1. R3 Youth Development Institute
Karen Pittman
Co-Founder & CEO
The Forum for Youth Investment

2. Supporting the whole child: Bolder strategies for better Results

3. The Forum for Youth Investment
Nonprofit, nonpartisan “action tank” dedicated to helping states and communities make sure all young people are Ready by ready for college, work and life.
Located in Washington, D.C.
Adjunct office in Michigan (Center for Youth Program Quality)
35+ staff headed by prominent national leaders
Historically a “forum” where policy, practice and research meet

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

5. Thinking Outside of the Box
Civic
Social
Emotional
Physical
Vocational
Cognitive
Outcome
Areas
21+ . ? ?
Ages ?
After
School
To help you understand what we mean by reach, let me set up a familiar scenario. In the business community, a common response to the quality question is, “let’s find the best programs out there and replicate them.” There are a couple of problems with that model. First it can lead to factions, as the anointed programs receive more of the available resources. Second, replication models can be very program specific, and they don’t always help professionals working in different kinds of contexts and systems transfer and apply the practices that led to the initial success very well.
In the end, the replication model can get high marks in terms of quality programming, but usually doesn’t result in enough reach to address all of the systems, settings and programs that touch young people’s lives. To address the reach part of the equation, we ask communities to make three assumptions:
First, kids need early and sustained supports. Many communities have gotten the early part right – as seen in investments in early childhood education. But it is not enough to invest early without thinking systemically about what supports & opportunities are in place next. So we start with the first assumption that we have to invest in young people from the time that they are little to the time that they are big. The second assumption is that we have to invest in and engage young people across their waking hours – from the time they get up until the time they go to sleep. Third, we have to think across the full range of outcomes – from academic to social – if we are to fully support young people being Ready by 21.
If you take those three assumptions and you make them the axes of a cube (ages, times of day/year, outcomes) – you define developmental space for young people. We can intentionally fill this space or kids can be left to their own devices to fill it - young people will find someone to talk to and something to do, whether we are paying attention or not.
At a systems level, we don’t do a consistent job of thinking about the entire space and using our community resources to address that entire space. Schools only fill a small part of the space – roughly 27% of young people’s time -- and they are increasingly under pressure to address only a narrow slice of the outcomes space (namely academics). After-school fills an even smaller space, depending on how it is defined.
To answer the question are youth getting what they need, communities need to know what fills the rest of the space and need mechanisms in place for monitoring the availability, accessibility and quality of programs.
[Speakers note: You may insert a discussion question to engage the audience in what they think fills the “developmental white space” space – good or bad – for young people in your community, and make observations about how coordinated mechanisms are helping or may help to address some of the most critical concerns in the future.]
School
Morning Night
At its best, school only fills a portion of developmental space
Times of Day

6. 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

7. 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

8. These supports really do make a difference, even in adolescence.
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.
7064 Eastern Avenue, N.W.  Washington, D.C
T:  F:  

9. 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…
from 4 in 10
doing well
The researchers didn’t stop there. They asked the question, if every young person coming into high school had the supports that kids in the “doing well” category had, would the picture change? They determined that we could change the 4 in 10 statistic to 7 in 10 “doing well” and 1 in 10 doing poorly.
This research suggests that it is never too late to invest in young people, and that it is possible to change the odds.
If all young people got the supports they needed in early adolescence, the picture could change from 4 in 10 doing well to 7 in 10 doing well. That’s not perfect, but it’s significant – and this research only captures the difference made based on supports provided during early adolescence. It is possible that with increased investments during the first decade of a young person’s life, we could get closer to 10 out of 10.
to 7 in 10
doing well

10. 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.

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

12. 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.

13. 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)

14. But changing cultures one system at a time is tough

15. This is why the Ready by 21 Partnership focuses on a) reaching all leaders and b) encouraging partnerships.
It sometimes takes as much as decade to make significant progress on an intractable problem. But changes in the direction and coordination of the leadership focused on an issue can happen within a few years; if leaders make their own capacity-building a priority by focusing on partnerships, shared goal-setting, data-driven decision-making and strategies that strengthen systems and neighborhoods, not just programs.
Moving the small gear can make a big difference because steady pressure is needed to get multiple systems moving in the same direction towards the same goals. This is why the Ready by 21 Partnership is committed to meeting leaders where they are and providing them with the tools and capacity-building services they need to get further faster.
Moving the small gear makes a big difference
© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment.

