Oklahoma Association of Youth Services

PROJECT PURPOSE

Our agencies invest an extremely high percentage of our funding to direct services to meet the needs in our communities, often sacrificing capital repairs and improvements. Our proposal will enhance the transformational services provided to children, youth, families, and the communities we serve. The funding will provide immediate support and propel our community-based services forward, meeting constituent needs identified throughout the Covid pandemic that will have far-reaching social-emotional, and ultimately, economic implications. YSAs are poised to fulfill these tasks, but we need upgrades ranging from professional development to capital outlay to boldly meet this challenge. The requested funding is explicitly requested to intentionally expand our service reach and will not require additional financial support from the state to continue with the services described throughout this proposal. YSAs across the state boast a total net worth of more than $97 million. We invest in our communities and are major employers who significantly contribute to our local economy. We know that the services we provide work because we employ former clients that have turned their lives around and have emerged as strong, hard-working, voting citizens who give back and are committed to making a difference in Oklahoma.

EVIDENCE

Most of the clients we serve have high ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores. While we cannot decrease these scores, we see transformational changes through the programs and services that increase hope and protective factors with those clients. By reducing barriers to service delivery and risk factors in our facilities, we will greatly limit any stoppage of services that we have experienced in the past in order to follow CDC guidelines or due to power interruptions at our residential facilities. The services provided are researched and evidence based, proven to be effective.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The state?s ?vulnerable? population has dramatically expanded. Those who would have once been defined as ?privileged? now find themselves needing housing, food, behavioral support, and other services. We reach them with transformational services that remove barriers to high-quality services to vulnerable populations that too often cannot access services by providing free services in schools, clients homes, and our offices. Our agencies meet critical needs in both service and digital desserts, even when this requires a mental health professional driving 90 miles to meet the needs of our families. Each community is unique; challenges faced can vary greatly. Our community-based agencies can respond with innovative solutions quickly. Sometimes this is through food distribution, prevention services, residential emergency care, transitional living programs, or the only source for high-quality mental health care for many of our smaller schools. Beyond our traditional services, we respond to school requests that are experiencing heightened increases of students with suicidal ideations and self-harming. Additionally, we provide overflow services for other agencies, open our doors for students to continue virtual learning, and implement pro-social activities as many opportunities are less available due to the pandemic.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

The Oklahoma Association of Youth Services (OAYS) has a 45 year history of measuring performance through peer review and other internal evaluation processes for each of our 38 member agencies. We will utilize an efficient timeline measured against budget and performance metrics to gather qualitative and quantitative data through quarterly project reports. OAYS has created a dashboard that will be utilized to evaluate agency, cluster, and statewide progress/benchmarks/data and will provide alerts of concerns before they become potential deficiencies.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma