Testimony
My name is Lisa Goldsmith, I am the Senior Director for Programs at DIAL/SELF Youth and Community Services in Greenfield Massachusetts. DIAL/SELF provides a full continuum of services to homeless youth and those at-risk of homelessness. These include school, street and event-based outreach, information and referral services, services to meet basic needs, case management, emergency sheltering, life skills education, transitional living, and supported affordable permanent housing. We serve Franklin County and the North Quabbin area, both very rural areas in Massachusetts.
The points I am going to make are to show that unaccompanied youth are across Massachusetts and not just in cities like Boston, and I am going to talk about rural issues and the importance of outreach.
I am here as a representative of my agency in support of House Bill 1862 (An act providing housing and support services for unaccompanied homeless youth). We support this legislation because we feel it is critical for the youth we work with, particularly those in the more rural areas of the Commonwealth, where there are limited services available. Funding programs that provide outreach to youth to meet them where they are at, whether this is at school, the skate park, a job fair, or walking the streets is necessary to get youth into services in order to prevent them from becoming involved with other systems, such as DCF, adult shelters, the criminal justice system, alcohol/drug programs, etc. Providing outreach to youth is also important in our area because public transportation is extremely limited. Furthermore, many youth who have had difficult experiences with adults in their lives are wary of adults and generally youth are uncomfortable reaching out for help, so it is critical that we go to youth, we build relationships with them, and we offer open access at our drop-in center, so they can come to us when they are ready. A good example of this is a young man we worked with, who was living in a tent and would check in with us on the street and in our drop-in center. After nearly a year of this, he stated that he was ready to move out of the tent. We have seen that reducing barriers for youth has proven to be a successful model for connecting and working with youth to prevent homelessness and all of the associated risks.
Another point I would like to make is that there are a very limited number of agencies that are currently providing these kinds of services in Massachusetts, particularly in the western part. My agency provides services to hundreds of youth each year, but we know that there are many youth who are not served because we have limitations on what we can provide or they are out of our service area, in cities like North Adams or Holyoke, which each have a high number of homeless youth, but there are no services specifically for this population in those cities. We need additional resources in Massachusetts to be able to reach all youth.
Although I was unable to bring youth with me today, I would like to share a story of a youth we have worked with to demonstrate the benefits of these types of programs.
Share Jessica’s story-attached
This young woman was really vulnerable and has some cognitive limitations, but she has made significant changes in her life because she had support. I believe that if she had not been provided services, she would have continued living in unstable and unsafe places, and this would have had led to much more negative results.
It is my agency’s hope that the Committee will report the bill out favorably. We believe that investing in youth before they enter other systems will lead to better outcomes for youth and will save the Commonwealth a great deal of resources.
Thank you for your time.
My name is Lisa Goldsmith, I am the Senior Director for Programs at DIAL/SELF Youth and Community Services in Greenfield Massachusetts. DIAL/SELF provides a full continuum of services to homeless youth and those at-risk of homelessness. These include school, street and event-based outreach, information and referral services, services to meet basic needs, case management, emergency sheltering, life skills education, transitional living, and supported affordable permanent housing. We serve Franklin County and the North Quabbin area, both very rural areas in Massachusetts.
The points I am going to make are to show that unaccompanied youth are across Massachusetts and not just in cities like Boston, and I am going to talk about rural issues and the importance of outreach.
I am here as a representative of my agency in support of House Bill 1862 (An act providing housing and support services for unaccompanied homeless youth). We support this legislation because we feel it is critical for the youth we work with, particularly those in the more rural areas of the Commonwealth, where there are limited services available. Funding programs that provide outreach to youth to meet them where they are at, whether this is at school, the skate park, a job fair, or walking the streets is necessary to get youth into services in order to prevent them from becoming involved with other systems, such as DCF, adult shelters, the criminal justice system, alcohol/drug programs, etc. Providing outreach to youth is also important in our area because public transportation is extremely limited. Furthermore, many youth who have had difficult experiences with adults in their lives are wary of adults and generally youth are uncomfortable reaching out for help, so it is critical that we go to youth, we build relationships with them, and we offer open access at our drop-in center, so they can come to us when they are ready. A good example of this is a young man we worked with, who was living in a tent and would check in with us on the street and in our drop-in center. After nearly a year of this, he stated that he was ready to move out of the tent. We have seen that reducing barriers for youth has proven to be a successful model for connecting and working with youth to prevent homelessness and all of the associated risks.
Another point I would like to make is that there are a very limited number of agencies that are currently providing these kinds of services in Massachusetts, particularly in the western part. My agency provides services to hundreds of youth each year, but we know that there are many youth who are not served because we have limitations on what we can provide or they are out of our service area, in cities like North Adams or Holyoke, which each have a high number of homeless youth, but there are no services specifically for this population in those cities. We need additional resources in Massachusetts to be able to reach all youth.
Although I was unable to bring youth with me today, I would like to share a story of a youth we have worked with to demonstrate the benefits of these types of programs.
Share Jessica’s story-attached
This young woman was really vulnerable and has some cognitive limitations, but she has made significant changes in her life because she had support. I believe that if she had not been provided services, she would have continued living in unstable and unsafe places, and this would have had led to much more negative results.
It is my agency’s hope that the Committee will report the bill out favorably. We believe that investing in youth before they enter other systems will lead to better outcomes for youth and will save the Commonwealth a great deal of resources.
Thank you for your time.
Jessica’s Story
We first met Jessica when she was 18 y.o. She is now 22 y.o. and living in our permanent supportive housing.
This is Jessica’s story:
My life has been a living hell for as long back as I can remember.
Living with drug addict parents, and my mother’s abusive boyfriend, going through many foster homes and being separated from my brother and sister nearly destroyed me.
I can’t even count how many different schools I’ve been to.
Eventually, I stopped trying to make friends.
Living with almost every family member I had and being rejected by everyone, was the worst.
Having nowhere to go, I tried living with a guy that I thought was nice, at the time. But, he wasn’t. He was an abusive control freak. I was stuck in a horrible situation.
I didn’t want to live anymore.
My dad then told me about DIAL/SELF. I didn’t believe him when he said they could help. But, despite my doubts and because I didn’t have any other options, I went to check it out.
I expected a disappointment as soon as I opened the door. To my astonishment, my dad was right. DIAL/SELF changed my life.
DIAL/SELF gave me a safe place to live and their staff looked after me more than anyone ever had.
They helped teach me how to live on my own and become more responsible, independent, and confident.
Thanks to their help, I now have my GED and moved on to my first apartment-at DIAL/SELF’s 196 Federal St. building.
The apartment is Section 8 housing, which helps me pay my rent. In one year, if I still need it, I can keep the Section 8 subsidy and move anywhere in the United States that I want.
Thanks to DIAL/SELF, I never have to worry about being homeless again. DIAL/SELF and their staff showed me a kindness that I will never forget.
I will always be grateful.
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