Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children in Baltimore, Inc.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Baltimore provides support and advocacy for children in abuse and neglect cases in Baltimore City’s Juvenile Court. CASA recruits and trains lay volunteers who work closely with children referred by the Juvenile Court to assess their needs and make recommendations to the Court regarding the child’s placement and needed services. Research on the CASA model suggests that children with CASA volunteers are more likely to be placed in permanent homes and less likely to re-enter foster care after they achieve permanancy than children without CASA volunteers. This grant supports a new volunteer recruitment campaign, with a particular focus on increasing the number of African American CASA volunteers.
Civil Justice, Inc.
Civil Justice expands legal services to clients of low and moderate income while promoting a network of solo, small and community-based lawyers who share a common commitment to increasing access to justice. It is a common practice that, after evicting tenants who fall behind on rent, landlords will later sue those same tenants for prospective rent and alleged damages, as well as unlwafully withhold security deposits. These suits result in millions of dollars in judgments against tenants each year in Baltimore City and further destabilize tenant households. With Abell funding, Civil Justice will increase its capacity to address aggressive landlord debt collection suits against tenants, serving 50 households in the first year either through in-house counsel or through their referral network.
Charm City Care Connection
Abell Foundation support will allow CCCC to open a daytime Harm Reduction Drop-in Center (HRDC) for people with a substance use disorder to provide a safe space to access needed services and support. The HRDC will include low barrier and easy to access services, including the following:syringe exchange,fentanyl test strip distribution, naloxone distribution, community meals and case management.
Center for Urban Families, Inc.
The Center for Urban Families (CFUF) works to strengthen urban communities by helping fathers and families achieve stability and economic succes. STRIVE Baltimore, the cornerstone of CFUF’s programming, is a strict, demanding, three-week workshop that focuses on workplace behavior, appearance, and attitude. Upon completion of training, STRIVE graduates are placed in jobs, and are followed by STRIVE staff for two years. Last year,146 participants graduated from STRIVE Baltimore, with 132 graduates (or 90%) being placed into jobs; 70 former graduates were also placed into jobs, bringing the total number of job placements to 202. STRIVE graduates placed in employment earned an average of $13.01 per hour, and 90% remained employed for at least six months.
BUILD
Turnaround Tuesdays is a BUILD jobs initiative in which residents meet at Zion Baptist Church on Tuesday mornings from 9 am to 11 am to receive help in finding employment. Over 125 people participate in Turnaround Tuesdays each week, completing a 10-week leadership training curriculum that focuses the skills needed to sustain employment. The jobs movement is working: last year, 181 people were placed into jobs, earning an average wage of $15 per hour. According to BUILD, 74% of those placed have remained employed at least a year. Retention is higher (84%) at anchor institutions such as Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical System. BUILD is establishing an employment pipeline to “good paying jobs” at these and other long-standing large, anchor institution employers, encouraging them to hire people with criminal records.