The Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) have launched a two-year partnership to provide state legislators and other policy makers the tools and supports necessary to strengthen their youth policies and programs.

This joint initiative will help policy makers address such questions as:• How can state efforts be better aligned, more effective and more efficient?

• How can states effectively involve young people in decision making?

• How can states balance concerns about youth problems (gang violence, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, etc.) with a focus on youth’s positive potential (volunteering, succeeding in school, preparing for employment, etc.)?

What Activities Will this Initiative Undertake?• Policy maker institutes

• Publications and audio-conferences

• Technical assistance

Strengthening Youth Policy in the States

Policy makers across the country have stepped up their efforts to address key challenges facing our young people.  Looking for a better way of coordinating and aligning the range of policies and programs that exist to support young people, these policy makers have offered up policy prescriptions with an aim to getting youth Ready by 21: Ready for College, Work, and Life in the states of Kentucky and Connecticut.  Learn how these policy makers are advancing legislation to bring together the key players across departments and agencies to better align efforts for children and youth. 

 

Speakers: • Representative Ken Green (D), Connecticut• Liz Brown, Legislative Director, Connecticut Commission on Children • Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R), Kentucky• TJ Delahanty, Director, Kentucky Youth Development Partnership• Erin Duncan, Legislative Director, Office of Congressman Tom Osborne, Nebraska

Moderated by:Karen Pittman, Executive Director, Forum for Youth Investment

This audio-conference series is co-hosted by:National Conference of State Legislatures and the Forum for Youth Investment

Moving Youth Policy Forward: Lessons Learned Web-Assisted Audio-Conference April 10, 2006

Representative Kenneth P. Green (D)Connecticut

State Representative Kenneth P. Green (D-Hartford) was elected to represent the First General Assembly District in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1994. He serves on three Legislative committees: Housing (as Chair), Human Services, and Judiciary. Rep. Green is a past Chairman of Connecticut's Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. Rep. Green is a social worker at the Polaris School of the Capitol Region Education Council, and showed his special concern for the youth of his community by his past involvement with the "Always on Saturday" program. This program of the Hartford Action Plan on Infant Health is designed to expose young males to information on sexuality, bolster their self-esteem, and help them gain positive decision-making skills. 

Rep. Green created and for many years sponsored the "Youth Prevention Summit," a bi-annual event bringing young people together to discuss current issues affecting their lives. Prior to beginning his current job in 1982, Rep. Green held positions with the Department of Children and Families in Hartford, the Private Industry Council, Connecticut Halfway House, Inc. and the Department of Corrections. Rep. Green is a graduate of Hartford Public High

School and received a B.A. from the School of Social Sciences at Hampshire College in 1975. He earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 1979. Rep. Green is a lifelong Hartford resident with strong ties to the community. He is married, the father of three children and has three grandchildren. He is a member of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, a member of the Blue Hills Civic Association, a member of the Greater Hartford Alliance of Black Social Workers, and belongs to the NAACP. Rep. Green is a former organizer for ONE/CHANE. He was a coordinator for the Jesse Jackson Campaign to Rebuild America. He is a former member of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee.

Elizabeth Crichton Brown, Legislative DirectorConnecticut Commission on Children

Elizabeth Crichton Brown serves as Director of Government Relations for the Connecticut Commission on Children. Ms. Brown brings more than 20 years of policy and legislative experience to her position and is responsible for developing and promoting public policies that enhance the welfare of families and children. In her capacity, she has played a leadership role in winning passage of innovative state policies on school readiness, fatherhood, mental health, welfare to work, child care, lead paint poisoning, anti bullying, after school and civic capacity building.

Ms. Brown served six years as a State Representative from the 74th District in Waterbury, and won numerous awards for her leadership on environmental and civil rights issues. As Vice President of the Connecticut Institute for Municipal Studies for five years, Ms. Brown helped win passage of the nationally recognized Neighborhood Revitalization Zone Legislation that empowered low-income communities to become critical stakeholders in their neighborhood’s

future. In addition, she played a leadership role in forming Connecticut’s After School Network and legislation to form the After School Policy Board in Connecticut to expand after school opportunities for children and youth in Connecticut.

