Taking on the Challenge

In response to an open request for proposals and review process, the Hyams Foundation awarded $800,000 to eight community based grantees to focus programming and advocacy on system-involved girls in Boston and Chelsea from January, 2003, through December, 2005. Based on the success and promise of Phase I, the Hyams Foundation is supporting Phase II of the Girls’ Initiative from January, 2006 through December, 2008.
All of the grantee organizations served girls who were under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court, the Department of Social Services (DSS), or DYS as a result of CHINS (Children in Needs of Services) or delinquency petitions in Boston or Chelsea. The eight funded grantees in Phase I were: Boston Urban Youth Foundation, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Caribbean U-Turn, Ella J. Baker House, Generation Excel of Bethel A.M.E. Church, Roca, Roxbury Youthworks’ Female Focus Initiative, and the Youth Advocacy Project. These programs target girls involved at various levels in state systems and provide an array of services to these girls. This article looks at the increasing proportion of girls in the juvenile justice system in Boston. The article makes clear that these girls are best served in their communities and that they present a constellation of specific needs and strengths that demand unique strategies and specifically tailored programming. When the grants were awarded some of the programs were experienced in gender-responsive programming and others were co-educational programs proposing to develop a gender-responsive component. Girls served by these programs ranged in age from 12 to 18 years old and were predominantly African American and Latina. The services provided by the eight programs included counseling, legal services, case management, mentoring, theatre arts, life skills, and academic support.

Phase I of the Hyams Foundation Girls’ Initiative was based on the following five key principles:
❍ With opportunity, access, and a focus on strengths, every teen girl can achieve a satisfying and productive present and future life;
❍ Every teen can contribute positively to the community, and for teens the experience of civic engagement fosters positive development;
❍ Gender inequities and deficiencies in girls’ services are a result of policies and practices, which can be identified and changed;
The Foundation is committed to making sure that youth who are most vulnerable are not ignored.
❍ Involving girls and their families in planning and implementing systems of care that affect them will achieve better outcomes for both youth and their communities; and
❍ Active participation in a Learning Community of community-based organizations working toward a common vision will yield collective practice and policy strategies greater than what might be developed by any individual program.

Their overall goals were for the girls to: make progress in school and/or career preparation, increase their sense of self-worth and hope, develop and maintain healthy and positive relationships, and develop and maintain effective interpersonal communication and social skills.

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Hyams Girls Initiative