Since 1997 CSC has worked in tandem with the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) to support its mission providing national leadership on youth issues and assisting state and local agencies serving at-risk youth and their families.
FYSB, a Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was authorized by Congress in 1992 to implement a national reporting system through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA, Public Law 93-415). State and local social agencies (grantees) provide a variety of services to vulnerable youth through programs with FYSB financial support and, in turn, these agencies supply FYSB with information on the number of runaway and homeless youth served by their programs, demographic information on the youth, the types of services offered, and the youths’ status in critical areas at exit from the programs. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHYMIS), maintained and administered by CSC for close to a decade, collects this data from FYSB grantees, maintains a national database of consolidated grantee data, and provides flexible reporting capabilities to meet ACF requirements. Through RHYMIS, FYSB is able to collect and report on data for three grant programs: The Basic Center Program (BCP), the Transitional Living Program (TLP), and the Street Outreach Program (SOP). FYSB grantees may receive one or more of these grants, depending on the needs of the runaway and homeless youth population in their locale and the services the grantee can offer.
The RHYMIS system consists of three main components: Data collection software and databases at the client agency sites; a Federal Transfer process to collect grantee data semi-annually and consolidate this data into a National Database; and a Web site where the national data and reports are freely available to the public. During a typical month-long semi-annual data transfer period, CSC personnel handle upwards of 500 grantee submissions and over 300 support phone calls. Over 1,400 RHYMIS technical support, installation, and training phone contacts are processed annually.
Through the multi-faceted RHYMIS program, CSC supports analysis and reporting not only at the national level to FYSB but also for the ten ACF Regional offices across the country, and provides training and user assistance to over 420 grantee agencies in all 50 states, Washington, D.C , Guam, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico. The national RHYMIS data is freely available to social researchers or anyone else interested in youth issues. Related Links For the latest news on RHYMIS, see FYSB’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Dramatically Improves OMB Performance Rating with CSC Support
