United Way of Massachusetts and the Launch Initiative
YTFG published its updated Well-Being Framework in 2021 to offer a set of concrete and actionable recommendations for youth-serving system leaders, policymakers, and public and private funders for improving policy and practice to support the well-being and well-becoming of young people throughout adolescence and into adulthood. Since its release, the framework has been used by a variety of organizations to strengthen their work, from foundations, to public agencies to community-based organizations. This blog series is intended to highlight innovative examples of how organizations have put YTFG’s well-being framework into action.
In 2019, Amanda Shabowich was a YTFG fellow and was integrally involved in the development of its updated well-being framework. At the same time, her employer, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, was chosen to be the backbone organization for Launch, a multi-year initiative funded by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development designed to provide individualized education and career coaching to young people living in subsidized housing. The convergence of these two projects gave Amanda a rare opportunity to apply what she was learning in her own community. “I wanted to breathe the domains into the work on the ground,” recalls Amanda.
With the well-being framework in mind, Amanda and her colleagues set their sights beyond the outcomes of getting a job and graduating from high school or college. They began to look more closely at what young people identified as the barriers to reaching these outcomes and structured the initiative so that coaches could help young people overcome them. They also provided opportunities for coaches to process what they were learning from young people and to have their own opportunities for self-care and professional development, especially given the demands of implementing the initiative during COVID.
Some of the things that looked different as a result of the focus on well-being included:
Access to free and culturally relevant individualized therapy with a local mental health professionals of color at New Generations Consultants and Associates;
Funds for young people to practice weekly self-care;
Emergency supports to help young people address barriers such as paying off tuition balances, phone bills and buying clothes for work;
Weekly affinity sessions to provide opportunities for peer interaction and support; and
Advocating for a policy change, including ensuring that new income would not be figured into rent.
The frame of well-being also led to some changes in how they were measuring the Initiative to look beyond the hard data related to jobs and graduation. A social emotional learning (SEL) survey measured the impact of coaching on young people’s social emotional well-being, including elements such as how Launch helped them to set goals, establish priorities to reach goals, plan for their future, identify barriers, work toward overcoming the barriers and manage setbacks. By examining how Launch impacted this broader set of outcomes, the evaluation was able to capture what it means to be on a journey of well becoming, even if job and graduation goals were not initially met.
Even beyond the Launch Initiative, the well-being framework has influenced the way that United Way works on behalf of opportunity youth. Young people are paid to review proposals to assess whether applicants share their perspectives about what it takes for young people to thrive. Well-being language is also infused into their young adult pathways strategies. It also helps them educate their partners about the needs of opportunity youth.
“Our funder for Launch was a houser, and they typically hadn’t thought beyond their duty to house young people”, said Amanda. “Launch allowed all of our partners to learn what engagement with young people looks like beyond traditional education or job attainment outcomes – to focus in on things like their sense of self, their ability to set goals, and their ability to navigate setbacks…In essence, to be on the well-being and well-becoming journey.”
For more on Launch, see Launch Initiative Helps Opportunity Youth in Boston Achieve Their Education and Career Goals