June 22, 2009


TheConnector
TheCONNECTOR is Youth Community Connections’ (YCC) communication tool for sharing updates and for seeking action from its partners. TheCONNECTOR contains the following highlights:

RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS
Governor Pawlenty Announces Unallotment Plans Last Week
Minnesota Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Department of Public Safety Announces Request for Proposal
Minnesota Selected to Join the New Supporting Student Success Initiative
Youth Worker Practitioner Fellowships
National Summer Learning Day – July 9, 2009
Child Care WORKS! is Now Accepting Applications for the Katie Williams CARE Fellowship Class 4
Greater Twin Cities United Way Recruiting Youth for Street Team

ADVOCATING FOR AFTERSCHOOL AND SUMMER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Overview of Funding Available for Direct Service to Youth Ages 13-24
Camp Fire Goes to D.C. to Help Inform Policy
Afterschool Alliance Releases Survey Indicating Afterschool programs Need to Raise Fees and Cut Programs During Recession
YCC Policy and Advocacy Committee Meeting

NEW RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
Strengthen What Happens Outside School to Improve What Happens Inside
Core Competencies for Afterschool Educators

FUTURE EVENTS
Family and Youth Service Bureau Accepting Applications for Demonstration Project
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Annual Conference



RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS

Governor Tim Pawlenty Announces Unallotment Plans Last Week
Governor Pawlenty announced his plans to cut $2.7 billion from the state budget last week.  This is the first time in Minnesota’s history that a Governor used his authority to unallot state spending to address a major budget deficit.  Below is a summary of the unallotment plans:

  • $1.8 million in payment shifts to K-12 schools. 
  • $100 million cut to higher education (this is on top of the $40 million cut in December 2008, when the Governor unalloted to address the FY 2009 budget deficit
  • $300 million in cuts in aid to cities and counties, with 1/3 occurring in FY 2010 (beginning July 1, 2009) and the remaining 2/3 in FY 2011. 
  • $51 million from the Renter’s Credit, which provides tax refunds to low and moderate income households
  • $10.4 million eliminating the political contribution refund
  • $236 million in human service spending (includes elimination of GMAC in March 2010, reducing support for county social services and various other programs)
  • $33 million in state agency support (this included exemptions but is on top of the reductions proposed by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor).  This reduction includes the Governor’s office but no other constitutional offices.

For additional details about the unallotment plans you can review Commissioner Tom Hanson’s letter to Governor Pawlenty outlining the budget cuts.  You can also track state and budget news online through the Minnesota Budget Project.

 

Minnesota Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Department of Public Safety Announces Requests for Proposals
The solicitation is available for download at:
http://www.ojp.state.mn.us/funding/JAGrecovery/index.htm

The Minnesota Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Department of Public Safety, is requesting proposals for criminal justice systems improvement projects with funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funds.

$16 million is available including $5,500,000 for grants to state agencies and $10,500,000 for grants to local entities. Applications must be submitted electronically via the Web Enabled Grants Operations (WEGO) system at http://www.wego.dps.state.mn.us by 4:00 p.m. Thursday, July 23, 2009. For questions contact: Tricia Hummel at 651.201.7320 or tricia.hummel@state.mn.us

There will be two workshops offered for potential Recovery Act Justice Assistance Grant applicants. These application workshops will provide an overview of the RFP and an opportunity to ask questions of staff. These workshops will not offer any additional information other than what will be found in the RFP or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that will be posted and regularly updated on the OJP website.

For more information on the application workshops, contact Kristin Lail at 651.201.7322 or Kristin.Lail@state.mn.us

Visit http://www.ojp.state.mn.us for information on other Recovery Act funding.

 

Minnesota Selected to Join the New Supporting Student Success Initiative
Minnesota was one of five states selected to take part in the Supporting Student Success initiative, a joint effort of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and the National Governor’s Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices.  The project is made possible with support from the C.S. Mott Foundation. 

Youth Community Connections submitted Minnesota’s application which aims to develop a framework outlining strategies to align formal and non-formal learning practices and policies.  This is a great opportunity to anchor the importance of non-formal learning opportunities in the non-school hours as a way of supporting student success and preparing them for their future.

 

Youth Worker Practitioner Fellowship
The University of Minnesota Extension’s Center for Youth Development is seeking applications for the newly established National Afterschool Matters Initiative Practitioner Fellowship program in Minnesota.  The fellowship is a year-long professional development and leadership initiative that aims to engage 12-15 youth workers in research and writing activities designed to increase the knowledge base in the field of youth work, improve practice, and inform policy at a systems level.

The goals of this Practitioner Fellowship are to:

  • Support a community of youth work practitioners in their investigation, research, and scholarship on effective youth work practices.
  • Engage in inquiry and reflection strategies to improve youth work practice and youth programs.
  • Provide leadership in writing about and disseminating improvement strategies in the field of youth work.

