Performance Oversight and Budget Hearings Set by Council

The DC Council has approved the schedule for the coming months’ performance oversight and budget hearings. Below we have noted the hearing dates and times that will be of interest to our members and the youth advocacy community, along with contact information for testifying. You can find our resources for advocacy season and advice for writing testimony in last year’s blog.

All hearings are held at the John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. If you wish to testify, you may sign up here or directly contact the committee staff persons listed below. Some of these agency hearings are held concurrently with other agencies under the committee jurisdiction. You can find the full schedules posted on the DC Council’s website.

Committee on Education - Chairperson David Grosso

To testify: sign up here or call 202-724-8061

Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)
Performance Oversight: Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 11 am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 11 am in Room 120

State Board of Education
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123
Budget Hearing: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123

District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL)
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Monday, May 1, 2017 at 11 am in Room 412

District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) - Public Witnesses Only
Performance Oversight: Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500
Budget Hearing: Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

Public Charter School Board
Performance Oversight: Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) – Government Witnesses Only
Performance Oversight: Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Committee on Finance & Revenue - Chairperson Jack Evans

To testify contact: Sarina Loy, sloy@dccouncil.us or 202-724-8058

Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Performance Oversight: Friday, February 17, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
Performance Oversight: Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 10 am in Room 123

Committee on Government Operations - Chairperson Brandon Todd

To testify contact: Keiko Yoshino, kyoshino@dccouncil.us or 202-724-7774

Commission on Fathers, Men, and Boys
Performance Oversight: Friday, February 24, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Affairs
Performance Oversight: Friday, February 24, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Committee on Human Services - Chairperson Brianne Nadeau

To testify: email humanservices@dccouncil.us or call 202-724-8017

Department of Disability Services and Office of Disability Rights
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at Noon in Room 500

Child and Family Services Agency
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500
Budget Hearing: Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 9, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Department of Human Services
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

Interagency Council on Homelessness
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

Committee on Labor and Workforce Development - Chairperson Elissa Silverman

To testify contact: Charnisa Royster, croyster@dccouncil.us or 202-724-7772

Department of Employment Services
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

Workforce Investment Council
Performance Oversight: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500
Budget Hearing: Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10 am in Room 500

Committee on Transportation & the Environment - Chairperson Mary Cheh

To testify contact: Aukima Benjamin, abenjamin@dccouncil.us or 202-724-8062

Department of Parks and Recreation
Performance Oversight: Friday, February 10, 2017 at 11am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412

District Department of Transportation
Performance Oversight: Monday, March 13, 2017 at 11 am in Room 500
Budget Hearing: Monday, April 24, 2017 at 11 am in Room 500

Committee of the Whole - Chairman Phil Mendelson

To testify: email cow@dccouncil.us or call 202-724-8196

University of the District of Columbia
Performance Oversight: Monday, March 13, 2017 at 10 am in Room 412
Budget Hearing: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 11 am in Room 123

Watch hearings live here.

And please bookmark this post as well as the calendar on our website.

Testimony Highlights from Performance Hearings

With DC Council Budget Hearings just over a week away, we thought we'd recap and share some highlights from testimony that member organizations have provided during Performance Oversight Hearings at the Wilson Building.

Here's an excerpt from Bethany Henderson's testimony, the Executive Director of DC SCORES, provided at the performance oversight hearing for DC Public Schools:

Research shows that increased academic achievement won’t be reached simply through more instructional time. With income gaps widening, free enrichment opportunities like the ones we offer are increasingly essential to helping DC’s at-risk children achieve successful school outcomes.  Unfortunately, the need in DC is great.  Thousands of low-income children currently have no access to expanded learning programs. Indeed, over the past year our own waiting list has swelled to 16 schools.  This represents a serious opportunity gap that threatens negative long-term consequences for these children and our city. 

DC SCORES and DCPS share the same goal: that low-income DCPS students succeed in school and in life.  Community partners like DC SCORES can and do play a powerful role in realizing that goal.  Not only do we provide programming, but we bring significant private funds to the table.  For every dollar of local government funding we receive (very little of which comes from DCPS), we raise and deploy more than two dollars of private money.  This year alone we are bringing well over $1 million in private resources to bear on student outcomes.  Continued and expanded collaboration, coordination, and data-sharing between DCPS and expanded learning providers will only enhance student outcomes. 