16. Leaders take on a recurring set of tasks whenever they set out to create a new agenda
Take Shape
Take Aim
Take Stock
Take Action
Track Progress
To Implementation
Take Shape– Bring multiple stakeholders together and use a structure that can implement and track change
Take Aim -- Identify target goals and results you want to see for young people across ages and for programs across systems.
Take Stock -- Assess current initiatives, programs, funding. Establish counts, baselines and benchmarks to show where you are and where you want to go
Take Action -- Make and sustain changes needed to reach your goals. Strengthen community supports, engage youth and families, shift and align policies and resources
Track Progress – Track progress against common goals and indicators, share reports broadly and assess the pace of change
From Idea
But do they stop to ask how these agendas add up?

17. Collaborations Perinatal Community Consortium Do Right by
Kids campaign
Task Force on Violence
Counselor’s
Consortium
America’s Promise
SACSI
Rochester Children’s Collab.
Comm. Asset Network
Domestic
Violence
Partnership
Not Me Not Now
Domestic Violence Consortium
NBN
Early Childhood Develop I.
CCSI TIER II
N.E.T.
Transitions Collab.
Health
Action
Juvenile Justice Council
City Violence Initiative
Interagency Council
MCTP
Rochester‘s Child
Roch. Enterprise Community Zone P.
SDFSCA Planning Committees
Reclaiming
Youth
Youth 2000
REEP
Student
Asst. Prof.
Greater Roch.
Area
Homeless Continuum of care Impl. Team
Monroe
Cty. Sch
& Comm.
Health Ed.
Network
OASAS Prevention Initiative
Rochester
Effectiveness
Partnership
Mentoring Round Table
RAEYC
CHANGE
PCIC
YRBS Group
Perinatal
Substance
Abuse
Coalition
RECAP
Youth Services Quality C.
HW &
Tutoring
Round
Table
Homeless
Services
Network
Children & Family Serv. Subcomm.
Student Assistance Prof.
Runaway & Homeless Youth Ser Provider
Adult Services Subcomm.
Community Profile
CASAS
Providers
Diversion Collaborative
Board of
Health
United Neighborhood Centers Of Greater Roch.
Preventive Services Coalition
Community Service Board
Reg. 2 Preventive Provid.N
School Health Leadership Team

18. Children’s Services in Los Angeles County
A Tangle of Inefficiencies: the typical approach see a problem… convene a taskforce…. create a program…
Children’s Services in Los Angeles County
Typical response is See a Problem, Convene a Task Force, Create a Program
SOURCE: Margaret Dunkle

19. Want Fully-Prepared Youth? Insulate the Education Pipeline
Nationally, 75% of high school graduates go on to post-secondary education within two years. However, only 9% of those from low-income families earn a four-year degree. The education pipeline is cracked in multiple places and corroded inside.
But fixing these problems alone won’t ensure that young people are ready for college, work and life. We have to insulate the pipe with basic services such as transportation and health care, and with multiple opportunities for learning, engagement and employment. This means changing the way we do business as leaders, whether we’re on the front lines or in the board room.
Academic Attainment
21st Century Skills
Risk Management
© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment.

20. HOW? Broader Partnerships Bigger Goals Bolder Strategies Better Data
The Ready by 21 National Partnership Can Help

21. 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.
As many here know, Maine’s Children’s Cabinet began under the King Administration and is about to end its 16th year of high-level, cross-systems partnership work under the leadership of First Lady Karen Baldacci.

22. Children’s Cabinet = Public Value
For 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.

23. 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.
It has moved shared policies out through service delivery systems, but as important, the Cabinet has set priorities and philosophies for embracing a developmental asset approach to policy and service delivery.

