Chapin Hall

Effective work in human services takes more than good intentions. It takes careful planning, deliberate design, and rigorous monitoring of outcomes.

Chapin Hall is a valuable partner to service providers who aspire to these best practices. Lawrence Hall in Chicago has recently partnered with Chapin Hall to ensure that Avers home in their Transitional and Independent Living program (TIL) is serving LGBTQIA+ youth well. Program participants, who are between the ages of 17 and 21 and are in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services, live in transitional living housing and are coached on a range of skills, including budgeting, employment skills, career planning, and basic apartment upkeep to prepare them for independent living.

To ensure program quality, Chapin Hall and Lawrence Hall are engaging in a project that is structured into three phases:

First, Chapin Hall conducted a comprehensive review of existing research and best practices related to LGBTQIA+ youth who are transitioning out of foster care. The review concentrated on key thematic areas, including experiences within foster care, social support systems, educational and employment outcomes, barriers to accessing community resources, best practices and intervention strategies, demographics and population characteristics, mental health and emotional well-being, housing stability and homelessness, transition and outcomes, and policies and legal protections. The review will help to inform the Theory of Change (ToC).

Second, Chapin Hall is collaborating with Lawrence Hall’s leadership team and key external partnerships, including youth participants, to co-develop a ToC that aligns program goals with measurable outcomes. The framework will integrate youth and family voices, prioritizing race equity and cultural humility.

Third, Chapin Hall provides technical assistance to design and support a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process. CQI is a systematic, data-driven approach to assess and enhance the effectiveness of services by identifying challenges, implementing solutions, and monitoring results over time. This process will include creating tools for fidelity monitoring, analyzing capacity and outcomes, and establishing the infrastructure needed for ongoing data collection and reporting.

The collaboration aims to address the unique needs of LGBTQIA+ youth and position Lawrence Hall as a leader in best practices for transitional living programs. By incorporating feedback from those with lived experience, compensating their participation, and building targeted communication strategies, the project ensures a shared vision for improving outcomes.

This nine-month initiative, led by Gailyn Thomas, Yolanda Green-Rogers, and Prisca Tuyishime, reflects a commitment to creating sustainable, equity-centered change that meets the needs of youth. This partnership will enhance Lawrence Hall’s capacity to deliver impactful, high-quality services to LGBTQIA+ youth.

For more information about this project and related work, contact Gailyn Thomas.