Here is part of Frank Cervarich's testimony which he provided for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' performance oversight hearing, as Deputy Director for Young Playwrights' Theater:

In the past twenty years, YPT has engaged over 12,000 students in our artistic process by integrating free playwriting programming into local schools, and reached over 85,000 audience members with free, professional productions of our students' plays. We integrate our programming directly into local public schools, leading every student to write their own play and bringing professional actors into
the classroom to perform their work.  

We work to not only improve student literacy, but to inspire our region’s underrepresented young people to realize the power and value of their voices and stories. Our impact is deep and enduring. Students tell us their experience with YPT inspired them to attend college, often as first-generation applicants, and pursue careers paths from the arts to education to neuroscience.We began in 1995 serving 20 students in one classroom. Today we serve over 1,500 students in all eight wards of Washington, DC, four times more students than in 2010.  We work to meet the Mayoral priorities, and we have been doing so for over twenty years.

And in case you haven't seen last week's blog post yet, here's an excerpt of testimony which Ademir Delcid, a student in Latin American Youth Center’s Guide to Post Secondary (GPS) Program from the performance oversight hearing for the Department Of Employment Services and the Workforce Investment Council:

During my 2 years of being in LAYC, I got to meet a wonderful team of advisors. I was given the opportunity to work with Adriana, Scholastique, Ella, Diana, Alexis and Loren. Meeting them and talking with them made me realize that they knew what they wanted for us students, which was to succeed and be prepared for the next chapter in our lives. Being a senior, I do not have the opportunity to continue working with them, however all that they have done in the short amount of time were worth the little time. Overall what each and every individual in this program has helped not only me but other students achieve is the progression, impact and determination to succeed in and out of school. I have witnessed firsthand how my life has been impacted and I thank each and every member of LAYC GPS for their never ending spirit to see me and others be prepared for college and life. I see each and every individual that have worked with me as more than advisors, they are my family and LAYC is my home.

It's testimony from DCAYA organizations, community members, and youth themselves that really make a difference as our representatives make the annual policy and funding decisions whose impact lasts for much more than a single fiscal year.

So what can you do? Here's a simple list, of which we ask you do at least one:

• Sign our #ExpandLearningDC online petition
• Bookmark our website's event calendar, for upcoming Budget Hearing dates
• Check out this blog from January, which lets you know what Committee each agency and hearing falls under, as well as how to sign up to testify yourself

That's it for now! And as always, let us know if you have any questions.

Homeless Youth Census: Data-Driven Advocacy Calls for Greater Investment to End Youth Homelessness

The National Coalition for the Homeless reports there are between 1 million and 1.7 million youth who have run away or been displaced from their home. Young people experiencing homelessness are not always seen as a visible street population, which often means there is little public awareness or political urgency to be found for taking critical and timely action. This was the case in the District just as recently as 2013, even though the handful of shelters serving youth at that time were reporting double-digit waitlists.

The District has come a long way since that time. In May 2014 the DC Council passed the End Youth Homelessness Amendment Act, which mandated and funded an expansion of accessible youth-friendly services and an annual census of District youth experiencing homelessness. The first annual Homeless Youth Census was conducted by the Department of Human Services (DHS) over a nine day period at the end of August 2015 in close collaboration with the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness.

The census reveals that at that time, there were some 545 unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness in the District of Columbia – almost half of whom identified as LGBTQ. This census marks the first time that we have such a thorough estimate of youth who are homeless (and particularly those identifying as LGBTQ) and the importance of having this knowledge cannot be overstated.

Wonk This Way: Investing in DC's Data Capacity

Throughout the Performance & Budget Oversight season, DC Alliance of Youth Advocates will post captivating, moving, and/or educational testimonies to help keep you in the advocacy loop. This week we're bringing you our Performance Oversight testimony on OSSE from our own Senior Policy Analyst, Joseph Gavrilovich.

Watch full DC Council hearings here: http://dccouncil.us/videos/archive/.  

Much of our daily work at DCAYA is grounded in OSSE’s rich data capacity. In the past several years, their Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System (better known as the SLED database) has been a critical tool in transforming the District’s approach to decision-making in education.