24. 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

25. 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 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 in poverty – 23%
Children under 18 without health insurance – 9%

26. Goals and indicators should span the ages and developmental areas
Pre-K
0–5
School-Age
6–10
Middle School
11–14
High School
15–18
Young Adults
19–24+
Ready for College
LEARNING
Ready for Work
WORKING
Ready for Life
THRIVING
CONNECTING
LEADING
TALKING POINTS
We need ways to take stock of young people’s progress, or of our efforts or initiatives in basic of sophisticated ways.
Consider the following: If our goal is that we want every young person to be ready for college, work and life by the end of their second decade (by 21) and we believe that this requires early and sustained investments to help them make progress in a range of developmental areas, then we could simply “color” in our assessments of how well we (and/or they) are doing.
This is an arbitrary coloring of such a grid.
What we normally do as leaders, is to find some way to get consensus on what the red cells are – where young people are most in need; where our efforts are most lacking. Then we pick a few of these cells to focus on (e.g. academic success for high school students, physical health of preschoolers, parent education and supports for families) and then throw away the rest of the picture.
But consider what happens. We shift our attention to a few red cells and move them to yellow. But we don’t notice, then, when some of the yellows shift to red and the greens shift to yellow. So there is a strong chance that the overall picture really doesn’t change much.

27. The Forum has learned that states that identify and then track trend data related to shared priorities have better child and youth outcomes. Maine Governor’s Children’s Cabinet Maine Marks track trend data to measure child and youth wellbeing, which are updated annually and help tell the story of the impact of policy moved to practice over time.

28. 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

29. Better Data We think of data and information…
…that tells us how we are doing in each gear… 29

30. Integrate data across age groups
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
Through Maine’s Children’s Cabinet we are moving from individual agency data into cross-systems connectivity of data that helps to better coordinate and refine services and service entry points to best help children and youth through their development and experiences in and out of our various systems.
© 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

31.
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 Data-sharing/coordination work is also aimed at moving the Maine Marks further towards the positive outcomes we hope and want for all Maine young people, but it MUST remain a “whole-child” framework that has put Maine in such good standing in this work.
© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment.

32. The Dashboard
Maine Marks is a project of the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet. The Children’s Cabinet was established in 1995 to oversee and coordinate delivery of services to children in Maine. It is composed of state government departments directly related to children and families and includes the Departments of Health and Human Services, Corrections, Education, Public Safety and Labor.
The vision of the Children’s Cabinet is that in Maine, all children and youth to be:
Safe
Healthy,
Well-Educated, and
Productive.
Through Maine Marks, the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet seeks to track and measure how Maine’s children and youth are faring in these areas.  The purpose of Maine Marks for Children, Families, and Communities is to develop and report on a set of indicators that government, citizens, and interested groups can use to track the well-being of the state’s children, families, and communities.  Maine Marks indicators are aligned with the vision and outcomes set by the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet. 
The first edition of Maine Marks was released in February of 2001; the current online edition represents the most current available data, in most cases including data through 2007. 
Although Maine Marks has and will continue to provide a broad range of indicators across family, community, regional and state domains, the Children’s Cabinet agreed that this web-based tool should reflect more specific cross-systems work currently underway, as well as emerging, evidence-based initiatives that together have the potential to impact interagency policy and service delivery.  Measures can be viewed by individual topic, outcome, priority initiative, or by the three Children’s Cabinet priority areas: Youth in Transition, Adverse Childhood Experiences/Resiliency or Early Childhood.
Maine Marks includes indicators that represent statewide data as well as data from State programs or initiatives.  Statewide data is important because it enables policymakers and other interested parties to assess how well or poorly children and families in Maine are faring.  “Initiative-specific” indicators are of particular importance to the Children’s Cabinet because each initiative is of interest to three or more of the State Departments.
Data sources for indicators included in the Maine Marks website include primary data sources from federal and state sources, e.g. census and survey data, as well as data from program initiatives at the state level.
© 2008 The Forum for Youth Investment. Ready by 21 and the Ready by 21 Logo are registered trademarks of the Forum for Youth Investment.

33. Ready by 21 Powerful solutions for passionate leaders Broader Partnerships │ Bigger Goals │ Better Data │ Bolder Strategies