A Big Day for the Little People

As our last blog post centered on the need to include older youth and young adults in accounts of young peoples’ and families’ well-being, it seems only fair that this post should cover the youngins’. Last week, was a big week for younger youth in DC, at least politically speaking. Council Chairman Kwame Brown held the first of two roundtables about the state of education for the middle-grades on Wednesday and turnout was high. Though this roundtable only included public witnesses, everyone from concerned parents, to members of the State Board of Education and education advocates turned out to give their testimony to Chairman Brown and various other Council Members who presided over the hearing through the course of the day.

Chairman Brown recently remarked in a weekly newsletter that the middle grades are an “exciting and critical developmental time for students. It's important that we challenge them with a rigorous curriculum, engage them in project-based learning, and expose them to the opportunities that await them in college and careers. And we need to identify funding to support promising, innovative programs that are already demonstrating success with middle grades students.” So in honor of Chairman Brown’s suggestions, we thought we might give an example (or two) of areas ripe for funding support that are indeed demonstrating success with middle grades students.

1) Structured Summer Learning Opportunities

The educational losses middle-school students sustain during the summer months can be severe and the situation is especially dire for the low-income students who make up a majority of DCPS. Statistically, economically disadvantaged students start school with lower achievement scores than their peers, but during the school year they progress at about the same rate as other students. However, this progress can be quickly negated during the summer months. While research shows that most students across the socio-economic spectrum lose approximately 2 months of grade-level equivalency in math over the summer months, low-income students also lose 2 months of reading equivalency while their middle-class peers tend to make slight gains (National Summer Learning Association). All children and youth are susceptible to “summer slide,” but for already low-performing students, the lack of Summer School options makes sustained educational achievement nearly impossible. Lots of people at last week’s roundtable pointed to low scores on DC CAS and schools’ failure to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) as evidence of failing middle schools in the District. How do we expect to improve on these measures if the summer is literally erasing the knowledge our children and youth are gaining during the school year?

Summer School provides structure and continued skill development to those students in need of academic recovery in addition to the overall prevention of summer learning loss. In 2010, DCPS enrolled roughly 5,000 elementary and middle school students in Summer School. However, this past summer, 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade students had only 175 slots available. Investing in a robust education system that accounts for the educational attainment of all children and youth is the only way that we can attain truly improved outcomes in our public school system. To accomplish this, DC must fund learning opportunities that keep doors open during the summer months. We are literally undoing the gains are public school students are making during the school year by not providing them with structured learning opportunities over the summer months. By funding a more robust system of summer education opportunities we CAN counter this trend.

However, this system cannot end simply at summer school and must also include structured, outcomes driven enrichment activities like those funded through the Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation. If we’re going to expect greatness from our students we cannot allow them to backslide, but we must also keep them engaged and interested in the learning process- stimulated by new experiences that give them a vision for their future. Which brings us to opportunity number 2:

2) After-school Opportunities

Engaging and creative enrichment activities that compliment extended learning opportunities shouldn’t be limited to the summer months. And there is no shortage of research on the effectiveness of after-school programs. Across the country high-performing programs have been linked to a number of outcomes including improved self-confidence, better civic engagement, better school attendance, improved academic achievement and decreased delinquency. The hours between when school ends and parents leave work are critical. (Need citation). For communities like DC, where many parents are single heads of household, living barely at- or far below the poverty level- access to high quality afterschool programming that is affordable and keeps children and youth engaged is a necessity.

Despite the need for such programs, DC has systematically divested in these programs over the past few years. Funding to community organizations providing this type of programming has dropped by over 60% in the last two years alone. In addition, at each budget season, the DCPS Office of Out of School Time which also provides critical extended learning opportunities face significant budget reductions and substantial cuts that reduce the number of children they can serve.

Much like summertime learning, high quality afterschool programs provide the additional hours of learning that is absolutely essential in fighting the achievement gap between low-income and middle/high-income students. Considering the number of times the word equity got tossed around at last week’s roundtable, re-funding programs like summer school and agencies like CYITC and the DCPS Office of OST seem like no brainers when it comes to achieving parity within our school system.

We applaud Chairman Brown for taking the lead in examining how DC can better support middle school aged students, and we hope he embraces many of the recommendations made at the roundtable and above and champions them strongly- both highlighting the need, and matching that need with funding and council support- in the coming years.

And if you don't believe us...just read this fantastic testimony prepared by the Executive Director of DCAYA MemberOrg Higher Achievement. If we can't convince you surely Lynsey can!

Making "Kids Count" About More Than Kids

Last week, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released their annual Kids Count Databook. Kids Count is an important tool for many stakeholders that deal with children and youth, from advocates like the staff and members of DCAYA to policy actors like the City Council right down to the families and individuals the data book reports on.

