Youth Development Task Force

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Youth Development Task Force

• Disconnected Youth Project
• January 10, 2008
• DRAFT

2
Every 9 seconds in America a student becomes a
dropout. - Whatever It Takes How 12
Communities are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth,
American Youth Policy Forum
3
Defining the Problem Statistics for the City of
St. Louis

• Number of youth ages 16 to 24 45,0001
• Proportion of middle students that never make the
  transition to high school TBD
• Proportion of students entering 9th grade that
  graduate from high school four years later 572
• Proportion of high school graduates going on to
  post-secondary education or training 622
• Number of young people aging out of the foster
  care system 4-6/month3
• Juvenile Detention
• Number of youth released from juvenile detention
  in 2007 1,0684
• 169 were committed to DYS (as of 9/07)4
• Approximately 300-350 children on official court
  supervision at any one time4
• Number of dropouts from SLPS for grades 9-12
  1,667 (16.9)2

1 2006 Missouri Census Data Center 2000 US
Census
3 Childrens Division 4 Twenty-Second Judicial
Circuit Court
2 Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
4
Reasons for Dropping Out

• Classes are not interesting
• Not motivated or inspired to work hard
• Personal reasons needed a job, became a parent,
  needed to take care of parent
• Significant academic challenges failing in
  school, poorly prepared by earlier schooling,
  required to repeat a grade
• (Source The Silent Epidemic Perspectives of
  High School Dropouts)

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Why Now Is a Good Time

• Initiatives
• ASAP
• Aging Out of Foster Care
• Truancy
• 211
• Other Ways to Earn a Diploma
• ACE (SLPS)
• Big Picture Schools (SLPS)
• CAN! Academies
• In it 2 Win (SLPS)
• Missouri Options Program
• Place-based Partnership

• Funding and Intermediaries
• Ready by 21 - St. Louis for Kids, Wyman Center
• Compassion Capital Fund - St. Louis for Kids, VCR
  
• NLC Technical Assistance Award
• Civic Leadership
• Judge Jimmie Edwards
• Mayor Francis Slay
• SLPS Superintendent Seeking Alternative School

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Vision

• Mayors Commission on Children, Youth and
  Families
• Ready by 21
• Disconnected Youth Project
• All youth in the City of St. Louis will graduate
  from high school

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Project Goals

• Outline current conditions
• Develop recommendations to re-engage disconnected
  youth
• Disconnected youth are
• Out of school, out of work, in foster care, under
  court supervision, released from juvenile
  justice, homeless/runaway and/or young mothers
• 11 to 24 years who are already disconnected from
  a learning environment or are at-risk of dropping
  out
• Core group 16 to 21
• Encourage cross-system collaboration

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Whats In Place School-based Prevention

• SLPS Adult Technical Education
• SLPS Secondary School Technical Education
• Clyde C. Miller and Gateway tech schools
• HS aviation, health, culinary, etc. programs
• SLPS Career Education K-12
• St. Louis Internship Program
• SLPS ACE Program

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Whats In Place School-based Re-entry

• SLPS Adult Education Literacy - GED
• SLPS In it 2 Win - Dropout Recovery
• CAN! Academy
• Logos School

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Whats In Place Social Services

• Community Service Center Tutoring, Youth job
  development, Runaway/Youth Shelters
• Diversity Awareness Partnership Youth
  development program with Edward Jones
• Youth Emergency Service Residential Services,
  Family Focus, Youth Issues Line
• Family Resource Center Mentoring Program for
  Parenting Teens
• Friends with a Better Plan Community Action
  Program Youth Development
• Girls, Inc Youth Development
• Guardian Angel Settlement Association Youth Job
  Development with Nestle/Purina
• Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club Youth
  Development
• Human Development Corporation of Metropolitan St.
  Louis Youth Development
• Intercommunity Education Association Tutoring
  Services
• International Institute of Metropolitan St.
  Louis Youth Development
• Center for Autism Vocational Assessment
• Kids Under Twenty One Youth Development, Youth
  Issues Line
• Life Skills Youth Development
• Lutheran Family and Childrens Services of MO
  Youth Counseling, Youth Development
• Mathews-Dickey Boys Girls Club Youth
  Development
• Missouri Mentoring Partnership Mentoring
  Programs

• Northside Community Center Tutoring Services
• Paraquad Youth Development
• Peoples Health Centers Youth Development
• Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region
  Safe Sex
• Education, Teen Pregnancy Prevention
• Productive Futures Youth Development
• Progressive Youth Connection Mentoring
  Programs,
• Youth Development
• Project Ark Safe Sex Education
• Provident Mentoring Programs, Teen Pregnancy
  
• Prevention
• St. Louis Caring Communities Neighborhood
• Connections Mentoring Programs
• St. Louis County Dept of Human Services
  Doors to
• Success Youth Development
• St. Vincent de Paul Church Tutoring Services
• The Center for Recording Arts Mentoring
  Programs,
• Youth Development
• Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis Youth
  

