reStart Prevention serves youth and adult client. Staff coordinate on-site and off-site substance abuse prevention education and activity services, including substance abuse education, health and wellness programming, smoking cessation services, Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Al-Ateen groups, arts and recreation programming. 

These, along with service and resource learning opportunities, are available to participants in reStart's Adult Emergency Shelter, adults and teens from the Family Emergency Shelter, Youth Emergency Shelter, Youth Transitional Living Program and Youth Maternity Group Home. All the services and programing are to lead to a reduction in substance use, violence, and to assist in gaining and retaining appropriate housing.

• 100% of those served by reStart's youth and adult shelters and transitional housing programs live at or below the federal poverty level.
• 83% live in-or originate from Kansas City's urban core.
• More than 75% of the Veterans we serve are classified as Extremely Low Income.
• Other population characteristics based on agency data include: 48% female, 50% male, and 1% gender non-conforming; 56% represent communities of color; 36% are Caucasian; 9% report being of Hispanic-Latino descent; and 58% lack health insurance.

reStart's program strategies for homelessness individuals with substance abuse disorders include assessment, case management, education, evidence-based curriculum and approaches, enrichment activities, and aftercare—all designed to help deliver the outcomes for homeless individuals such as reduced substance use, as well as improved attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors in pro-social behavior and life skills.

These strategies equip individuals with the skills and resources needed to build a safe and stable future. At-risk youth have an increased likelihood of experiencing homelessness, food insecurity and violence.

reTreats

The purpose of the reTreats program is to meet the growing need for gainful employment opportunities for marginalized youth as they start their journey toward independence by providing real world employment training that includes customer service, bookkeeping, marketing, accounting, culinary skills and more. The reTreats program affects youth violence through developing interpersonal skills that in turn improves self-control and confidence as well as professional skills providing a foundation to enter the workforce prepared. reTreats are artisanal, gourmet, organic dog treats produced, packaged and distributed by reStart youth. 

After a formal application and interview process Youth in the Transitional Living (TLP) and Maternity Group Home (MGH) programs are selected for the 3-month paid internship. reTreats interns learn inventory management, scheduling and managing financials; kitchen management, developing culinary skills, and adhering to health department regulations; customer service through fulfilling orders from online purchases, distributing product to our local retail partners; marketing—through social media, tabling events, etc. reTreats includes goalsetting, objective planning and pre- and post- skills assessment that moves youth toward independence through dedicated workforce development. The intern experience includes work with a case manager, a life skills instructor and an employment specialist. Interns work with the life skills instructor to produce, market and sell the retreats.

Participants work with the Life Skills Instructor approximately 8 hours per week producing the treats and another 6 hours per week marketing and selling the product at local vendors and through in person sales. The remaining 6 hours per week are spent working on soft skills with the employment specialist and budgeting and financial literacy with the case manager. Youth work together to prepare the reTreats by interacting with vendors to secure ingredients and preparing reTreats in a commercial kitchen. They work with local retailers where reTreats are distributed and process and fulfill orders, handle inventory and manage supply.

The goals of the reTreats program include: 

1. Increase Income: youth will successfully increase income, and access to health benefits and health care—leading to better health outcomes, by moving to full-time living wage employment as determined by pre- and post-internship income assessment indicated through internship assessments, the internship plan and employment counseling. 

2. Increase knowledge: youth will successfully demonstrate increased knowledge of transferable job skills such as production, marketing, sales, customer service, accounting and budgeting and applicability to future employment as indicated through pre- and post-internship income assessment indicated through internship assessments, the internship plan and employment counseling.

3. Career exploration and planning—youth participating in the internship will successfully identify post-program education and-or workforce development opportunities to further develop identified interests and skills as indicated through pre- and post-internship income assessment indicated through internship assessments, the internship plan and employment counseling.

Locations

Click on the window icon (upper right corner) of the map below to expand. List of all program locations is included with expanded view of map. Locations are also listed on this page below the map.