As you are all aware, for the past four years and up to this point, SLED has relied on a federal grant for $1.3 million per year. That funding is set to expire, and there are significant performance risks to consider if there isn’t consistent local funding to replace it. This was forecast in testimony to this committee last year too, and we’re at a point again to make a decision about whether to invest further. We at DCAYA are concerned that some capabilities may be hindered or halted if funding isn’t held at the present level.

Advocacy Season Update: Performance Oversight and Budget Hearings Set by Council

The DC Council has approved the schedule for the coming months’ performance oversight and budget hearings. Below we have noted the hearing dates and times that will be of interest to our members and the youth advocacy community, along with contact information for testifying. You can find our resources for advocacy season and advice for writing testimony in last week’s blog.

All hearings are held at the John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. If you wish to testify, you may sign up here or directly contact the committee staff persons listed below. Some of these agency hearings are held concurrently with other agencies under the committee jurisdiction. You can find the full schedules posted on the DC Council’s website.

Resources for Advocacy Season

It’s that time of year again, when the Wilson Building becomes abuzz with councilmembers and advocates meeting over issue areas, testifying at hearings, and deliberating on budget priorities. The DC Budget Season is particularly exciting though, because this is a time when community members can provide valuable input into how your city spends your tax dollars.

At the same time, these next few months can be a bit confusing, so we wrote this blog to help answer any lingering questions and offer resources to understand the DC Budget Season and how you can be involved.  Check back throughout the rest of January and February - we'll be detailing each of our asks in the next few weeks; as well as sharing key dates and other ways you can get involved!

Resources for Advocacy Season

It’s that time of year again, when the Wilson Building becomes abuzz with councilmembers and advocates meeting over issue areas, testifying at hearings, and deliberating on budget priorities. The DC Budget Season is particularly exciting though, because this is a time when community members can provide valuable input into how their city spends their tax dollars.

At the same time, these next few months can be a bit confusing, so we wrote this blog to help answer any lingering questions and offer resources to understand the DC Budget Season and how you can be involved.

Can anyone testify?

You must be a resident of the District of Columbia or work for an organization within the District of Columbia to testify. 

The Committee Chair will set the time limit for testimonies at the begin of the hearing, but often times, you get 2-3 minutes to testify. Although for some hearings, if you are representing an organization, you can get up to 5 minutes. If there are two people connected to your organization signed up to testify, however, the councilmember may choose to split your allotted time. Before testifying, you can check with the councilmember's staff to determine the length of your public testimony.  

Do note though, while you may have a limited time to speak on record, your written testimony may be any length. Written testimonies are very important for the councilmember to have on record so they can refer to it when questioning agency staff and use it as a resource to propose budget marks to council colleagues. Remember to bring 15 copies of your testimony to provide to the committee chairperson and committee members for their records.

How do you sign-up to testify?

You can call the councilmember's office, email the committee staffer, or sign-up online.  

On the day of the hearing, an official agenda with the list of people testifying is published on the DC Council website. From there, you can see whether you will be testifying near the beginning, middle, or end of the hearing so you can plan your day accordingly. Just be cautious, as committee chairs can jump around the agenda when people are absent, late, or added.

How should your testimony be structured?

Some of the most compelling testimonies are from community members who share their personal stories with councilmembers. Watch this powerful testimony of a young DC mom: http://bit.ly/1zzJLh7 (skip to 7:47). 

As advocates, we have the data sets and policy recommendations to really backup personal stories with concrete solutions. To make your testimony more robust, however, we recommend adding one recommendation to the end of your story which you can find in our Advocacy Agenda of 2015.

The general structure of a testimony would be:

• Thank the Chairperson of the committee and the other councilmember’s in the room.
• State your name and what Ward you live in and why you are testifying. 
• Tell a piece of your story that will capture the councilmembers’ attention.
• Explain why one recommendation resonates with your experience. 
• Re-thank the Chairperson for listening to your testimony. 

