Covenant House New Orleans

Human trafficking direct care services for survivors includes assistance to support human trafficking survivors - medication, clothing, safe transportation, and other hardship assistance. The organization's skilled team coordinates family reunification for the survivor is the best options and where possible, travel arrangements with the most optimal security safeguards for the individual's situation are made via airplane, railway, or bus transportation. When airplane travel is best, the covenant house team works with the transportation security administration to ensure victims of trafficking successfully board and arrival at their destination where family or security is present to facilitate a safe arrival. Additionally, the organization leads the greater new orleans human trafficking task force, which is a coalition of local and federal law enforcement, and service providers committed to the prevention of human trafficking in the greater new orleans area through education, outreach, and collaboration. The task force's primary goal is to collaborate in sharing and disseminating information, contacts, and protocols related to the existence, prevention, and response to human trafficking in the greater new orleans area.

Transitional living/rights of passage the organization's transitional living programs, often referred to as "rights of passage or rop, are where young men and women take their boldest steps toward independence. Youth live in rop for up to 18-24 months, where they tap their potential and plan for the future. Here they build basic life skills and financial literacy, participate in educational and vocational programs, seek employment with long-term advancement and career prospects, and work toward moving into their own safe and stable housing. Our staff support each young person on their journey toward sustainable independence and a hope-filled future. A total of 40 unaccompanied youth was served via rop services during fy24 with an average daily census of 38 youth. Additionally, a total of 20 families were served with transitional housing services in fy24.

Permanent supportive, rapid rehousing, and community housing the permanent supportive housing (psh) , rapid rehousing (rrh), and community housing programs provide housing to youth and young families through scattered-site apartments, where they receive ongoing case management and behavioral health services. The organization helps chronically disabled youth and youth entering the work force to secure psh and rhh, respectively, by covering a portion of their rent, a portion that dwindles as their capacity for independence increases. A total of 106 unaccompanied youth were provided community housing assistance via psh, rrh or community housing support services during fy24 with an average daily census of 56. Community apartments programs are an important part of our continuum of care and these programs serve as critical transitional steps for youth striving to achieve self-sufficiency and ending their experience with homelessness.

Young families programthe young families program provides emergency services, short- and long-term housing, nourishing food, and medical and mental health care to pregnant and parenting youth and their children. The organization also offers young families access to free childcare services, parenting support, and a full range of educational, vocational, and job placement services. This holistic plan provides young parents with the support they need to grow into responsible and caring parents, capable of supporting their families financially and emotionally.

Health and well-beinghomelessness impacts young people's physical and mental wellbeing in many ways, and because youth are still developing cognitively, physically, psychologically, and emotionally, those impacts can have deep effects. This is even more the case for young people of color and those who identify as lgbtq, who face unique challenges associated with racism and prejudice. Covenant house welcomes all young people facing homelessness with unconditional love and absolute respect and provides them access to a range of health and well-being services that they can use to heal and rediscover their potential. Our trauma-informed, resilience-focused programs and services range from medical care at our on-site health centers to yoga classes, music lessons, counseling, group activities, and sports. In these activities, young people retake control over their lives, build on their strengths, and nourish their self-confidence. The organization served a total of 841 crisis center and rop youth via a combination of support service, mental health, and health clinic wellness contacts during fy24.

Street outreachin chno vehicles and on foot, outreach workers go out to the neighborhoods, riverfronts, parks, and other places where youth facing homelessness often seek refuge. They offer food and counseling and invite them to come to covenant house, where their immediate, basic needs can be met. Through sustained contact, our outreach workers build trust with the young people, the first step toward encouraging them to come into our shelters and connect to our services. The organization served 239 homeless youth with street outreach services including but not limited to educational information, nutritious food items, referrals to resources, and/or bus tickets across the country to reunite them with family or relatives during fy24.

Drop-in services (formerly the community service center)covenant house supports young people on their journey from crisis care to independence in an ongoing relationship that bolsters their capacity for independent living and prevents their return to homelessness. Our drop-in services for physical and mental health care and educational, vocational, and legal support remain available to many. Within this program we offer aftercare services including counseling and intervention services, and work-related instruction and experience through the white dove landscape program. The organization's partners in service include tulane medical center adolescent drop-in clinic, the department of justice, office for victims of crime combating human trafficking sub-recipients eden house, new orleans family justice center and jewish family services.

Public education and preventionthe organization uses of a variety of platforms to inform and educate the public, government officials, and young people themselves about youth homelessness and human trafficking. We employ websites, social media, newsletters, school-based programs, talks, lectures, and peer-to-peer events across our federation to raise awareness of the causes and impacts of youth homelessness and of the signs that a young person might be experiencing homelessness or human trafficking. During fy24, the organization made 2,363 contacts with youth in schools, churches and community centers sharing information on its programs and homeless prevention. This is a critically important element of the organization's work as it provides information about services to youth in spaces where they may not be seen as at risk for homelessness.