Impact

Launched in 2022, Raven is a specialized supportive housing and recovery program for young
adults with complex mental health, substance use, justice and child protection involvement. It
is designed to improve outcomes for youth transitioning to adulthood while reducing reliance
on high-intensity public systems.

This article details the pilot program of The Raven, a supportive housing program for eight youth with complex needs, that provides wrap-around supports and intensive case management in lodge-style housing. It tells the story of the young people who participated in the Ravenl’s first year of operations, each of whom have cycled through multiple systems, including Children’s Services, justice, health, and disability. Their lived experiences represent a collective inadequacy of multiple systems, which are unable to work together to address their needs and keep them safe.

A two-part chronicle of the creation of Trellis, a newly amalgamated Calgary-based human service organization from the merger of two nonprofit, human services organizations: Aspen Family & Community Network Society and Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary.

Non-Profit Merger & Amalgamation Decision Tool

Trellis partnered with Social Venture Partners Calgary to map our merge process so others have more tools and supports to help on their own merge and amalgamation journey.

In January 2023 Trellis began its journey of transformation by asking a small group of community Elders one simple question: “What do you consider the most important component of a revised Indigenous group care model”? Paired with several engagements with Indigenous youth, Trellis staff, and through a comprehensive literature review, a series of immediate, medium, and long-term programming, organizational, sector and systems transformations form the content of this report.

The Trellis Transformation Project for Young People in Care (2022-2025) enables Trellis to reflect on the current status of its group care programs, the larger child intervention system, and to be thoughtful about how to proceed in supporting youth and their families who have children’s services system involvement. This report explores both immediate and long-term changes that could be implemented to improve outcomes for these vulnerable young people and save lives. With this project, Trellis committed to rethinking and transforming how it provided services.

In 2022, Trellis Society (Trellis) launched an initiative to transform group care services for young people across its seven group homes. Over a two-year period, an evaluation was carried out through parallel Indigenous and non-Indigenous engagement processes, guided by the lived experience and insights of youth, families, Elders and frontline staff.