RESOURCES

• Download the Full Performance Oversight Hearing Schedule - or - Visit the DCAYA Events Calendar
• View the Directory of Councilmembers and Committee Breakdowns
• Subscribe to the Wilson Building Twitter List to Easily Follow Councilmember Conversations
• Visit the DC Council Website for Hearing Updates and Answers to Agency Performance Questions
• Watch Hearings Live on the DC Council Website
• For Further Wonky Insight on Budget Recommendations Read the DCFPI Blog
• Stream the Twitter Conversation with the Following Hashtags:
• Committee on Education: #EduHearing
• Committee on Health and Human Services: #HumanServicesHearing
• Committee on Housing and Community Development: #HousingHearing
• Committee on Business, Consumer & Regulatory Affairs: #YouthEmployHearing

For more on youth issues in DC you can FOLLOW us on Twitter, LIKE us on Facebook,SUBSCRIBE to this blog and VISIT us at www.dc-aya.org.

Bringing Youth to the Table

As you may have heard, DC Council published their upcoming Performance Hearing Schedule and the excitement begins February 7th! Performance hearings are an incredibly important part of DC government oversight and operations.  They are a powerful opportunity for the community to give agencies and the Council key feedback on what is working and what can be improved.

Youth program participants bring unique insight to the conversation when given the opportunity to speak on behalf of the programs they access. Since youth interact with a variety of government agencies and services - often in a unique way - their voice in these hearings is critically important. We strongly encourage our members to talk with the youth they serve about the chance to testify in person, submit a written statement, write a personal letter, or even submit a verbal statement on camera so the Councilmembers who oversee key committees can hear their perspective. The youth voice is a vital part of the democratic process.

We’ve taken a few steps to help facilitate this process:

• Below we have a list of the agency performance hearings that are relevant to youth and youth serving organizations. 
• On the dc-aya.org website we offer one-pagers on specific issues, research, and past testimonies to give examples and data that can be used to strengthen a testimony. 
• We are hosting an Advocacy through Storytelling – Brown Bag Lunch at the DC Center for the LGBT Community on February 18th from 12PM – 1:30PM.  We will provide hands-on help for crafting a compelling testimony. We will also walk program providers and youth, step-by-step, through the process of testifying in front of DC Council. (Register Here)

DC Alliance of Youth Advocates is a coalition created to insure that the best programs and practices are offered to our city's young people. By unifying our voice during the performance oversight and budget hearings, we seek to realize our vision of building a truly youth-friendly DC.


Performance Oversight Hearings:

February 10th

Committee on Human Services, Chairperson Jim Graham

Agency: Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation

February 12th

Committee on Human Services, Chairperson Jim Graham

Agency: Child and Family Services Agency

February 13th

Committee on Education, Chairperson David Catania

Agency: DC Public Schools (Public Witnesses Only)

Committee on Transportation & The Environment, Chairperson Kenyan McDuffie

Agency: Department of Parks and Recreation

February 19th

Committee on Education, Chairperson David Catania

Agencies: State Board of Education, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education, Public Library System

February 20th

Committee on Human Services, Chairperson Jim Graham

Agency: Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services

February 24th

Committee on Government Operations, Chairperson Kenyan McDuffie

Agencies: Advisory Neighborhood Commission, Executive Office of the Mayor

Committee on Education, Chairperson David Catania

Agency: Office of the State Superintendent of Education

Committee of the Whole, Chairman Phil Mendelson

Agencies: University of the District of Columbia, University of the District of Columbia Community College

February 26th

Committee on Business, Consumer, & Regulatory Affairs

 Agency: Workforce Investment Council

Committee on Human Services, Jim Graham

Agency: Department of Human Services

February 27th

Committee on Education, Chairperson David Catania 

Agency: DC Public Schools (Government Witnesses Only)

 March 6th

 Committee on Education, Chairperson David Catania

 Agencies: DC Public Charter School Board, Public Charter Schools

Maggie Riden is the Executive Director of DC Alliance of Youth Advocates. To read her past performance oversight and budget hearing testimonies please visit www.dc-aya.org/news. Maggie will also be one of the presenters hosting the Advocacy through Storytelling - Brown Bag Lunch. 

 For more on youth issues in DC you can FOLLOW us on Twitter, LIKE us on Facebook, SUBSCRIBE to this blog and VISIT us at www.dc-aya.org.