She serves on the Child Day Care Council, State TANF Council; the Executive Board of the States’ Fatherhood Council and several other community boards. She is a co-founder of the statewide nonprofit Good Jobs! United Action, a collaboration of grassroots organizations and churches dedicated to ensuring access to good paying jobs for urban residents. Also, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Universal Health Care Foundation and Girls’ Inc. of Waterbury, Connecticut.

Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R), Kentucky Legislature

Service: House 1995–98; Senate 1999–Present; President Pro Tem–2005

Attorney/Homemaker. Episcopalian. University of Cincinnati, B.S.; Northern KY University Chase College of Law, J.D. KY Bar Assoc. Ft Thomas Weekday Religious Education Program Board. Junior League of Cincinnati. Episcopal Church Women. Ft. Thomas Garden Club. Daughters of the American Revolution. Homemakers Club. Named Taxpayers Best Friend by Kentucky Taxpayers United. Named Guardian of Small Business by National Federation of Independent Businesses. Received Friend of Physical Therapy Award from Kentucky Physical Therapists Association. Named Friend of the Merit Shop by Association of Builders and Contractors. Named Friend of Tobacco Farmers by Burley Tobacco Cooperative. Received highest rating in the Senate by Kentucky Forward, a group representing small businesses in 2000.

Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R)Kentucky

TJ Delahanty, DirectorKentucky Youth Development PartnershipTJ Delahanty is an Extension Associate with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service 4-H Youth Development Program office in Lexington, KY. He lives in Louisville with his wife Caroline and 17-year-old son Jamal. He works in Frankfort where he is the Director of the Kentucky Youth Development Partnership, which is a federally funded 4-H project that promotes collaboration and positive youth development at the state and local levels for the past five years.

Born and raised in Louisville KY, TJ has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Louisville and Masters in Public Policy from Rutgers University. TJ has nearly twenty years experience working in the youth development field internationally, in Washington, D.C. and in Kentucky. His most recent experience in Kentucky has been with state government and the cooperative extension service. TJ is a past president of the Kentucky Community Development Society, a Board member of the Americana Community Center in Louisville, and Chair of the Membership and recruitment committee of the Kentucky Coalition for School Age Child Care.

Erin Duncan, Legislative Director for Rep. Thomas Osborne, Nebraska

Erin Duncan serves as the Legislative Director for U.S. Representative Tom Osborne (R, Nebraska, Third District). In this role, she handles issues ranging from education and labor to transportation. In addition, she staffs the Congressman on both the Education and the Workforce Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. A native Nebraskan, Duncan received her bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska, and her master's degree from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Prior to her service with Representative Osborne, she worked as a Legislative Assistant for former U.S. Representative Bill Barrett (R, Nebraska, Third District) and as an English instructor at Iowa State.

Speakers Contact Information:

Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R), Kentucky21 Fairway DriveSouthgate, KY 41071Capitol Annex, Room 204Frankfort, KY 40601T: 502.564.3120

TJ Delahanty, Extension Associate4-H Youth Development1491 Twilight Trail,Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-8497T: 502.227.7722F: 502.227.1721tjdelahanty@kychildnow.org

Rep. Kenneth P. Green (D), Connecticut Legislative Office Building, Room 4045Hartford, CT 06106-1591860.240.8585, 1.800.842.8267, Kenneth.Green@cga.ct.gov

Elizabeth C. BrownLegislative Director Connecticut Commission on Children 18-20 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106 T: 860-240-0042Elizabeth.Brown@cga.ct.gov

Host Contact Information:

Karen Pittman, Executive DirectorThe Forum for Youth Investment7064 Eastern Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20012-2031T: 202.207.3333F: 202.207.3329Karen@forumforyouthinvestment.orgwww.forumfyi.org

Elizabeth Gaines, Program ManagerThe Forum for Youth InvestmentT: 202.207.3333Elizabeth@forumforyouthinvestment.orgwww.forumfyi.org

Stephanie Walton, Senior Policy AnalystNational Conference of State Legislatures7700 East First Place Denver, CO 80230T: 303.364.7700F: 303.364.7800stephanie.walton@ncsl.orgwww.ncsl.org

Erin DuncanLegislative DirectorOffice of the Honorable Tom Osborne507 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515T: 202.986.6028F: 202.225.6435Erin.Duncan@mail.house.gov

Moving Youth Policy Forward: Lessons Learned Web-Assisted Audio-Conference April 10, 2006