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
Youth Community Connections Conducts On-line Policy Survey
Key Strategies for Effectively Cultivating Corporate Support Webinar
Nominate Your Middle School Youth Program for MetLife Afterschool Innovator Award
K-12 Common Core State Standards Available for Comment

NEW RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
Partnerships for Learning: Promising Practices in Integrating School and Out-of-School Time Program Supports
The Federal Role in Out-of-School Time Learning: After School, Summer Learning and Family Involvment as Critical Learning Supports

POLICY AND ADVOCACY UPDATES
February Economic Forecast Reveals Smaller Deficit than Previously Projected
Minnesota Legislature Begins to Address $1 Billion Shortfall
Bill Intended to Provide Additional Revenue to Rural Community Education Districts

FUTURE EVENTS
Minnesota Community Education Association (MCEA) to Hold Youth Workers Conference
National Afterschool Association and Afterschool for All Challenge, April 19-21, 2010, Washington DC
Local Elected Officials Invited to National Afterschool Summit
Center for Youth Development Presents: In Pursuit of Effective Best Practices for Out of School Time, April 29, 2010

RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS

Youth Community Connections Conducts Online Policy Survey
YCC is in the process of developing its policy agenda for the next 2-4 years.  We plan to use this policy agenda to guide our systems building and advocacy/public education efforts on behalf of the field of out-of-school time opportunities in Minnesota.  We are asking you, as a stakeholder, to provide input into this process by completing an online survey.
Please click here to start the online survey.  We ask that you complete the survey by April 6, 2010.  The survey will take no more than 10 minutes. 

Key Strategies for Effectively Cultivating Corporate Support Webinar
Youth Community Connections (YCC) is collaborating with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Competitive Workforce (ICW) to offer a Webinar on April 19, 2010 from 2:00-3:00 pm CST.  Dominic Giandomenico, ICW’s Director of Education and Workforce Programs, will discuss strategies for cultivating corporate support for out-of-school time and summer programs during tight economic times.  Please CLICK HERE to register for the webinar.  For more information visit YCC’s Events page. The session will be moderated by Laura LaCroix-Dalluhn.

Nominate Your Middle School Youth Program for MetLife Afterschool Innvator Award
The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are partnering to develop and disseminate a series of Issue Briefs that address topics related to middle school youth and afterschool programs. Nominate a program by April 23, 2010 for a chance to receive a MetLife Afterschool Innovator Award and be highlighted in one of our Issue Briefs. 

Awardees will be recognized in the related Issue Brief and in the final compendium.  Awards will be given out by the Afterschool Alliance in conjunction with the 2010 Lights On Afterschool and each recipient will receive an award of $5,000 to be used to continue or improve upon the highlighted program.

Our online nomination form can be found here and additional details are available online at http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/metLife.cfm.  If you have any questions please contact Chris D’Agostino at cdagostino@afterschoolalliance.org or call (202) 347-2030. 

K-12 Common Core State Standards Available for Comment Until April 2, 2010
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) have released the first official public draft of the K-12 standards as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a process being led by governors and chief state school officers in 51 states, territories, and the District of Columbia.

These draft standards, developed together with teachers, school administrators and experts, seek to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce. The NGA Center and CCSSO have received feedback from national organizations representing, but not limited to teachers, postsecondary education (including community colleges), civil rights groups, English language learners, and students with disabilities.

The NGA Center, CCSSO and Youth Community Connections (YCC) encourages you to provide feedback on the national standards by Friday, April 2, 2010, at www.corestandards.org.

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.

Partnerships for Learning: Promising Practices in Integrating School and Out-of-School Time Program Supports The Havard Family Research Center releases new report aimed at out-of-school time intermediaries and school administrators (click here to view the report).  This report aims is to share with OST program leaders, decision-makers, funders, and schools lessons from successful efforts to forge partnerships between schools and OST programs to support children’s learning and development. Primarily offering lessons for OST programs and intermediaries (the majority of informants for this research represented the program perspective), this report also highlights lessons for schools when appropriate. In many cases, the lessons apply to both programs and schools in their partnering efforts.

The Federal Role in Out-of-School Time Learning: After School, Summer Learning and Family Involvement as Critical Learning Supports
Harvard Family Research Center releases report that makes a research-based case for federal provision of out-of-school complementary learning supports from birth through high school, particularly for poor children, so that all students gain the skills that economists, educators, and employers agree are necessary for success in the 21st century.

