Runaway and Homeless Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center (RHYTTAC) National Needs Assessment

Runaway and Homeless Youth Program

National Needs Assessment

The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center (RHYTTAC) have developed the National Needs Assessment survey as a tool for gathering feedback from Runaway and Homeless (RHY) grantees to support the development and delivery of training and technical assistance that is responsive to the needs of grantees operating various RHY-funded programs. Your feedback is valuable in accomplishing this goal. This assessment is voluntary and takes 20-30 minutes to complete. The information provided will be kept private and will not be used to make funding decisions, or other grantee-specific decisions.

Instructions for Completing the Assessment

This survey is structured to gather organization-level feedback. We encourage organizations to designate a representative to coordinate discussion and gather feedback internally on your organization’s preferences and training and technical assistance needs and submit one survey on behalf of your organization. An editable PDF document version of this survey tool is available to share and discuss with your colleagues. Please contact Dr. Melissa Kull, [email protected], with any other questions about the survey.

THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13). Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 20-30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The control number is 0970-0531. The control number expires on May 31, 2022.

Section 1. Background

BAC_1 Please provide the name of your organization. [Open Text Field – limit to 100 characters]

BAC_2 Please select your state or territory (drop down list of 50 states and 5 territories)

BAC_3 Which answer best describes the community(ies) served by your RHY program(s)? Please select one.

1. Rural

2. Urban/suburban

3. Primarily rural with urban/suburban area access

4. Primarily urban/suburban with rural service locations

5. Tribal grantee of reservation

BAC_4 Which of the following FYSB-funded RHY grants does your organization currently have? Select all that apply.

1. Street Outreach Program (SOP)

2. Basic Center Program (BCP)

3. Transitional Living Program (TLP)

4. Maternity Group Home (MGH)

BAC_5 Which category best describes the number of runaway and homeless youth served directly by your FYSB-funded RHY program(s) each year?

Please include only youth who are served with FYSB funding. If you operate more than one program, please provide the total number of youths served by all programs funded by FYSB.

1. Fewer than 25

2. 25 to 49

3. 50 to 99

4. 100 to 199

5. 200 or more

BAC_6 Which of the following types of non-FYSB funded programs does your organization provide for runaway and homeless youth (those funded through other sources)? Select all that apply.

1. Basic Center (or other short-term crisis shelter)

2. Drop-in Center

3. Host Homes

4. Maternity Group Home

5. Permanent Supportive Housing

6. Rapid Rehousing

7. Street Outreach

8. Transitional Living or Independent Living

9. None

BAC_7 Do your organization’s responses to this survey include direct inputs from executive leadership staff, direct program/practitioner staff, or both?

1. Executive leadership staff

2. Direct program/practitioner staff

3. Both executive leadership and direct program/practitioner staff

Section 2. RHYTTAC Utilization & Experiences

RUT_1 To the best of your knowledge, how many times have you or others in your organization used each of the following types of RHYTTAC training and technical assistance (TTA) in the last 12 months?

	None (1)	Once (2)	More than once (3)
TA Café
Webinar
Peer to Peer Learning Community
Guided Training Series
Virtual Training
Regional Training
Call, video conference, or e-mail consultation
Corrective Action Plans following monitoring
eLearning (self-directed learning on website)
Site-based training
Social media connections
Website Resources

RUT_2 Please indicate the usefulness of each type of RHYTTAC training or technical assistance used by you or your organization.

Response options will populate based on answers to the previous question.

	Not useful (1)	Somewhat useful (2)	Very useful (3)	Not applicable (99)
TA Café
Webinar
Peer to Peer Learning Community
Guided Training Series
Virtual Training
Regional Training
Call, video conference, or e-mail consultation
Corrective Action Plans following monitoring
eLearning (self-directed learning on website)
Site-based training
Social media connections
Website Resources

RUT_3 Please select the option that best reflects your level of agreement with this statement:

In the last 12 months, knowledge, resources, and/or tips received from RHYTTAC training or technical assistance services have helped my organization to improve outcomes for youth/young adults.