Minnesota Extension’s Center for Youth Development is partnering with the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College to offer this new National Afterschool Matters Initiative Practitioner Fellowships.  The fellowship is targeting mid-level career professionals in the Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Minneapolis areas. The Fellowship will be conducted by and based at three locations for the National Writing Project:  The Bay Area Writing Project at UC Berkeley, the Philadelphia Writing Project at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Writing Project at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis. 

You can download the application on the NIOST website http://www.niost.org/content/view/1673/310. 

 

National Summer Learning Day – July 9, 2009
National Summer Learning Day is coming up soon, on Thursday, July 9th. National Summer Learning Day aims to showcase summer programs across the country and focus attention on how quality summer learning programs help close the achievement gap, promote healthy development and support working families.

The National Center for Summer Learning urges you to host an event during the week of July 6, and join the national campaign to showcase the importance of summer learning to youth and families in your community!

The first 250 programs to register Summer Learning Day events by June 25 will receive a special package of fun giveaways that can be used during the event, including a disposable camera, magnetic photo frames, flyer disks, cotton lanyards, and a draw string backpack. To register your event, go to http://www.summerlearningday.blogspot.com/.

If you have any questions regarding the National Summer Learning Day, email Ashutosh Raina at ashutosh@Jhu.edu or call 410.262.5138.

 

Child Care WORKS! is Now Accepting Applications for the Katie Williams CARE Fellowship Class 4
In 2006, the Katie Williams CARE (Child Care Advocates Ready to Emerge) Fellowship was created by Child Care WORKS!. The CARE Fellowship offers an opportunity for early care providers, family & children’s services staff and school-age care providers to connect the dots between early care and school-age care public policy and the daily work of caring for and supporting children and families. Since the first year many individuals from throughout Minnesota have graduated from the fellowship.

Fellows challenge themselves in working together to achieve a shared vision of values about Early Care and Education. Public policy decisions must be made by the people who need and provide early care in partnership with elected officials and policy makers. The fellows demonstrate leadership in their work and community, openness to new concepts and ideas, while sharing their life experiences and the expertise they bring to the fellowship.

If you have questions please contact Alicia Frosch at alicia@childcareworks.org or 612.455.1055 ext 17 or apply on-line.

 

Greater Twin Cities United Way Recruiting Youth for Street Team
We are looking for 15 energetic individuals to join our promotional Street Team. The Street Team members will be promoting United Way at many local metro area events throughout the summer.  From the Farmers Market to Aquatennial to the State Fair, team members will use many creative and impromptu marketing strategies, such as conga lines, to build brand awareness of United Way and educate the community on our Agenda for Lasting Change. We also want to inform people on how they can give, advocate, volunteer.

Team members must a have positive attitude and enjoy working with others in a fast-pace exciting environment. The purpose of this position is to go out and have a good time at events while promoting United Way. In the process team members will:  

  • Gain valuable direct marketing experience
  • Strengthen communication, marketing, and event management skills
  • Network with other volunteers and event attendees
  • Strengthen résumé with community and volunteer involvement

The Street Team member is a volunteer position. Volunteers will be asked to put in a minimum of 15-20 hours a month. This is a summer position leading up to a large United Way event on September 9. Volunteers will be required to attend a mandatory training at United Way.

If you are interested in this position or know someone who is, please click here: Marketing- Street Team for a complete job description and directions on how to apply.  The deadline has been extended to fill open positions.



ADVOCATING FOR AFTERSCHOOL AND SUMMER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Overview of Funding Available for Direct Services to Youth Ages 13-24
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workforce Investment’s Division of Youth Services released a summary document providing an overview of the different sources of funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  These funding sources are targeted at direct services to youth ages 13-24.  The summary has been posted on Youth Community Connections’ website.  For more information click here.

Camp Fire Goes to D.C. to Help Inform Policy
Camp Fire USA Minnesota Council’s VP of Community Programs, Ge Xiong, was part of a four-person panel that presented at the American Youth Policy Forum’s “Improving the Quality of Extended Learning Opportunities” in Washington D.C. to an audience of nearly 100 congressional staff and nonprofit leaders.

The invitation to present at this forum came at the culmination of Camp Fire USA Minnesota Council’s participation in a two-year national study that measured the effectiveness of the Youth Program Quality Intervention’s (YPQI) assessment tool in improving quality within youth programs. Camp Fire was joined by 55 other youth-serving sites within Minnesota and 100 sites across the nation to be part of this study.

The forum was designed to help inform the D.C. policy community on best practices for ensuring high-quality within “Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELOs).” The other presenters included Dr. Charles Smith, the principal investigator for the YPQI along with Lee Pearson, who led data collection analysis and reporting for the YPQI. Lorraine Thoreson, Education Consultant also presented on the effectiveness of the YPQI assessment tool within the Michigan Department of Education.