POLICY AND ADVOCACY UPDATES

February Economic Forecast Reveals Smaller Deficit than Previously Projected
The February Economic Forecast recently released by Minnesota Management and Budget shows a projected $994 Million for the remainder of the current (2010-2011) biennium. This is an improvement from the $1.203 Billion deficit that had been projected back in November of 2009.  This projected deficit reduction of roughly $209 Million is mostly the result of larger than anticipated federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota as well as lower human services spending.

However, this good news of a smaller deficit in this biennium comes with bad news as well. The deficit projection for the next biennium (2012-2013) actually increased by roughly $363 Million, to take the 2012-2013 deficit from roughly $5.4 Million to around $5.8 Million.

Minnesota Legislature Begins to Address the $1 Billion Shortfall
Both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature have initiated talks and put forth ideas on how to resolve the current biennium $1 Billion budget deficit. The House and Senate plan to solve the deficit through three separate budget bills. The first bill will look at reducing expenditures in the areas of colleges and universities, prisions, courts, agriculture, natural resources and local government assistance. Proposals for reductions in these areas will result in a $300 million reduction in state spending.

YCC will continue to closely follow how the legislature is proposing reductions and how those reductions will impact Minnesota's young people.

For more information about legislative updates, please check out our website at: www.youthcommunityconnections.org/advocateN.html.

Bill Intended to Provide Additional Revenue to Rural Districts for Youth and Community Learning
Senate File 552, authored by Senator Julie Rosen, is currently being considered by the Senate E-12 Education Finance Committee. SF 552 aims to provide additional revenue for rural community education districts, specifically funding for youth programs.

Interested in supporting or concerned?
If you are interested in supporting this proposed bill or concerned and want to voice your opinion, please contact your state representatives. To find your state representative, click here.

FUTURE EVENTS
 

MCEA to Hold Its 2nd Annual Youth Workers Conference
The Minnesota Community Education Association (MCEA) will host the second annual Connecting the Dots conference focused on assisting youth workers deal with the daily issues of today’s diversified youth population.

For more information including how to register, click here or go to http://www.mn-mcea.org/.

National Afterschool Association Conference & Afterschool for All Challenge - April 19-21, 2010, Washington DC
The National Afterschool Association and the Afterschool Alliance are joining forces to combine their annual professional development convention and the annual advocacy campaign to support afterschool and summer learning opportunities. Youth Community Connections encourages you to attend this conference and meet with our congressional representatives to share your work with children and youth across the State of Minnesota. Click here to register today!

Local Elected Officials Invited to National Afterschool Summit
Mayors, city councilmembers and business community partners are invited to attend the third National City Afterschool Summit, to be held April 19-21, 2010, at the Gaylor National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, DC. This event is sponsored by the YEF Institute in partnership with the Afterschool Alliance and with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

The Summit will help municipal leaders and their partners in the business community make the case for the importance of high quality out-of-school time programs for children and youth in strengthening the local workforce; network with peers to learn city strategies for afterschool financing and partnerships; recognize municipal champions for afterschool; and hear from national experts and Congressional leaders on federal and state support for afterschool.

For more information, contact Lane Russell at (202) 626.3008 or russell@nlc.org.

Center for Youth Development presents:

In Pursuit of Effective Best Practices for Out of School Time
Robert C. Granger, Ed.D., President of the William T. Grant Foundation
Thursday, April 29, 2010
9 a.m. to 12 noon; registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
Memorial Hall, McNamara Alumni Center
200 Oak St SE, Minneapolis
Free and open to the public

Particpate in person or online via the web!
Please join us on Thursday, April 29th for the next symposium in our ongoing series bridging research and practice in Youth Development: “In Pursuit of Effective Best Practices for Out-of-School Time”, featuring Robert Granger, President of the W.T. Grant Foundation.

Why do some out-of-school programs improve youth outcomes while others do not? What practices seem to make a difference? What are the implications for improving program quality? Bob Granger will discuss what is known about these questions, drawing on research in K-12 education, mentoring, and after-school.

Youth Community Connections
200 Oak Street SE, Suite 270B ~ Minneapolis, MN 55455
PH: 612.627.0160
WEB: www.youthcommunityconnections.org