1. Strongly disagree

2. Disagree

3. Neutral

4. Agree

5. Strongly agree

99 Don’t know

RUT_4 If your organization did not use RHYTTAC services (i.e. training or technical assistance) in the last 12 months, please indicate the reason(s) why.
Select all that apply.

1. Too busy or not enough time.

2. It is difficult to find staff coverage to support participation in training and technical assistance activities.

3. Unaware of the RHYTTAC services available.

4. Did not know how to access RHYTTAC services.

5. Did not find content that fits training needs.

6. Concerns about the quality of RHYTTAC services.

7. Used other (non-RHYTTAC) sources of training and technical assistance to meet needs.

8. Other (please specify) (go to RUT_5)

9. N/A

RUT_5 Please list other reason(s) your organization did not use RHYTTAC services in the last 12 months. [Open text field]

Section 3. FYSB Monitoring

MON_1 Within your grant’s project period (up to 3 years), have you had a monitoring visit for one of more of your FYSB-funded RHY grants?

1 Yes
2 No

MON_2 What technical assistance would be helpful in preparing for monitoring visits?

1. Knowing what to expect for the monitoring visit

2. Knowing how to prepare for the monitoring visit

3. Understanding Corrective Action Plans

4. Creating responses to Corrective Action Plans

5. Other (please specify) (Go to MON_3)

MON_3 Please list what other technical assistance would be helpful in preparing for monitoring visits. (Open Text)

Section 4. Training Needs

TND_1 Now we would like your organization’s input on prioritizing audiences/groups for RHYTTAC training and technical assistance in general (then we will ask about prioritizing training topics).

Thinking of your organization’s needs, how important would it be for RHYTTAC training and technical assistance to focus on each of the following audiences/groups:

	Not important (0)	Somewhat important (1)	Important (2)	Very important (3)
Executive leadership
Program leadership
Program administration/ operations staff
Clinical staff
Case managers
Youth care workers
Volunteers/interns
Youth/young adult leaders/advisors
Community partner organizations or systems

TND_2 Please select which training topic(s) your organization believes RHYTTAC should make a priority to support your organization’s leadership and operations’ needs. Please only select those topics for which someone from your organization would likely attend a TTA event. Select all that apply.

1. Advocacy and public policy

2. Background checks

3. Board development

4. Contract management

5. Disaster or pandemic preparedness and response (including for COVID-19 or other public health crises, natural disasters, etc.)

6. Diversity, equity, and inclusion

7. Engaging community support

8. Fiscal management

9. HUD systems and Continuums of Care (CoCs)

10. Outcomes measurement

11. Program monitoring and evaluation

12. Program management

13. RHY-HMIS (Runaway and Homeless Youth – Homeless Management Information System) Repository/Data Standards

14. Staff recruitment

15. Staff retention

16. Staff safety

17. Staff training and development

18. Succession planning

19. Sustainability of RHY Programs

20. Volunteer recruitment/management

21. Other (please specify) (If selected, go to TND_3; otherwise go to TND_4)

TND_3 Please identify the other training topic(s). (Open text)

Section 5. Training Needs, outcome areas

Now we have several questions about the training topics your organization believes RHYTTAC should make a priority to support your organization’s practice and service delivery needs. We will ask you about training needs related to each of FYSB’s four core outcome areas for youth experiencing homelessness, and then we will ask about cross-cutting training needs that are not specific to an outcome area.

TND_4 What training and technical assistance topic(s) would most help your organization improve young people’s safe and stable housing outcomes?

Please only select those topics for which someone from your organization would likely attend a TTA event. Select all that apply.

1. Aftercare (post-program exit) services or counseling

2. Assessing housing/homelessness needs or outcomes

3. Collaborating with Continuums of Care

4. Coordinated assessments and coordinated entry systems

5. Crisis intervention techniques

6. Direct financial assistance to youth

7. Family strengthening, mediation, or counseling for housing stability

8. Federally funded housing resources/programs for youth (non-FYSB resources)

9. Host Homes or natural supports for housing stability

10. “Housing First” approaches for youth

11. Housing navigation

12. Landlord engagement

13. Outreach to youth

14. Prevention programs/practices (preventing youth homelessness/running away from occurring in the first place)

15. Rental assistance with services/rapid rehousing

16. Shelter-to-housing transition supports (from BCP/TLP/MGH)

17. Transitional Living Program/Maternity Group Home retention

18. Unaccompanied minors issues (legal, services, etc.)

19. Other (please specify)

(If TND_4= Other, TND_5 appears)

TND_5 Please specify other training topic(s) that would be helpful to your organization. (Open text field)

TND_6 What training and technical assistance topic(s) would most help your organization improve young people’s education or employment outcomes?

