrh assistance to 120, including mothers and children, with an avg daily census of 63. Grand total of psh and rrh youth and families served during fy23 - 146, with an avg daily census 86.

Transitional living/rights of passage - the organization's transitional living programs, often referred to as "rights of passage or rop, are where young men and women take their boldest steps toward independence. Youth live in rop for up to 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, and work 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. Total unaccompanied rop youth served during fy23 - 48; avg daily census - 24 . Total rop mother and children served during fy23 - 13; avg daily census - 5. Grand total rop youth and families served 61; avg daily census - 26.

Child protection services - Covenant House international (chi) and Covenant House New Orleans (chno) recognizes that safety is a key component in a therapeutic community and foundational to social work practice. In response to the safety needs of our youth, chi and chno has established a child protection committee charged with creating a common core of safety practices designed to reduce risk. The committee process is driven by the needs of the youth we serve, our mission, and our programs. The safety model's conceptual framework views risk management as an interaction among specific safety concerns, the vulnerabilities of at-risk youth, and the administration's capacity to shelter and protect youth proactively and respond to incidents quickly. The child protection system is an articulation that we will serve youth in a secure environment and that we will hold ourselves accountable for their safety. Youth come to us in states of crisis and providing them with a safe environment in which to heal is a fundamental part of our response to trauma and an essential practice in our field. In addition, chi is accredited by praesidium, a national leader in abuse risk management.

Health and well-being - homelessness impacts young people's physical and mental wellbeing 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, religious and spiritual services, and sports. In these activities, young people retake control over their lives, build on their strengths, and nourish their self-confidence. The organization served 6756 crisis center and rop youth fy23.

Street outreach - in vans and on foot, outreach workers go out to the neighborhoods, riverfronts, parks, and other places where youth facing homelessness often seek refuge. They offer food and counseling and invite them to come to Covenant House, where their immediate, basic needs can be met. Through sustained contact, our outreach workers build trust with the young people, the first step toward encouraging them to come into our shelters and connect to our services the organization served 226 homeless youth of which 226 were afforded a safe haven from the streets, including bus tickets across the country to reunite them with family or relatives during fy23.

Drop-in services (formerly the community service center) - Covenant House supports young people on their journey from crisis care to independence in an ongoing relationship that bolsters their capacity for independent living and prevents their return to homelessness. Our drop-in services for physical and mental health care and educational, vocational, and legal support remain available to many. Within this program we offer aftercare services including counseling and intervention services. The organization's partners in service include tulane medical center adolescent drop-in clinic and department of justice, office for victims of crime combating human trafficking sub-recipients eden House, the institute for indian development, jewish family services and sexual trauma awareness and response (star).

Public education and prevention - the organization uses of a variety of platforms to inform and educate the public, government officials, and young people themselves about youth homelessness and human trafficking. We employ websites, social media, newsletters, school-based programs, talks, lectures, and peer-to-peer events across our federation to raise awareness of the causes and impacts of youth homelessness and of the signs that a young person might be experiencing homelessness or human trafficking.. during fy23 the organization reached out to approximately 907 youth in schools, churches and community centers sharing information on its programs and homeless prevention.