Hastings Community Education Advisory Council February 12, 2008 Fulfilling Minnesota’s Promise Sarah Dixon, Minnesota Alliance With Youth Kelly Amoth, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Contact MN Alliance at: Visit our Website:

President’s Summit

Our Vision All young people in Minnesota are connected to their communities, have hope for the future, and are able to realize their dreams.

Mission of the Alliance To ensure that all young people in Minnesota have access to the resources they need to be successful: caring adults; safe places; a healthy start; effective education; and opportunities to help others (the Five Promises)

The Five Promises Work  Research shows that the more of the Five Promises that children receive, the more successful they are likely to be.  Children who receive the Five Promises are 5 to 10 times more likely to succeed as students, citizens, parents, and employees.

Caring Adults Caring adults who are actively involved in their lives – ongoing relationships with parents, mentors, tutors, coaches. 87% of young people say it is very important to have caring adults in their lives. 45% of young people expressed a need for more adults they could turn to when they need help. 15 million at-risk young people need a mentor.

Safe Places Safe places in which to learn and grow – with structured activities during non-school hours. 31% of young people do not feel safe walking around alone in their communities. Between 7 and 15 million children are alone at home after school; the most juvenile crime takes place between 3-6pm. We spend over $14 billion each year on juvenile justice.

A Healthy Start A healthy start towards adulthood – healthy bodies, minds, habits, & choices for a healthy start & healthy future. 92% of young people think it is important to pay attention to their health, yet 60% of teens admit that there are a lot of things they do that are not healthy. Millions of young people lack health insurance and at least one child goes hungry in up to 50,000 American households on an average day.

Effective Education An effective education that builds marketable skills – development, motivation & skills for successful work and lifelong learning. 33% don’t think they are learning the skills they need to be successful in life. American students rank in the bottom third of test scores in the world. More than half a million young people leave school each year without a diploma, resulting in associated costs of $260 billion.

Opportunities to Help Others Opportunities to give back through community service – the chance to learn and make a difference through volunteering, leadership and service. 94% of young people want to help their communities and make the world a better place. Only 51% of all young people who want to help have been asked to do so. 46% think community service and volunteering is boring.

5 Promises & 40 Assets  Research conducted by the Search Institute identifies the 40 Developmental Assets as critical to ensuring positive youth development.  The Five Promises framework is consistent with the 40 Assets framework.

American Dream Gap Young people say they value and want more guidance from adults, more challenges and higher expectations from their schools, and more opportunities to contribute to their communities. (Voices Study, America’s Promise & Child Trends, Inc.)

American Dream Gap The Promise of America is the American Dream – the idea that anyone can be anybody or do anything that they want. (Voices Study, America’s Promise & Child Trends, Inc.) 95% of young people believe that “kids can grow up to be anything they want in America” and had set goals for their future. However, 42% of youth doubted if they would achieve their goals.

Too Many Young People Lack Resources for Success Only 31% of our young people today are receiving enough of the fundamental resources, the Five Promises, necessary for success. (National Promises Study, America’s Promise & Search Institute) 1000s of youth in MN have lost services over the past few years due to declining in funding, with 25% of nonprofits saying they are serving fewer youth because of these funding reductions. (MN Council of Nonprofits)

Social Return on Investment  An effective comprehensive program costing around $9,000 per participant can return benefits of from $4 to $9 for every dollar of cost. (Wilder Research)  There is a 16% long-term return on each dollar invested in children – compared to a 7% return on the stock market. For example, a 1% increase in high school graduation rates would yield $1.8 billion in social benefits and reduce the number of crimes nationwide by 94,000. (Art Rolnick, Mpls. Federal Reserve Bank)

Social Return on Investment  When disadvantaged children go to a quality preschool the graduation rate from high school is 65%. When support continues through childhood and adolescents the graduation rate increases to 91%. (University of Chicago)  It costs taxpayers almost $2 million dollars in criminal justice costs, victim costs, drug abuse related costs, lost wages and taxes for each young person that drops out of school and embraces a life of crime and drug use. (Vanderbilt University)

Key Strategies of the Alliance  Connect & Mobilize Partner Organizations  Connect & Mobilize Partner Organizations to build capacity around the resources young people need to be successful  Create, connect, and strengthen School- Community Partnerships  Create, connect, and strengthen School- Community Partnerships to build capacity around the Five Promises  Increase opportunities for youth voice, youth engagement, and academic success

Connecting & Mobilizing Partner Organizations Identifying programs and resources from statewide and national partners to share with schools & communities. Providing opportunities for networking and collaboration for statewide organizations. Sharing needs assessments, best practices & great ideas from schools & communities. Building capacity to deliver the Five Promises through a Statewide Partner Promise Fellow Corps Modeling and providing a source of youth voice & youth action with a statewide Youth Advisory Council

Strengthening School- Community Partnerships Providing opportunities for networking and collaboration. Sharing programs and resources from state and national partners. Collecting and sharing best practices & great ideas from schools & communities. Recognizing and celebrating school & community success. Supporting schools & communities in engaging and supporting young people.