Please only select those topics for which someone from your organization would likely attend a TTA event. Select all that apply.

1. Assessing education, training, or employment needs or outcomes

2. Collaborating with secondary schools or supporting youth while in middle or high school

3. Collaborating with post-secondary education or supporting youth while in post-secondary education

4. Coordinating with local workforce development agencies

5. Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program (federal law and resources)

6. Post-secondary financial aid for youth or post-secondary education housing support

7. Understanding effective youth employment/career pathways programs/practices

8. Other (please specify)

(If TND_6= Other, TND_7 appears)

TND_7 Please specify other training topics that would be helpful to your organization. (Open text field)

TND_8 What training and technical assistance topic(s) would most help your organization improve young people’s permanent/positive connections outcomes?

Please only select those topics for which someone from your organization would likely attend a TTA event. Select all that apply.

1. Assessing permanent/positive connections or social capital needs or outcomes

2. Building partnerships with other community-based groups or organizations

3. Case management for youth

4. Facilitating social networks for youth advancement (to community resources, career opportunities, etc.)

5. Family strengthening/counseling for positive supports

6. Family strengthening/counseling for LGBTQ+ youth

7. Host Home programming

8. Identifying and leveraging natural supports

9. Mentoring for youth

10. Peer supports or peer support program models

11. Positive youth development

12. Staff-youth positive relationship building

13. Using virtual platforms/social media for positive connections

14. Other (please specify)

(If TND_8= Other, TND_9 appears)

TND_9 Please specify other training topics that would be helpful to your organization. (Open text field)

TND_10 What training and technical assistance topic(s) would most help your organization improve young people’s social-emotional wellbeing outcomes?

Please only select those topics for which someone from your organization would likely attend a TTA event. Select all that apply.

1. Aftercare (post-program exit) services or counseling

2. Assessing or screening social-emotional wellbeing needs or outcomes

3. Harm reduction

4. Mental health programs/practices

5. Motivational interviewing with youth

6. Peer supports or peer support program models

7. Positive youth development/youth empowerment

8. Pregnant/parenting youth needs (and their children’s)

9. Public benefits/government programs (e.g., Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), cash assistance, etc.)

10. Sexual and reproductive health needs

11. Substance use and abuse programs/practices

12. Trauma and the effects of trauma on youth

13. Virtual programming/counseling for youth well-being

14. Other (please specify)

(If TND_10= Other, TND_11 appears)

TND_11 Please specify other training topics that would be helpful to your organization. (Open text field)

TND_12 What cross-cutting training and technical assistance topic(s) would most help your organization improve young people’s outcomes?

Please only select those topics for which someone from your organization would likely attend a TTA event. Select all that apply.

1. Aftercare (post-program exit) services or counseling

2. Collaborating with law enforcement or juvenile/criminal justice systems

3. Collaborating with child welfare systems

4. Collaborating with behavioral health systems

5. Confidentiality policies and protocols

6. Conducting screening/assessment – best practices

7. Diversity, equity, and inclusion in service delivery

8. RHY-HMIS (program set up, data entry, data extraction)

9. Using/finding evidence-based/evidence-informed programs/practices

10. Gangs and gang-involved youth

11. Harm reduction

12. Human trafficking and exploitation

13. Immigrant/refugee youth issues (legal, services, etc.)

14. LGBTQ+ youth needs

15. Needs of youth transitioning out of foster care

16. Outreach to youth

17. Pandemic response and/or preparedness (including COVID-19)

18. Pregnant/parenting youth needs (and their children’s)

19. Staff burn-out, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma

20. Unaccompanied minors issues (legal, services, etc.)

21. Youth collaboration, leadership, and engagement

22. Other (please specify)

(If TND_12= Other, TND_13 appears)

TND_13 Please specify other training topics that would be helpful to your organization. (Open text field)

Section 6. Training Needs, outcomes measurement

TND_14 Which response best describes your organization’s technical assistance needs for outcomes measurement in each of the following four core outcome areas that FYSB has prioritized for preventing and ending youth homelessness?

