Foster children in Clark County who really aren’t children anymore will get a boost from a three-year, $225,000 grant from the Andrus Family Fund, a program of the Surdna Foundation of New York City.
The grant will go to Innovative Services Northwest, a local nonprofit agency that works with people who struggle with disabilities and disadvantages of all sorts. Innovative is noted mostly for its early-intervention programs for developmentally delayed children, but it also runs supported-employment programs for adults who need special training and ongoing supervision to pull down a paycheck.
The Andrus grant will allow Innovative to launch a similar employment program for high-needs young people, ages 15 to 24, who are “aging out” of foster care. The new Youth Impact Program will provide specialized employment and other support services to young people facing multiple challenges — for example, substance abuse, mental health issues, pregnancy and parenting — as they leave foster care.
Learn more at http://innovativeservicesnw.org.
