A home away from home for runaway youth

Janus Youth Programs provide shelter, housing assistance, street outreach - and hope

BY JODIE GILMORE For the VBJ

"Every youth we work with started in a family, and deserves to end up in one."

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Erinn Frisbie_Erinn Frisbie Photography

That's Dennis Morrow, executive director of Janus Youth Programs, Inc., describing the driving -force behind the nonprofit organization's integrated continuum of care for runaway and homeless youth in Portland and Southwest Washington.

Though many people may not think Clark County has a homeless youth problem, the numbers tell a different story. According to Laura Plymale, administrative director for Janus' Southwest Washington division, the branch organization's services help over 650 youth and families every year.

Unlike the streets of Portland, where homeless youth are a much more visible presence, their Vancouver counterparts, camping out in Leverage and Orchard parks, in parked cars, or underneath area bridges, live a more shadowy existence. "Vancouver is blind to the problem mostly because the homeless population is very covert here," Plymale said. "Kids are good at hiding."

Serving Oregon youth and families since 1972, JYP got its start in Southwest Washington after a 1995 study conducted by Clark County officials found an extreme need for runaway and homeless youth services in the area. JYP partnered with the Vancouver Housing Authority, the Council for the Homeless and Evergreen School District 112 to open its first shelter here and since then they have added a new program every two years over the last 10 years, according to Plymale.
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In Clark County, JYP operates two shelters, two housing assistance programs and a street outreach program:

• Oak Bridge Youth Shelter - The first shelter opened by Janus in Clark County, in 1996, Oak Bridge provides family reunification and mediation services and aftercare support, mostly for young people who have run away from home.
• Oak Grove Youth Shelter - Opened in 1997 to provide a secure haven for runaway youth picked up by police, Oak Grove seeks to reunite and strengthen families while creating a safer community.
• ACORN - An acronym for Assistance Creating Options for Residential Needs, the Clark County program started in Feb. 2008, serves young adults that have nearly completed their basic education and demonstrated the ability to maintain income and meet expenses.
• PATH - Janus' newest Clark County program, Progressive Access to Housing, is still in the funding stages and will start later this year. PATH is similar to ACORN, but serves a youth population with higher needs, such as disabilities and addiction issues, providing a higher level of financial assistance.
• Yellow Brick Road Washington - Outreach workers and community volunteers focus on providing information, referral and crisis intervention services directly to youth living on the street. The program, started in September 2007, includes The Perch, a day-services center.

The majority of JYP's funding - 92 percent - comes from state and federal sources, with recent state budget cuts definitely hurting JYP's Washington services. This year's budget cut of about 25 percent caused JYP to close long-term transition housing program My House and forced the group to layoff seven workers to trim costs in order to keep its Oak Grove shelter open.

Right now, JYP's Washington State programs are operating with a deficit of $50,000, according to Plymale. Despite the obvious fiscal strain, she is still bullish on the future of JYP in Clark County - mainly because of a recently-awarded $60,000 federal American Recovery and Reinvestment grant. Part of those funds will be used to update Oak Grove's kitchen, which was originally built to feed five residents at a shelter that now accommodates as many as 11 young people.

Another cause for optimism is the increase in community support for JYP even as state funding sources continue to dry up. "The [economic] stress is high in the community, but in general, businesses and people are stepping up and supporting our programs better than ever," Morrow said.

For example, Northwest Personal Training staged a triathlon with a portion of the proceeds going to JYP. The organization has also received in-kind and service donations from local businesses including Costco, Target, Starbucks, Sunrise Bagels-Bagels, Hollywood Video, Big Lots, FedEx Office and many others.

Plymale said JYP was still operating at a loss in Washington, and could use even more help. Items on JYP's wish list include financial donations, as well as food and clothing, personal hygiene articles such as toothbrushes, and school supplies.

"The county and city have offered tremendous support by recognizing the needs of youth in our community," Morrow said. "They have invested in all of our programs, including funds recently allocated for remodeling the kitchen at Oak Bridge."

Although private donations play a critical role in keeping JYP programs operating, the biggest gift businesses could provide would to "be a voice for these youth," according to Morrow.  Calling it a "no-cost contribution," Morrow says it's important for the community to understand who these young people are - and to that end, Morrow and his staff offer presentations to businesses and their employees on the services JYP provides.

JYP already has made great strides. Before its Oak Bridge shelter opened in 1996, the closest runaway shelter in Washington State was in Tacoma. Today, JYP remains the only resource for young people in need of emergency shelter and crisis counseling in Clark County.

 "We can keep these kids in their local community and, as a result, increase the likelihood that they can return safely to their family," Morrow said. "We consider ourselves the ‘emergency room' for teens and have evolved into playing a crucial role at the intersection point of family crisis, runaways, homeless youth, the state child welfare system and the police."

Sidebar:  Janus Youth Programs in Southwest Washington by the Numbers

Annual Clark County budget:  $1.2 million

Employees in Clark County:  29 full and part-time, approximately 17 subs

Number of young people served in Clark County in 2008:

Oak Grove - 395 "episodes," or contacts with troubled youth
Oak Bridge - 491 episodes
ACORN - housed 20 young adults

YBRW - 2,914 contacts with homeless youth

Average shelter stay:  Three days (less than the state average)

Percentage of youth that return home safely from Oak Grove:  93 percent

Percentage of runaway youth in Portland that were from Clark County before Janus started operations here:  11 percent

-- info compiled by Jodie Gilmore

Non-Profit Economy

Although Janus Youth Programs is a nonprofit organization, it's important to remember that it is also a business with a $1.2 million annual budget in Clark County.  According to executive director Dennis Morrow, the nonprofit sector is the eighth largest in the U.S. and that on average, nonprofits purchase seven times more than people donate.

Some of the examples of how nonprofits support the larger economy include van and car repair, grocery purchases, insurance premiums and building maintenance.

"People need to make the connection between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors," Morrow said. "It's a mutual partnership."

-- Jodie Gilmore