	We DON’T NEED technical assistance on measuring this outcome (i.e. we are satisfied with our measure(s)/measurement practices; (0)	We would like SOME technical assistance (i.e. we have measure(s)/measurement practices that are okay for this outcome) (1)	We ESPECIALLY NEED technical assistance (i.e. we struggle with identifying good measure(s)/measurement practice(s) for this outcome) (2)
Outcomes measurement
Safe and stable housing
Education/training
Employment/career/earnings
Permanent/positive connections or social capital
Social-emotional well-being

TND_15 Has any of your organization’s staff participated in training or technical assistance outside of RHYTTAC that you think would be especially useful for FYSB RHY program grantees?

1 Yes
2 No (Skip next question)
99 Don’t know (Skip next question)

TND_16 Please briefly list the topic of this training or technical assistance. If you remember, you can also list the name or organization of the presenter or technical assistance provider. (Open text field – limited to 100 characters)

TND_17 If your organization could participate in a Peer to Peer Learning Community or ongoing technical assistance to strengthen skills or learn approaches on one topic, what would that topic be? Please briefly just name or list the topic. Leave blank if you don’t know. (Open text field – limited to 75 characters)

Section 7. Training Needs During and Transitioning from a Pandemic

PAN_1 What TTA topic(s) would be most helpful to your organization as you deliver services to youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and/or in a post-pandemic environment? Please only select those topics for which someone from your organization would likely attend a TTA event. Select all that apply.

1. Adapting housing, shelter, or service delivery models

2. Advocating for youth most at-risk for COVID-19

3. Connecting youth to employment during a pandemic

4. Connecting youth to housing during a pandemic

5. Creating/refining an emergency preparedness plan

6. Direct cash/financial assistance to youth

7. Helping youth establish and maintain social connections

8. Identifying and engaging youth experiencing/at-risk for homelessness in a pandemic

9. Leveraging new federal funding or waivers related to the pandemic for supporting RHY

10. Providing youth with timely and accurate COVID-19 information and resources

11. Supporting youth’s educational engagement

12. Vaccination information (for youth or staff)

13. Virtual programming or leveraging technology to help adapt to circumstances

14. Other (please specify) (If PAN_1= Other, PAN_2 appears)

PAN_2 Other than those listed above, what other TTA topic(s) would most help your organization as you deliver services to youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and/or in a post-pandemic environment?

Section 8. Assessments

In this section, we would like to learn what assessment and screening tools your program(s) use, which can help RHYTTAC understand the types and focus of TTA topics related to screening and assessment that grantees most need in the coming year.

AST_1 Does your organization use any formal screening or assessment tools with youth?

1 Yes
2 No (Go to AST_4)
99 Don’t know (Go to AST_4)

AST_2 What formal screening or assessment tool(s) do(es) your RHY program(s) use?

This includes tools for triaging youth (e.g., the Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool for Transition Age Youth), tools for understanding a youth’s experiences (e.g., Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire), and tools for measuring outcomes (e.g., Brief Symptom Inventory). Select all that apply.

1. Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire (ACE)

2. Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST or NIDA-ASSIST)

3. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)

4. Ansell-Casey Life Skills Assessments (ACLSA)

5. Beck Scales (BYI, BAI, BDI, BSS, BHS)

6. Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS)

7. Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)

8. Child Abuse and Neglect Screening (CANS)

9. Child and Adolescent Service Intensity Instrument (CASII)

10. Child Behavior Check List (CBCL)

11. Child and Family Assessment Scale (CAFAS)

12. Childhood Severity of Psychiatric Illness (CSPI)

13. Children's Depression Inventory (CDI)

14. Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)

15. Comprehensive Human Trafficking Assessment Tool (NHTRC)

16. Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)

17. Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE)