The full article is available at http://www.campfireusa-mn.org/News/.

 

Afterschool Alliance Releases Survey Indicating Afterschool Programs Need to Raise Fees and Cut Programs During Recession
The Afterschool Alliance released new survey data which indicates afterschool programs (95%) are being affected by the recession.  Afterschool programs are unable to provide as much help as children need because their budgets are down.  Eighty-six percent of respondents say children in their communities need afterschool care and are unable to access it.

The Alliance survey noted that about 60% of respondents reported a decrease in funding for their after-school programs compared with two years ago.   To compensate for the drop in funding, after-school programs are first cutting items like field trips, reducing activities, and reducing staff pay and benefits, according to the survey.  But the survey also found:

  • 38% of respondents reported having to increase fees.
  • 34% had to reduce professional development.
  • 28% had to increase student/staff ratios.
  • 28% had to reduce the number of children they serve.
  • 25% had to reduce the number of hours or days the programs are open.
  • 22% had to eliminate summer programs.

“This new survey documents a world of hurt all across the country,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance.  “We’re not protecting our kids from the economic pain, or even maintaining the safety nets they count on. Afterschool programs serve a high need population; two-thirds of students who attend these programs qualify for free or reduced price lunches,” she said.

“When programs must charge or raise fees or reduce hours, more children will be unsupervised and at risk after the school day ends.”

For more information, see www.afterschoolalliance.org/UncertainTimes2009.cfm.


Policy and Advocacy Committee Meeting – September 11, 2009
Youth Community Connections’ Policy and Advocacy Committee will not meet in July or August, 2009.  The next meeting is scheduled for September 11, 2009. Location TBD.


NEW RESEARCH AND RESOURCES

Check out some of the latest research on after school, youth engagement and quality improvement on YCC’s website under latest research.

Strengthen What Happens Outside School to Improve What Happens Inside
A new paper commissioned by the Center for Educational Policy (CEP) outlines strategies the federal government can take to ensure that all children, especially those who are economically and otherwise disadvantaged, have opportunities for afterschool learning, summer learning, and family support that improve their chances for school success.  An abbreviated version of the paper is available online at Youth Community Connections.  Click here for the highlights.


Core Competencies for Afterschool Educators
Core Competencies for Afterschool Educators is a new guide to help programs and systems define the capabilities that are critical for afterschool educators committed to high quality programs that produce positive participant outcomes.  Funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation and developed by a working group of afterschool experts drawing from the field, the guide includes core competencies for afterschool educators and supervisors, and steps for designing a professional development system.

This resource can be downloaded for free at  http://www.afterschoolprofessional.info/images/Mott_CC_web.pdf.



FUTURE EVENTS
 

Family and Youth Service Bureau Accepting Applications for Demonstration Project
The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) is accepting applications for a five-year demonstration project targeted to young people ages 16-21, in rural areas (including Tribal lands and other rural Native communities) who are approaching independence and young adulthood, but have few or no connections to a supportive, family structure or community. For purposes of this announcement, "rural" is defined as any geographical area that: (a) has a population under 20,000; and (b) is located outside a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. Go to
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/open/HHS-2009-ACF-ACYF-CX-0081.html for more information.

Please note the following goals (this is a good opportunity for collaboration):

Three Connectivity Goals: The plan submitted to FYSB should outline specific approaches, strategies and activities to be employed in pursuing the goals of increasing youth connections in three dimensions - Survival Support Services, the Community, and Education/Employment.  These connections are highlighted below, with examples of particular service areas of concern:

  • Survival Support Services:  Case managed connections to stabilize youth in housing and in service fields of: Healthcare, Substance Abuse, and/or Mental Health.
  • Community:  Connections to Community Service, Youth and Adult Partnerships, Mentoring, Peer Support Groups, and/or PYD activities.
  • Education/Employment:  Connections for High School/GED Completion, Post Secondary Education, Employment, Training, and/or Jobs.

 

Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Annual Conference
The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless will hosts its Annual Conference on September 29 & 30, 2009 at the Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis. 

If you are interested in being a presenter at the conference, you are required to download and complete the Call for Presenters application and submit it to the conference coordinator by July 15, 2009.

For further information contact:
Richard Sondah
Conference Coordinator
2233 University Avenue W. Suite 434
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55114
Phone: 651.645.7332 x 1
Fax: 651.645.7560
E-mail: Sondah@mnhomelesscoalition.org

Youth Community Connections
1313 - 5th Street SE, Suite 321 ~ Minneapolis, MN 55414
PH: 612.627.0160
WEB: www.youthcommunityconnections.org