Covenant House New Jersey’s (CHNJ’s) overarching goal is to help homeless, runaway and trafficked youth move to a positive living environment. Covenant House addresses the critical social problem of youth homelessness and ensure that at-risk youth do not join the growing numbers of the adult homeless population, get involved in the criminal justice system or continue to fall prey to trafficking. By removing youth from the street, giving them a long-term, stable place to stay and providing a comprehensive set of services, CHNJ reduces the risk factors and conditions leading to a dangerous lifestyle and increases the chance that a youth will make a successful and safe transition to adulthood.

The strategies for accomplishing our goal entail combining a progressive continuum of housing options for youth with a comprehensive menu of supportive services tailored to the needs of each client. Youth coming directly from the streets seek refuge at our Crisis/Community Service Centers (CSC) in Atlantic City and Newark, emergency shelters that also house our supportive services. In addition to emergency shelter, Covenant House operates an array of specially-designed longer term residential programs for youth who are ready to take the next step towards independence. This includes our Rights of Passage programs in Newark, Asbury Park and Atlantic City; Nancy’s Place, a program dedicated to youth with severe mental health issues in Montclair; and Raphael’s Life House, a program for pregnant and parenting mothers and their babies in Elizabeth. The goal of these longer term programs is to provide a safe and supportive living environment for homeless youth while equipping them with independent living skills such as maintaining a home, finances and employment. Finally, CHNJ has a limited number of rental assistance vouchers through the HUD Continuum of Care Program that are available to help youth with their rental costs once they move out into their own apartment. In addition to providing a safe place to stay, youth are provided with on-site crisis intervention and intensive supportive services, which given their life experiences are absolutely critical to helping them address past and present trauma and move toward a positive and independent future. Our supportive services include: physical and mental health services, legal assistance, education, employment, financial literacy, and social navigation.

Covenant House New Jersey has been providing services to New Jersey’s homeless and at-risk youth since 1989. What began as a small van outreach operation in Newark and Atlantic City has, over thirty years, expanded to two emergency shelters serving North and South Jersey and five transitional and supportive housing programs throughout New Jersey. This expansion of existing services and programs and the development of new ones has allowed us to reach more homeless, runaway and street youth and better meet their needs. Presently, CHNJ has 189 beds available across the state for runaway and homeless youth. In addition to the physical infrastructure to execute its vision, CHNJ is supported by caring and capable staff, led by an experienced and visionary Executive Director, and governed by a highly qualified Board of Directors comprised of CEOs, attorneys, finance professionals and other business leaders who ensure fiscal and operational accountability. The agency’s finances are sound due in no small part to a robust development team, which actively cultivates relationships, hosts events and pursues private and public funding opportunities to support the agency’s work.

The organization’s progress is gauged through rigorous and on-going data collection. Case files, client outcomes, and program results are collected and analyzed internally through Social Solutions’ Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) database for data collection and monitoring. Some of the indicators include: number of youth served in the residential programs, number of positive transitions, number of youth enrolled in job readiness and education, number of youth who obtained employment and number of on-site medical visits. ETO has been fully implemented into our case management, communication and reporting processes. CHNJ is committed to program assessment and evaluation, and is continually exploring opportunities to enhance service delivery, quality of care to clients, and effective use of all funds.

Youth served at emergency shelter: 479 Youth served by CHNJ residential program: 612 Youth who received health assessments: 253 Youth who received mental health assessments/care: 350 Youth who received legal assessments: 324 Number of legal cases closed: 181 Number of young people who set and worked toward their educational goals: 429 Number of youth working toward employment through vocational training, job readiness programs: 343 Number of youth who were employed: 184 Number of youth who transitioned out successfully to positive living environments from a CHNJ site: 167