Who are the people you serve with your mission? Describe briefly.

Low-income transition-age opportunity youth (ages 16-25 years) in the Antelope Valley, who are not in school or employed. Many of our youth have been in foster care, are justice-affected and/or are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. We actively recruit youth of color and young women for our vocational training program in classic car restoration.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Paper surveys, Case management notes, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Other means

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve

With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship with them or shifted power - over decisions, resources, rules or in other ways - to them?

Our supportive services program is constantly being modified and revised to improve outcomes and methods. We receive feedback and ideas from community partners and other members of youth service coalitions that we participate in which inform and guide our decision-making process. We now allow our youth to take the lead in overcoming employment barriers (completing GED or diploma, obtaining driver license/permit, repairing credit, expunging criminal record, securing public benefits, ensuring stable housing, etc.).

What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?

It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection

Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.

We are actively searching for additional program instruction staff and intend to hire a person of color to increase the shared life experience of our staff and to ensure that youth of color applying to our program will see someone they can immediately identify with, who looks like them and may share lived experiences of racism, discrimination, and disenfranchisement.