Three Newly Updated Tip Sheets on the Exchange!

Three tip sheets—Disseminating Evaluation Results, How Adolescent Boys Learn: Tailoring Prevention Messages, and Engaging Young Men—have been updated and are now available on The Exchange!

• Disseminating Evaluation Results – This tip sheet was originally created with the goal of guiding Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grantees through creating their own plan for dissemination. The updated resource prompts grantees to reflect on which project findings are appropriate to disseminate, who the intended audience should be, and which formats best present their findings. The updated tip sheet includes additional resources and examples of evaluation formats for grantees to reference as they develop their own dissemination plan.

• How Adolescent Boys Learn: Tailoring Prevention Messages – Why focus an entire tip sheet on adolescent boys? The literature reveals that males often report receiving less health-related information, and male adolescents are often overlooked in curricula used for PREP programming. This tip sheet was originally written to address this gap, and to increase the capacity of those serving young men in their APP programming. Updates to the resource presents additional considerations on the impact of race and cultural viewpoints on perceptions of masculinity, the positive impact of male facilitators, and other topics.

• Engaging Young Men – This tip sheet was also created with adolescent men in mind. Its focus is on helping facilitators increase engagement with the young men in their programs. Additional considerations in the update have been made to advocate for the role of male mentors in young men’s lives. Additionally, a table has been added that lists and summarizes innovative programs designed specifically for young men. 

Save the Date for an Upcoming Interactive Virtual Training

The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) invite you to join the training, Connecting the Dots: Using Data to Measure Social Capital and Build Social Connections for Vulnerable Youth. 

This interactive training will discuss the latest research on social capital, as well as lessons from the field. Social capital refers to connections, networks, or relationships among people and the value that arises from them, and can be accessed or mobilized to help individuals succeed in life. Speakers will share resources and practical strategies to successfully capture data and integrate social capital in youth serving settings.

The training will feature professional insights from: 

• Laura Erickson, Social Science Analyst, ASPE
• Sofi Martinez, Social Science Analyst, ASPE
• Anisha Chablani-Medley, Chief Program Officer, Roca, Inc.

Announcement for the 2020 National RHY Grantees Training

The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) continues to monitor the national impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and we understand its effect on the runaway and homeless youth community. Based on current information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we have made the decision to pivot the National RHY Grantees’ Training 2020, to a completely virtual experience.

Your health and safety is of utmost importance and our top priority. Though our training event is still months away, the uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and impact to our communities has led us to plan for a virtual experience this November in lieu of an in-person gathering. We believe this is the most responsible path forward to maintain safe conditions for our attendees, presenters, exhibitors, and the communities you serve.

This decision was not made lightly, as we know many depend on the training and networking opportunities the in-person training provides. We are in the early planning stages for rethinking and reshaping our typical training format. Rest assured we will bring you a virtual experience that is inclusive and reflects FYSB’s commitment to advancing best practices and bringing thoughtful and dynamic speakers and presenters to inspire and inform the work you do. The virtual experience will include opportunities to connect with other RHY providers from across the nation and will offer trainings on diverse topics. As we continue to plan we will share details and information as soon as it becomes available.

We would like to take this time to recognize the efforts of our planning members who have worked hard to create an in-person event for 2020. We are fortunate that we are able to make this decision early in our planning and we are excited to offer a virtual experience where even more RHY providers are able to participate.

We look forward to sharing the training schedule and registration details in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Runaway and Homeless Youth Training and Technical Center directly at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Darling
Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Acting Associate Commissioner
Family and Youth Services Bureau

This notification was disseminated to the RHYTTAC listserv on July 13, 2020. Download the letter from Commissioner Darling here.

Estimating the Prevalence and Probability of Homeless Youth

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) seeks research proposals for estimating the prevalence of homeless youth using existing sources of administrative data such as child welfare agencies, juvenile justice and correctional systems, schools, and hospitals. Up to $2 million will be awarded, with minimum funding of $400,000.  

To learn more information and to submit an application, please see the following:

• HUD's Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFA)
• Grants.gov (for registering and submitting an application)

The deadline to submit a proposal/application to HUD is July 1, 2020. Please contact Ophelia Wilson at [email protected] for any questions.

FYSB RHY Program Recruitment Notification

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is gearing up for its 2020 grant review season.  We will soon begin identifying qualified candidates to read, score, and evaluate grant applications in response to FYSB’s Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) programs anticipated Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs).  Grant reviews are tentatively scheduled to be held between June and July 2020. 

Approved Reviewers will be invited to join virtual panel review teams that work remotely using secured web-based technology to evaluate federal grant applications. Reviewers will receive monetary compensation for the successful completion of an objective panel review period. 

The two FOAs across FYSB's RHY programs are listed below:   

• Basic Center Program (BCP)
• Street Outreach Program (SOP)

Please note that reviewers will be selected for RHY’s National Communication System (NCS) and Runaway and Homeless Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center (RHYTTAC) grant reviews from the pool of responses to the BCP and SOP recruitment results.

Two recruitment flyers, for BCP and SOP, are provided for your review.  To be considered for participation as a FYSB grant reviewer for one or both of the RHY programs, please complete the following two steps:  

1. Log into your Reviewer Registry Profile.
2. Click on the “Sessions” tab within your profile and add the session code found on the flyer for the program which you are interested in participating in. 

Please Note:  If you are interested in both programs, both session codes may be added to your profile.

Completion of session registration is requested no later than COB on Friday, May 22^nd, 2020.  Please monitor your email for informational updates. For more information please email [email protected].