Increasing Youth Voice Youth Engagement & Academic Success Increasing youth civic engagement through: Youth Leadership Opportunities & Development Youth Service & Service Learning Authentic Youth-Adult Partnerships Supporting youth civic engagement through: Sharing Civic Engagement Best Practices, Great Ideas, Programs and Resources for Youth Engagement Providing opportunities for youth voice & youth action Recognizing and Celebrating Young People

Youth Voice & Youth Action  Statewide Youth Advisory Council  Lieutenant Governor’s Red Wagon Awards  Delta Dental Serve a Smile Program for National & Global Youth Service Day  Promise Fellow Service-Learning & Civic Engagement Programs  Resources: My Voice, Connecting is Key, Power of 5, 5 Promises Ambassadors Network  Online Youth Program Directory

AmeriCorps Promise Fellows in Minnesota The Alliance hosts the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows, who work with partners, schools and communities across the state, building capacity around our key strategies to fulfill the Five Promises for every young person in Minnesota.

The work of the Fellows  Coordinate volunteers to serve as mentors, tutors, and on service projects with youth  Develop key partnerships between schools, communities, and parents  Engage young people in service, service-learning, and leadership activities  Involve youth in developing collaborations within their communities

AmeriCorps Promise Fellows Over the last three years, Fellows have:  Directly served over 129,000 young people  Recruited 17,000 youth volunteers serving over 112,000 hours in their communities.  Recruited over 10,900 adult volunteers serving over 146,000 hours working with youth.  Supported mentoring, tutoring, and service learning programs that led to improved academic performance in 69% of participants.

How does it work in communities? Example of Multi-Sector Collaborations:  Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, Northfield, MN

Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI)  Formed in 1992  Original partners – City of Northfield, Northfield Public Schools, and Northfield Hospital; expanded over the years  Strength-based approach to youth development – 40 assets and 5 Promises  Over the past 5 years, HCI has helped bring in nearly $2 million from outside the community to benefit youth efforts

HCI Overview  Not about running programs – they convene, connect, & mobilize  Identify gaps and opportunities around youth issues in the community – help fill these gaps and take advantage of opportunities  Bring partners together to expand mentoring opportunities, after school options, graduation initiatives, and school/community connectedness  They are an umbrella for other things to happen…

HCI Initiatives – YOUTH  Northfield Mentoring Coalition  Mayor’s Youth Council  Familias en Accion/TORCH  Middle School Youth Center  Youth Sports Collaborative  YouthPlus

HCI Initiatives – PARENTS  Parent Education and Resource Liaisons (PEARLs)  Parent Communication Network  Parenting Events  Parent Resource Carts

HCI Initiatives – Community & Capacity Building  Rice County Chemical Health Coalition  Fundraising for youth organizations  Mini-grants to projects that build youth assets  Recognition/celebration community events  Continuing education events

HCI Impact in Northfield  Mentoring matches have increased by 65% in past 4 years  Youth substance use has decreased  More after school opportunities for youth  Latino graduation rates increasing  More opportunities for youth to have voice in community dialogues

Northfield Mayor’s Youth Council  Formed in spring 2006  13 high school students - diverse group!  Mayor appoints and City Council approves  City-level commission (like other city boards)  Charge: To provide youth input into civic affairs and to work on initiatives that positively impact Northfield youth

Key Outcomes for the Alliance Promoting a common vision for Minnesota community-wide youth development. oIncreased number of volunteers (Youth & Adults) serving their communities. oIncreased number of opportunities for leadership, service, and civic engagement. oIncreased number of communities working collaboratively WITH Youth.

“The Little Red Wagon – a symbol of childhood. It could be filled with a child’s hopes and dreams or weighed down with their burdens. Millions of American children need our help to pull that wagon along. Let’s all pull together.” “We have no choice but to keep moving in this direction, to keep giving of our resources, our time, our talent, and our energy – because the need is still there. The need is still great. There are still youngsters who are looking to use for a promise.” –Colin Powell, Founding Chairman, America’s Promise