R3 YOUTH DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE

Karen PittmanCo-Founder & CEOThe Forum for Youth Investment

SUPPORTING THE WHOLE CHILD: BOLDER STRATEGIES FOR BETTER RESULTS

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The Forum for Youth Investment

• Nonprofit, nonpartisan “action tank” dedicated to helping states and communities make sure all young people are Ready by 21 -- ready for college, work and life.

oLocated in Washington, D.C. oAdjunct office in Michigan (Center for Youth Program

Quality)o35+ staff headed by prominent national leadersoHistorically a “forum” where policy, practice and

research meet

43% are doing well in two life areas and okay in one

- Productivity: Attend college, work steadily

- Health: Good health, positive health habits, healthy relationships

- Connectedness: Volunteer, politically active, active in religious institutions, active in community

22% are doing poorly in two life areas and not well in any

- Productivity: High school diploma or less plus unemployed or on welfare

- Health: Poor health, bad health habits, unsupportive relationships

- Connectedness: Commit illegal activity once a month

2 in 10 4 in 104 in 10

35% are doing okay – doing poorly in no more than one life area and doing well in at most one – and doing okay in the rest

Researchers Gambone, Connell & Klem (2002) estimate that only 4 in 10 young people are doing well in their early 20s.

AfterSchool

Ages

Times of Day

Civic Social Emotional Physical Vocational Cognitive

OutcomeAreas

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Thinking Outside of the Box

Morning . . . Night

21+

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School

At its best, school only fills a portion of developmental space

Who is Responsible for the Rest?

• Families• Peer Groups• Schools and Training Organizations• Higher Education• Youth-Serving Organizations• CBOs (Non-Profit Service Providers and Associations)• Businesses (Jobs, Internships and Apprenticeships)• Faith-Based Organizations• Libraries, Parks, and Recreation Departments• Community-Based Health and Social Service Agencies

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We know what it takes to support development

• The National Research Council reports that teens need:• Physical and Psychological Safety• Appropriate Structure• Supportive Relationships• Opportunities to Belong• Positive Social Norms• Support for Efficacy and Mattering• Opportunities for Skill-Building• Integration of Family, School and Community efforts

These supports really do make a difference, even in adolescence.

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5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Youth w/ SupportiveRelationships

Youth w/ UnsupportiveRelationships

Ready by end of 12th grade Not Ready

Gambone and colleagues show that youth with supportive relationships as they enter high school are 5 times more likely to leave high school well-prepared than those with weak relationships. These students are then 4 times more likely to be doing well as young adults.

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

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Ready by 21 Not Ready by 21

Good Young Adult Outcomes

Poor Young Adult Outcomes

from 4 in 10doing well

to 7 in 10 doing well

Providing These Supports CAN Change the Odds

Gambone/Connell’s research suggests that if all young people got the supports they needed in early adolescence, the picture could change…

Vulnerable, Disadvantaged or Disconnected Youth Have Common Needs

• Lack connections to networks for education, employment, supports and services, and community connections.

• Lack academic and workforce preparation because they possess low academic, workforce and interpersonal skills.

• Need access to stable basic services such as housing, transportation, financial literacy, and health services.

• Can be at different gradients of the disconnected spectrum.

By definition, transition-age youth are navigating in to and out of systems

These systems struggle to provide individualized supports

• All big systems – child welfare, juvenile justice, K-12 education, higher education, employment and training, health/mental health, public housing – lean towards risk management and away from creative problem-solving, making them difficult to navigate, especially for those with multiple risks.

• As large numbers of young people look for pathways into and out of systems, institutions are looking for ways to adapt and respond to this need.

Program and system performance improves when staff and leaders focus on:

• Applying a youth-centered approach

• Becoming user-friendly and easy to navigate

• Partnering with multiple government sectors and community based organizations

• Ensuring young people have a champion in the system (i.e. community based organization)

But changing cultures one system at a time is tough

This is why the Ready by 21 Partnership focuses on a) reaching all leaders and b) encouraging partnerships.

15© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for

Youth Investment.

Moving the small gear makes a big difference

Leaders take on a recurring set of tasks whenever they set out to create a new agenda

From Idea

To Implementation

But do they stop to ask how these agendas add up?

Continuous

Improvement

Service Deliver

y

Advocacy

Cross - System

s Change

Community

Mobilization

Evaluation

Positive Outcomes for

youth & families

Best Practic

e

Early Childhood

Community Development

Violence

Education

Homeless

Youth

Disabilities

Health

Alcohol and Substance Abuse

Initiative

Network

Coalition

1/19/01, RS

Collaborations

MCTP

United Neighbor

hood Centers

Of Greater Roch.

Rochester‘s

Child

Youth 2000

Juvenile

Justice

Council

CCSI TIER

II

Interagency

Council

Comm. Asset

Network

Not Me Not Now

Community

Service Board

Board of

Health

Children & Family

Serv. Subcom

m.

Youth Service

s Quality

C.

School Health Leader

ship Team

RECAP

Community

Profile

Preventive

Services Coalitio

n

RAEYC

Early Childh

ood Develo

p I.

