Specifications include, but are not limited to: 1) Establish the position of one or more Independent Living Skills Coach(s), to be assigned no more than 25 eligible students per coach at one given time. 2) Send each prospective youth’s name and date of birth to the Departmental Analyst in the Older Youth and Education Unit at MDHHS to obtain proof of eligibility. 3) Assess the needs of the referred youth by using the Casey Life Skills (CLS) Assessment, found at https://www.casey.org/casey-life-skills/. Reassess all youth annually. The Contractor may utilize a different assessment tool, if pre-approved by the Older Youth and Education Unit at MDHHS. 4) Screen youth using the DHS-5523 and DHS-5524, Human Trafficking Indicator Tool: For youth who no longer have an open foster care case, use the DHS-5524, Human Trafficking Indicator Tool – Closed Cases, at time of entry into the program, and at minimum on an annual basis. For youth with an open foster care case, use the DHS-5523, Human Trafficking Indicator Tool – Ongoing Cases, when there is a reasonable cause to believe that he/she is a victim of human trafficking. If a youth is positively screened as a victim of human trafficking and the youth is under the age of 18, a referral to Centralized Intake (1-855-444-3911) must be made immediately. If a youth is positively screened as a victim of human trafficking and is over the age of 18, he/she must receive referrals for, or assistance in, identifying services to address his/her needs. Refer to the Human Trafficking of Children Protocol or policy SRM 300. Immediately notify the MDHHS Human Trafficking Analyst any time a youth his positively screened as a victim of human trafficking, Child-Welfare-Policy@michigan.gov. 5) In collaboration with the youth, prepare an individualized service plan, based on the assessment that outlines the youth strengths, needs, and specific goals. Review the plan with the youth, at minimum, quarterly and update as needs change. 6) Advise and support youth in all areas of life skills, to include, but not be limited to: assistance with housing, employment, education, budgeting/financial management, opening and maintaining a bank account, identifying/maintaining appropriate relationships, career planning, parenting, medical/mental health, finding community resources/funding, and accessing resources such as Youth in Transition (YIT)/Education and Training Voucher (ETV) funding, Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care Services, Fostering Futures Scholarship and Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative (MYOI) services. 7) Make referrals to community organizations based on the youth’s needs, in particular those needs for housing, physical and mental health services and life skills training. Follow-up with service providers to ensure that that youth’s needs are being met appropriately...
