Mentoring Disconnected

Youth:How Mentors Can Help

Reconnect Youth to School and Work

Nov. 15, 2012

2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series

2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series

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Webinars are held monthly on the 3rd Thursday.• 10-11:15am Pacific• 11am-12:15pm Mountain• 12-1:15 pm Central• 1-2:15pm Eastern

Sarah Kremer, Friends for Youth

Michael Garringer, Education Northwest

April Riordan, MP of Minnesota

Celeste Janssen, Oregon Mentors

Meghan Ferns, Oregon Mentors

Dana Gold, MP of SWPA

Marissa Strayer Benton, Mobius Mentors

December Warren, Indiana MP

Good to Know…

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After the webinar, all attendees receive:

Instructions for how to access PDF of presentation slides and webinar recording

Link to the Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring where we: • Post resources• Keep the conversation going

Please help us out by

answering survey

questions at the end of the webinar.

Participate in Today’s Webinar

• All attendees muted for best sound

• Type questions and comments in the question box

• Respond to polls• Who is with us today?

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Today’s Webinar

1. Who are “disconnected” or “opportunity” youth?

2. What is already being done to reconnect these youth to school and work?

3. What part can mentoring programs play in improving outcomes for these youth?

Q & A throughout the presentation (use the Q & A panel)

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Jim Scheibel

Jim Scheibel has spent his career working for economic opportunity for all. He was recently a speaker at the Opportunity Nation summit. His career includes serving in his hometown of St. Paul, MN, as a City Council member and Mayor. During the Clinton administration, he directed VISTA and the Senior Corps (during his tenure, the Experience Corps began as a demonstration project). He has been an Executive Director of nonprofits that promote self-sufficiency and started his career as a youth worker and community organizer. Jim is currently an Executive in Residence at Hamline University’s School of Business in St. Paul and services on boards of many youth-serving agencies.

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Abrigal Forrester

Abrigal Forrester is the Associate Director for Advocacy and Public Policy at YouthBuild USA. He is also managing the National Council of Young Leaders which is comprised of 16 young leaders nominated as members from seven nationally recognized youth organizations who created policy recommendations to the White House and Congress on issues impacting opportunity youth.

At the age of 21, Abrigal faced his greatest challenge because of the choices he made to engage in unproductive behaviors as a young man. He ended up getting sentenced to a ten year mandatory sentence for drug trafficking as a first time offender. He spent his entire twenties incarcerated from 1991 to 2001. During that time Abrigal worked very hard to transform his thinking and his life. He exemplifies the possibility of transformation and success for reentering citizens.

Since being released from Incarceration Abrigal has worked with court-involved youth, low income populations, and chronically unemployed individuals for over 10 years. His previous work was with the Boston Foundation’s Street Safe Boston initiative, providing services for gang involved youth who have been identified as the drivers of crime and violence within the City of Boston. He also worked for the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (ULEM) as the Manager of the Employment Resource Center. In addition, Abrigal worked for STRIVE, Boston Employment Service, Inc., where he played an essential role in developing a re-entry workforce development program for previously incarcerated adults. He then worked closely with the Sherriff of the Suffolk County House of Corrections and her administration in-order design and deliver “behind the walls” job readiness training and transitional assistance to inmates.

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Annie Blackledge

Annie Blackledge, Casey Family Programs Fellow, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). Prior to joining Casey Family Programs, Ms. Blackledge was Program Supervisor for Dropout Reduction with the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). In this position, she was responsible for the development and oversight of a statewide dropout reduction program that demonstrated significant gains in the academic achievement of vulnerable students, the creation of Dropout Early Warning and Intervention Data System, and the staffing of a State-level, interagency legislative workgroup.

Annie guided successful dropout reduction policy and practice initiatives, including the development and passage of several pieces of agency-requested legislation that led to the development of a statewide dropout reengagement program and State law that defines vulnerable student populations to receive priority for services in State dropout reduction programs.

