Pathways: Skills for Life

The Pathways Life Skills Education and Outreach Program provides older youth with the skills necessary to successfully transition into adult responsibility and self-sufficiency.

Life-skills education is provided through individual and group counseling and educational sessions.

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Pathways Independent Living Program (ILP)

The key activities of the Pathways Chafee IV-E Program are to prepare youth in alternate care to live independently when reaching adulthood, and to support the reentrance of youth, who have been placed out of the community, back into the home community. These goals are achieved through life skills education and permanency planning.

In the Life-Skills Curriculum, when a youth is first accepted into the program, (s)he receives a Welcome Packet. This packet contains a welcome letter from the program director, a list of services they can access, what they can expect from the staff and what is expected of them. The life-skills curriculum has been developed to include all five DYFS IV-E core skill areas. These five core skill areas consist of: employment, money management, community resources, communication, and employment skills. These are basic life skills that are pertinent for independent living. Passages stresses the importance of these five core skill areas to ensure that each resident has been provided with enough care and knowledge to carry them through adulthood.

The life-skills material is presented in several ways and is sensitive to the individual needs of each student. Workshops, packets, one-on-one instruction, groups, and hands-on learning are all techniques used to ensure the success of these young adults.