Transitional Housing

Safe Haven also has two transitional homes in Burnsville (Dakota County) with room for a total of 12 young men and women ages 16-21. Both homes are located within walking distance of a large retail area and bus routes to the Mall of America and downtown Minneapolis, allowing convenient transportation to schools and employment.

Eligible youth:

• Are currently homeless or at risk of homelessness
• Are employed/seeking employment or are enrolled in or are willing to enroll in an academic or vocational program
• Can demonstrate the need, maturity and desire to prepare for responsible independent living
• Are committed to sobriety, personal and community responsibilities, personal growth, peer support and self-reliance.

The average resident stays for five months. An average of 25 youth are accepted into our program each year. Participation in our transitional living program provides youth time to finish school, secure employment, learn living skills and save money so that they are prepared to successfully live independently at the end of the program.

Once accepted and space becomes available, each participant receives Safe Haven's stage plan, an outline of their individualized Independent Living Skills plan (ILS) and the house manual, which describes what is expected of each resident. The ILS Plan addresses employment readiness, education and/or training, job search and retention skills, budgeting, housing, transportation and balancing work and social life. Each plan is reviewed and (if necessary) revised every 90 days. In addition, residents attend weekly Independent Living Skills classes on budgeting, nutrition, resume writing, accessing community resources, etc.

Successful program discharge is defined as the young person's achievement of his/her case plan, able to move into safe stable housing, and the means and competency to live independently or interdependently.

Safe Haven Transitional Homes distinguishes themselves from other organizations by allowing "self-referral" if youth have no case worker. We look for the positive attributes in each young adult's case history and develop an ILS plan that will build on these strengths. Our transitional homes also have an intensive independent living skills and education/employment focus.

Population/geographic area served

We serve approximately 25-35 young adults, ages 16-21 each year from the seven metro area counties as well as several counties just outside the metro area. The majority of program participants originate from Dakota, Carver, Hennepin, and Scott counties. One of our strengths is providing services to communities that are transitioning from being predominantly rural to urban or suburban areas. These counties have very limited private social service agency resources and Safe Haven fills a unique niche in these communities.

Our transitional living program evaluations reports that of the participants accepted into the program: 73% were Caucasian, 20% were African American, 3% were Asian American, 2% were Hispanic/Latino, and 2% were other.

The two most frequently mentioned long-term goals among these youth are housing (get an apartment) and education (finish high school, get a GED, enroll in college program). These young adults know what they want, but they need help getting there.

See the Outcomes