18. CRAFFT Screening Tool for Adolescent Substance Abuse

19. Daniel Memorial Assessments (Independent Living Skills, Employment Inventories)

20. Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10)

21. Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST)

22. General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)

23. Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN)

24. Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST or HTST-Short Form)

25. Individual Protective Factor Index

26. Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6/K10)

27. Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI)

28. Mental Health Inventory (MHI)

29. Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC)

30. Outcome Rating Scale (ORS)

31. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)

32. Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT)

33. Self Sufficiency Matrix (SSM)

34. Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool for Transition Age Youth (TAY-VI-SPDAT)/Next Step Tool for Homeless Youth

35. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

36. Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI)

37. Suicide Probability Scale (SPS)

38. The Treatment Outcome Package (TOP)

39. Trafficking Victim Identification Tool (TVIT)

40. Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI)

41. Traumatic Events Screening Inventory (TESI)

42. UCLA Child/Adolescent PTSD Reaction Index or Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS)

43. World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS)

44. Youth Assessment Screening Instrument (YASI)

45. Youth Thrive measures (by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, CSSP)

46. Other (please specify)

If AST_2=Other, go to AST_3)

AST_3 Please list the other screening or assessment tools your program(s) use(s). (Open text field)

AST_4 Thinking about your organization’s needs over the coming year, how important would it be for RHYTTAC to provide training or technical assistance on screening or assessment, in each of the following areas?

	Not important (0)	Somewhat important (1)	Important (2)	Very important (3)
Screening/assessment
Risk for homelessness or reoccurring homelessness
Mental health
Substance use
Human trafficking or exploitation
Domestic violence
Trauma/adverse childhood experiences
Family needs
Benefits eligibility

Section 9. Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Practices

EBP_1 What evidence-based practices (EBPs) or evidence-informed practices (EIPs) do your RHY program(s) utilize? Select all that apply. If none to your knowledge, please leave blank.

1. Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA)

2. Aggression Replacement Training (ART)

3. Aggressor, Victim, Bystander

4. AWARE

5. Be Proud! Be Responsible!

6. Botvin Life-Skills Training

7. Brief Strategic Family Therapy

8. Cognitive Processing Therapy

9. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

10. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

11. Family Finding

12. Family Group Decision Making

13. Functional Family Therapy

14. Harm Reduction

15. Life Space Crisis Intervention

16. Making Proud Choices!

17. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

18. Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT)

19. Motivational Interviewing

20. Multimodal Substance Abuse Prevention (MSAP)

21. Multi-Systemic Therapy

22. NRS's Let's Talk: Runaway Prevention

23. Nurturing Parent Program

24. Positive Action

25. Positive Youth Development

26. Power Through Choices

27. Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Adolescents

28. SafeCare

29. Safe Dates

30. Safety, Mentoring, Advocacy, Recovery and Treatment (SMART)

31. Sanctuary Model

32. Say It Straight

33. Seeking Safety

34. SiHLE

35. Street Smart

36. Structured Decision Making

37. Teaching Family Model

38. Therapeutic Crisis Intervention

39. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

40. Trauma-Focused Coping

41. Trauma-Informed Care

42. Trauma Systems Therapy (TST)

43. Trust-Based Relational Intervention

44. Wahine Talk

45. Wraparound

46. Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program

47. Other (please specify)

(If EBP_1=Other, show EBP_2)

EBP_2 Please list the other evidence-based or evidence-informed practices your RHY program(s) utilize.

Next to each, please indicate whether your organization needs or does not need technical assistance to support or improve the implementation of each practice. (Open text field)

EBP_3 At the start of this section, you selected the list of practices that your organization provides. Please select which one(s) your organization would participate in TA to support or improve its implementation. (Only include the responses chosen in EBP_1)

Evidence-based/ Evidence-informed Practice	Yes, our organization needs TA for this practice (1)	No, our organization does not need TA around this practice (0)

EBP_4 Please list the evidence-based and evidence-informed practices your organization is currently not using, but the organization is interested in offering and needs TA to aide implementation. (Open text field)

Section 10. Overall Feedback

OVF_1 Please share any additional comments about how RHYTTAC can best help your organization achieve your goals in supporting and serving youth who runaway or experience homelessness. (Open text field; limit to 250 characters)