Before coming to OSPI, Ms. Blackledge served as Education Program Manager for the Washington State Children's Administration, Department of Social and Health Services. In this position, she was responsible for implementing school stability legislation and developing and overseeing programs, policies, and procedures relating to education (preschool through postsecondary) for foster children. Ms. Blackledge has more than 15 years of experience in education and youth services and an extensive background in serving vulnerable youth; child welfare, dropout prevention, intervention, and reengagement programming; and policy and program development.

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Disconnected Youth

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Opportunity Youth

While these youth face significant life challenges, most start out with big dreams and remain confident or hopeful that they can achieve their goals; most accept responsibility for their futures; and most are looking to reconnect to school, work and service.

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Opportunity Youth

Opportunity youth want to work with peers and mentors.

Historical Perspective Cross-system coordination to serve disadvantaged youth has been a focus of bipartisan federal attention for decades

White House Council for Community Solutions

Executive Order 13560- charged with: • Identifying key attributes of successful community

solutions; • Highlighting best practices, tools, and models of cross-

sector collaboration and civic participation; and • Making recommendations on how to engage all

stakeholders in community solutions that have a significant impact on solving our nation’s most serious problems.

Effective Community Solutions

June 2012 Community

Solutions for Opportunity Youth

Final Report

Core Strategies and Recommendations

1.Drive the Development of Successful Cross-Sector Community Collaborations

2.Create Shared National Responsibility and Accountability

3.Engage Youth as Leaders in the Solution

4. Build More Robust On-Ramps to Employment

2011 Presidential Memo on Administrative Flexibility

Responses to the 2011 Presidential Memorandum on Administrative Flexibility focused on the following challenges with serving this population:

• Limited evidence about effective models and strategies;• Lack of knowledge about the evidence that exists;• Lack of attention to this specific population at the State,

local, and Federal levels;• Lack of coordination in addressing their needs; and,• The need for more comprehensive approaches that meet

the multi-faceted needs of this population.

Performance Partnership Pilots The President’s FY 2013 Budget includes a request for funding and authority to implement Performance Partnership Pilots in order to improve outcomes for disconnected youth:

General Provisions, Sec. 737.

Such Pilots shall consist of a combination of :• No more than 13 Performance Partnership pilots • Designed to facilitate flexibility of existing funds involving $130 million in

discretionary Federal resources– DOL-ETA WIF $10 million set aside – Department of Education $5 million – Health and Human Services $5 million

• State and local flexibility in exchange for performance

Interagency Forum for Disconnected Youth

Outcomes, Data and Evaluation

Public and Private Partnerships

Effective and Promising Practices and Strategies

Request for Information (RFI)- Areas of Focus

Barriers

• Data, accountability, quality improvement systems• Cross systems evaluations assessments, intake • Improved education, employment and adult outcomes

• Unified intake system • Coordinated case management • Relaxed/combined eligibility for similar programs• Braided/Blended/Pooled funding streams

• Interagency data sharing• Program eligibilities • Audit resolution and time and effort reporting• Lack of aligned performance measures

• Partners: State, local, non-profit, business, and others• The role of philanthropic and business partners • Governance / advisory models

RFI: Emerging Themes• 170 responses received from a broad array of stakeholders • Overarching themes include:

– Importance of a long term connection with a caring adult/mentor

– Barriers related to lack of housing stability, financial literacy and mental health services

– Alignment of eligibility requirements, intake processes, performance measures (both interim and long term) and data collection systems

– Incentivizing a long-term approach to better track outcomes

– Need for a multiple pathway approach addressing the full continuum prevention, intervention and re-engagement

– Full youth participation/partnership in the development, implementation and evaluation of proposed pilots

Future Webinars

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December 20

Social Media + National Mentoring Month = Opportunity!

Remember…

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After the webinar:

Everyone will get an email with information on how to download the slides/recording

Continue the conversation at the Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring: http://chronicle.umbmentoring.org/

Please help us out by

answering survey

questions at the end of the webinar.

2012 Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series

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Thank you for participating today!

Sarah Kremer, Friends for Youth

Michael Garringer, Education Northwest

April Riordan, MP of Minnesota

Celeste Janssen, Oregon Mentors

Meghan Ferns, Oregon Mentors

Dana Gold, MP of SWPA

Marissa Strayer Benton, Mobius Mentors

December Warren, Indiana MP