DCS offers the Chafee program to assist youth/ young adults in various areas to support a successful transition to adulthood. Activities and programs include but are not limited to help with education, employment, financial management, housing, emotional support, and assured connections to caring adults. The Chafee program is known as Older Youth Services (OYS). The OYS program includes Independent Living Services, Transition to Adulthood Services, Extended Foster Care Services (Collaborative Care), and Voluntary Services. The focal points of OYS are to increase youth voice, offer the opportunity to practice interdependence and gain the skills to build the youth's social capital. The goals are to prepare youth to emerge into adulthood and move identified youth into a permanent housing setting that the youth can continue to live in once DCS closes the case. This RFP seeks vendors experienced in serving at-risk youth and young adult populations using best practice models and authentic youth engagement to provide older youth services on behalf of the State. The RFP is interested in creative programming designed for youth / older youth that focuses on experimental learning in education, housing, employment, skill-building, and brokering services.
