Scholars Program expects to serve 800 middle, high school, and college students with the following key program activities: ? Educational Counseling and Advocacy: Counselors help ensure youth are fully able to access the services, rights and benefits afforded them by engaging their “team network of support”- social workers, attorneys, education rights holders, school officials, and caregivers. ? College Guidance, Counseling, and Tutoring: College counselors serve as the key source of support and guidance and as a resource throughout a student’s college experience. Emphasis is placed on academic, professional, and personal goal setting. Participants are required to attend one-on-one visits and monthly check-ins both in person and via telephone or video chat. Counselors will often meet more frequently with youth who are experiencing an immediate crisis or exhibit a need for higher intervention services. Tutoring services are also made available on an as-needed basis. ? Workshops, College Tours, and Enrichment: Through monthly workshops and tours of local college campuses, students explore college and career options, develop cultural awareness and enhance their academic skills all while “de-mystifying” the arenas of higher education. Encouraging access to activities like summer camps, sports lessons, and other extracurricular activities, UFC seeks to keep scholars on a path of self-discovery as they learn about hidden passions or interests. ? Financial Aid: Scholarships and “Persistence Grants” are made available to students who demonstrate need. These funds are designed to prevent scholars from dropping out of their college program due to unforeseen financial challenges. Outcomes for the Scholars Program include: 1) 90% of students will graduate high school 2) 85% of students will matriculate to college 3) 70% of college scholars will earn a college degree The Pathways to Independence Program (Pathways) is a service-enriched housing program that will serve 120 youth (ages 18 to 26) experiencing homelessness with a furnished apartment, 1:1 case management, mental health services, career and education counseling, and post-transition support. Designed to support a permanent transition to self-sufficiency, UFC also serves an ever-growing group of nearly 200 active Pathways alumni through our Alumni Services program. At the heart of Pathways is the one-on-one relationship each resident has with their Advocacy Counselor (AC). Post-program support is provided by the Alumni Program including the Youth Empowerment Council. The council provides alumni the opportunity to meet regularly with program staff and peers for community building, advise the staff and board from a lived experience perspective, and inform policy-related decisions. Outcomes for Pathways include: 1) 60% of residents will gain or maintain employment 2) 70% of residents will exit to stable housing 3) 60% of residents will maintain contact with the Alumni for six months

UFC's vision is to change the face of foster care in Los Angeles. We believe the way to have a deep and lasting impact in the lives of foster youth is to be with them over the long haul. By building relationships with youth over an extended period, UFC's programs focus on commitment and consistency. By forging trusting relationships with the youth in our programs, we are addressing the single most critical emotional need for foster youth. With the proper support and guidance, a job and a place to live, former foster youth can make a successful transition to adulthood. In Pathways we provide foster youth ages 18-24 with the support that will allow them to prepare for independence. We do this by surrounding them with positive role models, creating enduring relationships, challenging them to better themselves and providing them with the safety net of a service-enriched housing program. The program design is based on the belief that intentional, long-standing relationships with each student is the most effective framework from which to provide services. United Friends utilizes the following strategies that lead to short, medium, and long-term objectives: 1. Reach receptive foster youth at key life entry points and transitional moments, 2. use qualified, trained, and caring staff to implement relationship and strength-based programs, 3. provide long-term, consistent and committed relationships, establish a supportive familial dynamic and a sense of community, 4. provide individualized services with a team-based and holistic approach, and 5. establish rigorous evaluation leading to continuous improvement

For 40 years, UFC has provided in-depth services designed specifically to help current and former foster youth become successfully independent after they leave the foster care system. Recognizing that higher education is the best possible track for former foster youth to achieve this, UFC began providing financial assistance to foster youth attending college over two decades ago. UFC brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in working with foster youth, which helps us to address the particular needs of foster youth in their pursuit of higher education. In addition to helping to meet the general needs that most foster youth will have in common, such as housing, family issues, transportation, and mental health barriers, UFC works with youth individually to address the specific needs of each person. Some students will only need crisis intervention. Some will require more academic than personal support. Some students simply need a mentoring relationship with someone they trust, who can help them develop the problem-solving skills that we all must cultivate to cope with the demands of adolescence and eventually independent adulthood. Some students will need high levels of involvement and service and some will need considerably less. Each youth is an individual and has unique needs. This level of service is only possible through the type of consistent stable relationships accomplished through the youth/counselor pairing. Today, UFC's education and housing programs continue to evolve and improve to meet the changing needs of the young people we serve.

One of UFC's core values is to embrace program evaluation that leads to excellence and impact both within the organization and in the broader community. As an organization that believes in the importance of data-driven success, UFC has been using collected data to develop, test, evolve and grow its programs. We've finalized an Outcomes Framework that sets forth key outcomes, milestones, and indicators for each of our programs to track and measure program effectiveness in helping current and former foster youth become self-sufficient. The organization recently upgraded its online-based data management system to Social Solution’s Apricot. This new system will make data entry more user-friendly and less cumbersome to gather data. Apricot will continue to allow users to record each "touchpoint" with program participants, track goal progress, and create reports used to evaluate the effectiveness of our program activities. This information is used in individual supervision meetings, program team meetings, and at the senior leadership level. Expansion and program efforts will also be measured against our goal of number of youth served and strength of community partnerships. Finally, United Friends is in the final stages completing a third-party summative evaluation. We have received initial reports in draft form and are excited to share with our partners when the final versions are available.

United Friends has been changing the lives of foster youth since 1979. Led by founder Nancy M. Daly, early advocacy efforts helped establish the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services and the Foster Care Independence Act. In its early year, Ms. Daly united a group of friends who shared her resolve to build a healthy community at Maclaren Children’s Center in El Monte. After the Maclaren site closed, UFC focused its efforts in education, starting a scholarship program for college-bound foster youth in 1990 and a college readiness program in 2003. These two programs ultimately merged, creating an 11-year support continuum that follows foster youth from the seventh grade through the completion of a bachelor’s degree. Because of the long-term commitment to every child, United Friends scholars graduate from high school at a rate of over 93% with 85% matriculating directly to college! United Friends co-founded in 2002 the nation’s first housing program for transitional-age foster youth called Pathways to Independence. Through the Pathways program, former foster youth have access to services that address their housing, career, physical and mental health needs. Today, Pathways is the largest housing program for transition-aged youth in Los Angeles County and has helped over 70% of its youth successfully transition into stable housing and begin a life of self-sufficiency. In 2019, and in collaboration with FosterEd, United Friends began a small expansion into the Antelope Valley region of Los Angeles County. We are excited to continue to strengthen and expand Scholars Program in the Antelope Valley into the future. UFC is also prioritizing strategies to ensure the voices and insights of current and former participants and people with lived experience inform and guide the agency. We have already added former participants and foster youth to our board and staff, and we see the empowerment and alumni council as additional tools to ensure former foster youth and program participants inform our work. UFC is also expanding mental health services and working to ensure all services are trauma-informed to enhance outcomes for all program participants. The need is particularly acute in our housing program, where 67% of our residents need therapy, but only 28% can access it. UFC is aiming to contract with additional therapists, build stronger collaborations with other agencies and integrate holistic mental health support services. Finally, UFC is also aiming to elevate the voices of its program participants to ensure local and state-wide policies best reflect their service needs. UFC has formed a staff policy committee, which will collaborate with the empowerment and alumni councils to support targeted policy objectives. None of these projects yet have dedicated programmatic funding, and thus their development depends on general operation dollars.