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Whats In Place Juvenile Justice

• Truancy Court
• Juvenile Transition Program (partnership with
  MERS/Goodwill)
• Juvenile Drug Court
• Payback Program

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Youth Engagement
Beyond High School
Training Professional Development
Youth Development Task Force Disconnected Youth
Project
Building a Cross-System Collaborative
Multiple Pathways
Connecting Services
Data Information Systems
Creating a Youth-Focused Community
Outcome Strategic Plan for Cross-System
Collaboration
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Beyond High School

• Emphasize prevention, not just re-entry
• Emerging Recommendations
• Expand Career and College clubs beyond middle
  school to high school and re-entering dropouts
• Peers and Careers approach
• Small groups, ongoing, school-based, outside
  sponsor, flexible model
• Build on success of Adult Education and Literacy
  program in SLPS
• Serves 7,000 students
• Able to help 300/year earn GED despite average
  reading levels of 5th/6th grade

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Connecting Services

• Emerging Recommendations
• Central Location
• One-stop shop
• Multiple access points (phone, internet, school
  counselor)
• Marketing and Promotion
• Access to information
• Access to services
• Safe environment

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Creating a Youth-Focused Community

• Emerging Recommendations
• School, Family, and Community Partnership
• An environment focused on success of youth
• Community Schools - provide wrap-around resources
• Business Partnerships
• Internships, summer employment and entry-level
  positions for youth

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Data Information Systems

• Emerging Recommendations
• Take Stock Assess current conditions and needs
• Utilize data from census and school, foster care
  and juvenile systems
• What Gets Measured Gets Done Provide framework
• Track progress of implemented programs and
  resources
• Use framework to help drive local and state
  policy

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Multiple Pathways

• Identify current options for dropouts to
  re-engage in school
• Assess best practices to identify feasible
  options for St. Louis
• Support SLPS dropout prevention and recovery
  efforts
• Best Practices NYC Portland, OR

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Best Practice New York City

• Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation
• New York City Dept. of Education
• Focus on over-age, under-credited youth
• Established Young Adult Borough Centers, Transfer
  Schools, GED programs, Learning to Work
• Community Education Pathways Success Initiative
• Capacity building for community organizations to
  work with dropouts on reading/math
• Data-driven
• Effective use of data to improve services for
  students

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Best Practice Portland

• Community has developed multiple education
  options for struggling students and dropouts
• Oregon developed alternative education
  legislation
• Education Options within Portland Public Schools
• Engagement of community-based organizations
• Municipal efforts to re-engage dropouts
• Funder Investment
• Youth Transition Funders Group
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Alternative
  Pathways Project

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Training Professional Development

• Emerging Recommendation
• Continue and expand Advancing Youth Development
  Training workshops

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Youth Engagement

• Youth Summit
• First opportunity to engage youth
• Incorporate more opportunities into strategic
  plan
• Emerging Recommendation
• Develop sustainable, long-term process for
  engaging youth in solving community problems
• Best Practice OASIS Center model

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Best Practice Nashville

• OASIS partners with young people to help them
  overcome serious challenges that prevent them
  from transitioning into a healthy adulthood
• Nashville Youth Opportunity Center - 21 youth
  programs under one roof

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Building a Cross-System Collaborative

• Emerging, Overarching Recommendations
• Elevate profile of dropout issue
• Youth Commissioner
• Mayors Youth Advisory Council
• Public awareness campaign
• Engage business community
• Engage youth, parents and broader community
• Expand and enhance strategic educational pathways
  for non-traditional learners
• Improve data collection, tracking, reporting and
  program evaluation

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Next Steps

• Ongoing work group meetings
• Youth Summit January 19
• Development of white papers
• Mayors Summit February 9
• Development and implementation of strategic plan

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Mayors Summit

• Saturday, February 9, 2008
• 800 AM to Noon
• Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, 1000 N.
  Grand, 63106
• Register on Big Tent or sign up for Big Tent by
  visiting http//stlcin.missouri.org/education/you
  thDevelopment.cfm
• Speakers
• Mayor Francis Slay
• Superintendent Diana Bourisaw
• Business representative
• Presentations by
• National League of Cities (invited)
• Youth Summit participants

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Mayors Summit

• Breakout Groups will match Work Groups
• Discussion
• Co-chairs as facilitators - Open discussion with
  synopsis of their section of the white paper
• Co-chairs ask participants to react, given the
  current conditions
• What are the current strengths of our community
  to address the section?
• What are the gaps?
• What opportunities are available that we have not
  listed?
• What changes (resources, public policy, etc.) are
  necessary?
• Who else needs to be involved?
• What 1 or 2 key actions must be taken FIRST in
  order to reach our collective goal?
• What are your organization and/or you willing to
  do?