Hattiesburg, Mississippi

ESTABLISHED 2018

CONTACT INFORMATION

115 Thornhill Drive Suite D Hattiesburg, MS 39402

Tiffany Dillard
601-255-2727
tdillard@firstplaceforyouth.org

PROGRAMS

  • My First Place™ Program
  • Mississippi Youth Voice
  • Opportunity Passport

MY FIRST PLACE™

Working with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, our Hattiesburg, Mississippi office delivers programs for transition-age foster youth across the state to build skills, relationships, and personal understanding for independent, self-sufficient adult lives.

My First Place™ is a comprehensive program that provides individualized and structured services to support transition-age foster youth in achieving their goals as they move into adulthood, offering housing, education, and employment support.

Interested in enrollment? Watch this short video by My First Place alum Myh’Keith to learn more about the benefits in joining.

The partnership with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services sets a course for Mississippi to become a leader in improving outcomes for youth exiting the foster care system.

MISSISSIPPI YOUTH VOICE

Our Mississippi Youth Voice project empowers young people who have experienced foster care:

  • to develop leadership skills and advocate for themselves and their peers with judges, attorneys, legislators and leaders of the Mississippi Dept. of Child Protective Services
  • to share their perspectives on social media, blogs, & traditional media outlets and create resources for youth in care and transitioning out of care
  • to build broader communities of support
  • to engage with front-line foster care system workers, providers, & foster parents

OPPORTUNITY PASSPORT

First Place also offers independent-living-skills programs for young adults transitioning from foster care to adulthood, including delivering Opportunity Passport™–a matched-savings program designed by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.

RECENT WINS FOR TRANSITION-AGED YOUTH

  • Kinkade FAITH Scholarship, championed by First Place, covers full cost of attendance for foster youth at Mississippi state and private colleges
    Addition of 14 new Transition-Age Youth Navigator Counselors to support transitions to adulthood for foster youth age 14-21
  • Leasing/Rental Authority for youth aging out of care, expanding access to stable housing

What’s Happening In Mississippi

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