Funded by the John T. Gorman Foundation, the following brief on housing stability of youth experiencing homelessness or with prior experiences of homelessness in Portland, ME is the first in a series of briefs on the experiences of First Place program participants. The Evaluation of the First Place Program examined the experiences of 35 youth who accessed Preble Street’s First Place program between 2015 and 2018. The study included two core components: an implementation study and a qualitative youth study. The implementation study explored how the program was designed, implemented, and modified over time. The descriptive youth study examined youth characteristics and experiences in the following domains: housing, employment, education, risk behaviors, demographic characteristics, and social and emotional well-being. Program participants were interviewed at the time of program enrollment and again 12 months later to capture changes in youth experiences over the program period. In addition, some youth were interviewed 24 – 30 months after baseline to collect detailed information about their housing, employment, and education experiences. These data were supplemented with in-depth case story interviews with three youth several times over the study period (Exhibit 1). *JTGF-funded
