Restore NYC

See schedule oin fy23, Restore received 427 referrals, served 460 survivors or those at risk and served 253 survivors in our core services.1) client services:in fy23, 223 clients were served under the client services program, among which 215 clients received case management, 38 clients received clinical counseling and 9 received group counseling. In addition, we provided 203 clients with short-term resource coordination and 17 clients for emergency housing which equaled 121 nights. We continued to refine the long-standing case management services and expanded on the counseling service. The average length of case management service remained to be about two years. With the federal and state grants available under the case management service, we launched a vulnerability assessment to maximize the amount that each eligible client could receive with the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion. Group counseling was a new initiative launched during fy23. After careful planning and research, we came up with a 10-week wellness group counseling curriculum and implemented it with both in-person and virtual groups. The group counseling curriculum included individual intake and closing sessions, group-oriented activities and contents for psycho-education, community building, and trust building. Each group was led by two licensed staff members. The group counseling was also open to the clients from external anti-trafficking programs. Staff members received very positive qualitative and quantitative feedback from the participants. In fy23, we also brought on a contracted licensed mental health counselor who was dedicated to providing trauma-informed and goal-oriented individual counseling to the spanish-speaking clients as one of our responses to the high service demands. This largely helped to shorten the waiting time and number of clients waiting for the service among those needed when such service was super limited in new york city. 2) housing:in fy 2023, Restore served 79 clients in our housing program, 55 in rapid re-housing, and 27 in flexible-funding. Our transitional home served 10 survivors and provided emergency housing via restore-specific hotel partnerships for 17 survivors. Thirteen clients were assisted with emergency housing vouchers through hud and 93% of all clients were housed within 6 months of intake.restore's leadership in housing includes co-chairing the shelter subcommittee on the brooklyn human trafficking task force (bkhttf) alongside safe horizon, brooklyn da's office, and the fbi new york office. Restore was a part of the domestic violence sub-committee as part of new york city continuum of care (coc). The coc oversees all hud funding for new york city.restore continues to operate its ada accessible transitional home, which has provided transitional living to survivors exiting a trafficking situation and has the ability to provide shelter to survivors that may present with a physical disability. The home went through a lot of leadership transitions and we were able to hire a program manager of residential services who came on board on october 1, 2023.we also hired a housing case manager who oversees flexible funding and post housing placement retention. Due to our commitment to follow best practices for survivors, we increased flexible funding assistance from 12 months to 24 months.3) economic empowerment:in fy23, we served a total of 87 clients within the economic empowerment program, creating a positive impact on their journey toward economic freedom. Recognizing the need for continuous improvement, we underwent a comprehensive revision of the program's mission, vision, logic model, and curricula. In the past year, we have continued to offer essential services, including job readiness classes and job placement support. These services aim to ensure that clients acquire employability skills, enhancing their preparedness for the job market. In fact, clients enrolled in the direct hire job placement service experienced a significant increase in average annual earnings at their first job placement, rising from approximately $7 per hour at intake to approximately $17. Recognizing the evolving needs of our clients and identifying gaps in our services, we also introduced a new job retention service. This initiative extends beyond merely securing employment, placing a strong emphasis on the sustained success of individuals in the workplace. In this service, the job placement specialist provides ongoing support, incorporating motivational interviewing, and regular check-ins for a year post-placement, acknowledging that the ability to maintain and thrive in a job is a crucial component on a client's economic empowerment journey. Our commitment to fostering entrepreneurship was highlighted through the hosting of two in-person pitch nights for graduates of our entrepreneurship training class. These events provided a space for these entrepreneurs-in-training to present their business ideas and plans, fostering a sense of community and support. The impact of these pitch night events was substantial, as we distributed a total of $35,800 in entrepreneurship grants to assist with startup costs, facilitating their journey toward launching small businesses. Additionally, for clients who were already enrolled in our entrepreneurship incubation service and had successfully launched their businesses, we observed a 22% increase in their earnings within 12 months post-business launch.building and strengthening partnerships has truly been a cornerstone of our success this past fiscal year. Collaborating with renowned companies such as google and blackrock, we hosted self-empowerment and financial literacy workshops, enriching the educational experience for clients. Additionally, our continued collaboration with existing partners like the writer's guild, soharlem, horticultural society of ny, henry street settlement, and others has allowed us to provide comprehensive support, including vocational training, job referrals, and esl classes. Additionally, near the end of fy23, we were selected as an agency site for the nationwide deployment of a future in training hospitality job readiness program which was created by marriott international and the global fund to end modern day slavery. We will deliver this curriculum to survivors interested in pursuing hospitality careers beginning in the new fiscal year.4) impact:in january 2023 Restore released its annual impact report to the anti-trafficking field, impact unlocked, where ten leaders outlined best practices for measuring impact and evaluating a program's effect on survivors of trafficking. It also offered a pathway for common frameworks to assess and communicate outcomes that will help the anti-trafficking field get closer to working smarter and ending human trafficking. The report was shared with over 800 professionals at nonprofit service providers, law enforcement organizations, federal and state government agencies, and private foundations across the country, as well as with over 7,500 Restore supporters.restore continued to assess organizational impact in two ways: using the freedom index (fi) framework which measures participants' progress toward freedom in five domains while they are enrolled at Restore (housing stability, job security, living wages, mental well-being, and perception of safety), and executing a quarterly client satisfaction survey (css). In 2023, 80% of participants experienced improvement in their overall fi scores from intake at Restore to the 12-month mark, and 54% experienced improvement in their overall fi scores from the 12- to the 24-month mark. Restore's enrollment in the listen4good's client satisfaction measurement capacity-building program, which started in january 2023 and will end in june 2024, resulted in streamlining of the css questions starting in april 2023 and benchmarking its results versus other human services organizations. Only the following two questions can be benchmarked: 1) how likely is it that you would recommend Restore to a friend or family member in need? And 2) in general, to what extent did Restore treat you with respect? Css results for the third quarter of 2023 (for clients actively enrolled from july 1, 2023 to september 30, 2023) were as follows: 1) Restore's net promoter score (nps) was 80 for n=74 css respondents versus 61 nps for 101 other human services organizations. 2) 92% of n=62 css respondents said Restore always treats them with respect, versus 82% for 97 other human services organizations. 3) respondent ratings for eight (73%) of the 11 satisfaction questions with a 1 to 5 rating were above the 4.0 target. Fi and css scores were also analyzed for significant score differences among diversity, equity and inclusion (dei) subgroups to ensure equity in service provision.