Massachusetts Adolescent Outreach Program (MA Outreach)

Youth in foster care who will be aging out of the foster care system or recently have

The MA Outreach program assists teenage intensive foster care youths in preparing to live independently and to achieve permanency after exiting care. The goals of the program are to help youths earn high school diplomas, continue education, avoid nonmarital childbirth, avoid high-risk behaviors, avoid incarceration, gain employment, attain self-sufficiency, and avoid homelessness. Other goals include supporting youths' participation in higher education, achieving permanency through a connection to a caring adult, and identifying a support network.

Molly O’Neil

• Title: Director of Adolescent and Young Adult Services
• Agency/Affiliation: Massachusetts Department of Children and Families
• Department: Adolescent and Young Adult Services Unit
• Website: https://www.mass.gov/adolescent-and-young-adult-services
• Email: Youth.support@mass.gov

Publicly available information indicates there is some training available for this program. See contact info.

Manual Information

There is not a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

"What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?"

• Note: The following study was not included in rating Massachusetts Adolescent Outreach Program on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Greeson, J. K., Garcia, A. R., Kim, M., & Courtney, M. E. (2014). Foster youth and social support: The first RCT of independent living services. Research on Social Work Practice, 25(3), 349–357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731514534900

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the Massachusetts Adolescent Outreach Program for Youth in Intensive Foster Care (Outreach) [now called Massachusetts Adolescent Outreach Program (MA Outreach)] as compared to support as usual (SAU) on changes in social support. Using data from the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs (MEFYP), this program focused on the outcome of social support for the Outreach program. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Outreach program or SAU. Measures utilized include the MEFYP Social Support Scale and questionnaires regarding gender, race, and ethnicity. Results indicate that at follow-up the effects of the program on the extent of social support did not differ between those in the Outreach program and those who received SAU, regardless of the racial/ethnic background of the young adults in the study. Additionally, the Outreach program did not contribute to elevated levels of social support as compared to SAU. Limitations include lack of standardized measures, lack of generalizability to other ethnic populations, and the sample consisted solely of youth receiving intensive, treatment-oriented foster home placement. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to criteria on the Scientific Rating Scale which requires that outcome measures be reliable and valid.

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