Youth homelessness is on the rise — and a 55-year-old New Haven agency serving homeless and at-risk youth is becoming an affiliate of a leading, 108-year-old family mental health and support agency to take on the challenge together.
Here’s a shorter way of saying that:
Youth Continuum has become an affiliate of Clifford Beers.
Clifford Beers — which Farnam House also joined earlier this year in order to pool resources— made the announcement in a release issued Thursday.
Pictured in these photos: Youth Continuum staff and youth.
The full text of the release follows:
Clifford Beers, the leading provider of affordable behavioral health services in the greater New Haven, CT, area, and Youth Continuum, the leading provider of services for young people experiencing homelessness in New Haven County, today announced their agreement to affiliate and join forces to battle the growing problem of youth homelessness throughout greater New Haven.
As an affiliate, Youth Continuum will become a subsidiary of Clifford Beers which provides a wide variety of behavioral health and wellness services to children, adults, and families in New Haven and Fairfield Counties. Youth Continuum will continue to operate as a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in its current locations and will continue to offer, without interruption, all the housing and support services it currently provides to young adults in New Haven. Youth Continuum joins the Clifford Beers affiliate system alongside Mid-Fairfield Child Guidance Center, Inc. located in Norwalk, CT, which became a subsidiary of Clifford Beers in 2018.
“We couldn’t be more excited that Youth Continuum, known for its exceptional commitment and high level of expertise in reaching and serving young people, will be joining the Clifford Beers family,” said Dr. Alice Forrester, the CEO of Clifford Beers. “Joining forces with other agencies that share our passion for helping individuals in need streamlines operations, reduces operating costs, and enables the community to take full advantage of our combined knowledge and expertise. This affiliation will allow us to jointly serve young adults who are experiencing homelessness in a more seamless way, with a broader array of services that can help them to thrive.”
Launched in 2019, the Clifford Beers affiliate system is designed to simplify and coordinate community access to critical social services and to reduce affiliate operating costs by sharing common administrative functions such as human resources, billing, compliance, and finance.
“By joining the Clifford Beers family, we can take full advantage of the combined size and resources of our two agencies. This will better enable us to achieve our core mission of helping young adults ages 14 – 24 find safety, stability, and a path to independence by preventing and addressing homelessness,” said Paul Kosowsky, CEO of Youth Continuum. “We are thrilled this affiliation with Clifford Beers will allow us to expand access to the many types of support services young people need to transition successfully into adulthood.” Mr. Kosowsky will continue to serve as CEO of Youth Continuum and report to Dr. Forrester who serves as CEO for Clifford Beers.
Rochelle Cummings, president of the Clifford Beers Board of Directors, notes that the uncertainty of state and federal funding makes consolidation a particularly smart move. “Nonprofit funding can be unpredictable, and policy shifts in Hartford and Washington, D.C. could bring serious challenges to both agencies and the young people they serve. This affiliation will allow both agencies to better weather funding and environmental changes and help ensure that young people continue to have access to the safe housing and behavioral health services they need.”
Margo Tucker, president of the Youth Continuum Board of Directors, adds, “I am thrilled that through this partnership with Clifford Beers, Youth Continuum will be able to provide a broader range of services to the most vulnerable population of New Haven. Integrating housing access with comprehensive mental health services is vital for the success and development of our youth.”
Both agencies receive substantial funds from state agencies and rely on the generosity of the individual donors and foundations to support their mission of providing care for the most vulnerable individuals.
Contributed Photos
I hope that this combining of resources will allow for a 24/7 youth center programming of all kinds, a youth shelter for homeless youth, an aged out of foster care support group, a teen mental health drop in crisis center, and other resources and supports to help youth aged 13-24 to get back in their feet and become successful in life and escape the toxic home life that led them to need these services.