Homeless

Continuum of

care Impl. Team Monroe

Cty. Sch& Comm.Health

Ed.Network

REEP

RochesterEffectiveness Partnership

N.E.T.

City Violence

Initiative

Task Force

on Violenc

e Domestic Violence

Consortium

Perinatal CommunityConsortium

Do Right byKids campaign

HealthAction

DomesticViolence

Partnership

PerinatalSubstance

AbuseCoalition

PCIC

SACSI

Counselor’sConsortium

Rochester

Children’s

Collab.

Roch. Enterpr

ise Commu

nity Zone P.

YRBS Group

HW & Tutoring

Round Table

Student Assistance Prof.

Diversion

Collaborative

Runaway &

Homeless

Youth Ser

Provider

Reg. 2 Preven

tive Provid.

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Homeless Services Network

CASASProviders

Adult Service

s Subcomm.

StudentAsst. Prof.

Greater Roch.Area

Transitions

Collab.

America’s

Promise

NBN

Mentoring

Round Table

OASAS Prevent

ion Initiativ

eCHANGE

SDFSCA Plannin

g Committ

eesReclaimingYouth

SOURCE:Margaret Dunkle

A Tangle of Inefficiencies: the typical approach see a problem…

convene a taskforce…. create a program…

Children’s Services in Los A

ngeles County

Want Fully-Prepared Youth?Insulate the Education Pipeline

19© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for

Youth Investment.

• Academic Attainment• 21st Century Skills• Risk Management

HOW?

Broader PartnershipsBigger GoalsBolder StrategiesBetter Data

The Ready by 21 National Partnership Can Help

Broader Partnerships:Maine Governor’s Children’s Cabinet

• The Maine Governor’s Children’s Cabinet is chaired by First Lady Karen M. Baldacci and has as its members, the commissioners of the five child-serving state agencies, Education, Health and Human Services, Corrections, Public Safety, and Labor, and the Governor’s policy advisors.

Children’s Cabinet = Public ValueFor the last 16 years, the Maine Governor’s Children’s

Cabinet has added public value by:

• Coordinating approaches to the delivery of services;

• Establishing administrative priorities across departments/agencies/bureaus;

• Leveraging resources both human (staff) and financial, that maximizes funding by collaborative grants and best use of federal funding streams, as mandates allow.

Children’s Cabinet = Public Value…and by:

• Distributing through its Senior Staff and the Regional Children’s Cabinets, Pooled Flexible Funds to fill one-time family needs where there is no other eligibility-related service available to keep a child or teen safely in the home;

• Operationalizing the Governor’s commitment to creating better outcomes for children and youth in Maine.

Bigger Goals: The Governor’s Children’s Cabinet

is committed to policies and programs that ensure every Maine child is:

• Safe• Healthy

• Well-educated• Productive

Tracking Indicators of Child Well Being is important

• 4th Graders reading below grade level – 41%• 8th Graders reading below grade level – 29%• Children affected by asthma – 7%• Teens who are high school dropouts – 11%• Teens who are not in school and not working – 11%

• Child deaths – 25 per 100,000 • Children suspended from school – 9 per 100 students • Persons age 18-24 not attending school, not working, and no degree beyond high school –

17%• Children with no parents who are employed full-time, year round – 35% • Teen Deaths – 76 per 100,000• Children in the care of their grandparents – 6%• 2-year-olds who were immunization – 84%• Infant mortality – 9.3 per 1,000• Children in single parent families – 34%• Children in Poverty – 21%• Substantiated cases of child abuse – 5.6 per 1,000• Children referred to juvenile court – 5.9 per 1,000• Number of teen births – 53 per 1,000 births • Persons 18-24 in poverty – 23%• Children under 18 without health insurance – 9%

Goals and indicators should span the ages and developmental areas

Pre-K0–5

School-Age6–10

Middle School11–14

High School15–18

Young Adults19–24+

Ready for College

LEARNING

Ready for Work

WORKING

Ready for Life

THRIVING

CONNECTING

LEADING

Using a Common Framework

• Can help with language confusion across sectors and agencies

• Helps focus on the results you want to see

• Set long term goals

• Track progress with indicators and metrics

• Track policies and resources and set priorities

• Track programs and services geographically

• Link issue/population specific action plans …..and more

We think of data and information…

…that tells us how we are doing in each gear…

Better Data

Maine Children’s Cabinet Network Integrated Data Sharing Vision Statement

• Integrate data across age groups• Integrate data across common outcome areas• Integrate multiple types of information (demographics,

youth indicators, participation data, quality/performance data, program availability data, provider/workforce capacity data, resource/investment data)

• Integrate data across levels and boundaries• Integrate data across systems• Find proactive solutions to preserving

confidentiality

© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment. 30

www.mainemarks.org

© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment.

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• Maine Marks is a set of social indicators that reflect the well-being of Maine children, families and communities.

• It is an initiative of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet in partnership with the University of Southern Maine and other organizations.

The Dashboard

© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment.

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READY BY 21POWERFUL SOLUTIONS FOR PASSIONATE LEADERS

Broader Partnerships │ Bigger Goals │ Better Data │ Bolder Strategies

www.readyby21.org

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