July 13th, 2017
READY NEWS
News & resources from the Forum and the field about collaborative work to get young people ready by 21.

Last month, over 80 leaders gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss how to better align policy for children and youth. The Forum for Youth Investment, National Association of Counties, National Governors Association, National League of Cities, and American Public Human Services Association convened policymakers who are engaged in innovative thinking and practices to align their efforts vertically (from local to federal) and horizontally (across education, human services, health, justice, labor and more) to achieve better outcomes for children and youth.
 
The 2017 Child and Youth Policy Alignment Summit brought together policy innovators across the country who are committed to putting children, youth, and their families at the center by building partnerships that improve coordination, tackling funding and resource limitations in creative ways, addressing policy barriers that limit effectiveness, and using data and evidence to guide their decision-making and create a culture of continuous improvement.
 
Raquel Hatter, deputy director of the Human Services Program at the Kresge Foundation, delivered a powerful address as the luncheon keynote speaker. Hatter embodies the goals of the Policy Alignment Summit, having served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services, and in that role developing a deep understanding of how to make services work for their intended audiences - individual children and their families. Hatter posed to the participants, "Are we going to be a system that serves or a system that subjects? Are kids and families better off because we are in their lives?"
 
A detailed event report will be available soon. 

Collective Impact Learning Labcollective
Collective Impact Learning Lab: Tools and Techniques for Achieving Results

October 17-19, 2017
Silver Spring, Md. (Washington, D.C. area)
The Forum for Youth Investment and Collective Impact Forum are teaming up to bring you a practical, hands-on, three-day workshop and coaching session designed for backbone leaders, steering committee members, and other partners actively involved in collective impact.
 
The workshop is designed for leaders who are thinking about how the critical tasks of collective impact efforts can be staged and sequenced in order to move steadily towards improving outcomes. It is particularly useful for those in the early stages of forming or planning a collective impact initiative, or in the process of re-igniting or refreshing their initiative for the next phase of joint work. Special emphasis is given to tools and techniques that help leaders align and connect multiple issues and initiatives, identifying areas for joint planning and action.
                       
Youth Narrativesyouth
Reframing the Narrative around Black Youth
This past spring brought a rash of extrajudicial killings of unarmed black youth. The circumstances of these cases are often strikingly similar, as exemplified in three recent cases in Texas, California and Connecticut. The narrative in each case was initially one of a recalcitrant youth, disruptive and unyielding. Later evidence in each of these cases emerged, and the narratives were changed. There was no altercation, no aggressive threat. Just the judgments that too easily allow for an unhealthy and inaccurate narrative to emerge. A narrative that both countered and clouded the more accurate and life-affirming narratives that were closer to the truth: An honor student. An athlete. A beloved brother and friend. An aspiring artist. Well-liked. Vibrant. Loved.
 
Funding Approaches and Strategiesfunding
Busting Myths About State Funding
How can federal agencies help governors, mayors and other local leaders craft innovative solutions to pressing policy challenges, even in an era of flat or declining funding? A remarkable finding from the Federal Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3) initiative suggests a way: Federal agencies can unleash creative new approaches simply by myth busting, meaning working with states and localities to correct misunderstandings about the flexibility they already have when using federal funds. In a recent piece in the Brookings Economic Studies Bulletin, Andrew Feldman and the Forum's Thaddeus Ferber argue that by simply working with states to correct misunderstandings about the use of federal funds, local agencies would have the flexibility to provide better results.
 
Juvenile Justicejj
New Initiatives from the Georgetown Center for Juvenile Justice Reform
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy recently announced that it is accepting applications for two initiatives designed to assist juvenile justice agencies and partners in improving outcomes for youth, families, staff, and communities.
 
In partnership with the Center for Children's Law and Policy (CCLP), CJJR will host its fifth annual Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice Certificate Program from November 14 to 17, 2017 at Georgetown University. The training is designed to help jurisdictions identify the most promising areas for reform at key decision points in the juvenile justice system and specific strategies to reduce overrepresentation and address racial and ethnic disparities at those decision points.

 
The Multi-System Collaboration Training and Technical Assistance Program supports jurisdictions that are interested in developing or enhancing a sound infrastructure to promote multi-system approaches to serving at-risk, justice-involved youth and their families.

 
Please contact [email protected] or 202-687-4942 with any questions about either program.


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