The data book is a national scan of a series of indicators that are accepted means of tracking how children are fairing. Each year the databook has a theme, and this year's was how family economic well-being affects child welfare. The data is presented in such a way that viewers of the databook can see how different states and territories are doing from year to year. An example is shown below:




Kids Count provides valuable information on a range of issues. However, something sorely missing from the databook is a wealth of indicators telling us how YOUTH and YOUNG ADULTS are doing and how their well being affects family well being. Kids Count is CHOCK FULL of indicators about early childhood and school aged children, but when it comes to data about teenagers and especially individuals in their early twenties..fuhgeddaboutit.

It may seem counter intuitive to include young adults in a report titled Kids Count, but as A growing body of research (from some reallllllly smart people) points out, the transition from childhood (for most intents and purposes up to age 18) to adulthood is not on the same schedule it used to be. Children and young adults are living with their parents for longer, getting married later (or not at all) and its taking most of them a while to find well paid, sustainable jobs and careers. These trends are true across socio-economic groups and demographics. As one of the reallllly smart people we mentioned earlier, Frank Furstenberg Jr. has pointed out, America's welfare, education, workforce development and safety net system DOES NOT invest heavily in things like education, health care, and job benefits for young adults. As a result, we rely on the investments that individual families make in their own children during the young adult years. But as adulthood is delayed, so is financial independence. Older teenagers and those in their early 20's (and for some even mid and late twenties) are increasingly reliant on their parents or guardians to provide housing, food and financial backing... obviously this will have an effect on the overall economic security of families in the U.S.

Karen Pittman, from the Forum for Youth Investment's Ready By 21 Initiative noticed the same gap in the Kids Count Data and in response wrote ,"We need to do a better job of highlighting the statistics and stories of older youth, and ensuring that our policy recommendations include strategies that address their needs for job training, educational stipends, extended health and social benefits, employer incentives and paid service opportunities."

DCAYA couldn't agree more Karen!

As this body of research continues to grow, we can only hope that the complicated transition from adolescence to adulthood and the public investment that is needed at this stage of development is transferred into the psyches of policy makers and the general public, to the point where we see indicators of youth and young adult well-being on data books like Kids Count. Until then groups like DCAYA and the Forum for Youth Investment will no doubt continue to spread the word about issues specific to youth and young adult population.

SYEP: Why DC Needs a Plan to Succeed

DCAYA provided testimony last week to the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development at a special DOES Roundtable about the performance of the District's OneCity Summer Youth Employment Program. In addition to sending our resident policy gurus to testify and live tweet the hearing, we also convened a panel of summer workforce providers that could speak to some of the issues they saw firsthand with SYEP this year.

The general feel of the hearing was one of encouragement. For the first time in years, SYEP appeared to come in under budget and had far fewer participants and taxpayers calling elected officials to complain. However, as advocates and concerned residents of the District we need to be leery of celebrating too early, setting low expectations and labeling a program whose outcomes are not well defined as a success just because it came in under budget.

Make no mistake, the Department of Employment Services has certainly taken steps in the right direction since 2008 and 2009, but the District's youth, their parents, and even the community writ large should expect excellence out of its youth programs, not mediocrity. Due in large part to SYEP's history as a program that places a high burden on taxpayers, leaves youth and parents angered and disgruntled while providing few tangible results and benefits, our expectations as a city are currently abysmally low. But this isn't the way it has to be. The District can do right by its youth and provide quality; outcomes based programming that does not have to shock the world by coming in under budget.

DCAYA's testimony outlines various areas of improvement that will continue to raise the bar for SYEP's performance in 2012,but to actually ensure that DOES is making headway toward positive outcomes for our youth the District needs to answer one simple question. What is the ultimate goal of SYEP?

Is the point of SYEP to simply expose young people to the workplace? Is it skill building? Is SYEP supposed to be job exploration that allows youth to “try before you buy” in different employment sectors or is the government simply running a program that connects youth with a paycheck? It may be all of these things, or none, or even a combination of these things and other goals we did not mention, but any way you swing it the District needs to outline definitive objectives, develop targets and outcomes that illustrate whether those objectives are being met and actively message all of these to our elected officials, the advocacy community and most importantly, the participating youth. Only then can SYEP be accurately judged as a success or failure.

In the coming weeks, DCAYA will be partnering with DOES to run feedback sessions for providers that participated in the 2011 program so that program staff at DOES and in the administration can better understand what about SYEP is working well and what isn't. We salute DOES’ efforts to illicit honest feedback from the provider community and will do everything in our power to help the agency obtain this feedback; however, having hosted sessions like these in years past, it will come as no surprise when responses about clarity of mission and vision start rolling in. It is our hope that thru this process, providers concerns are taken seriously and critical improvements like the formulation of a strategic plan are undertaken in an efficient manner.

SYEP, like most youth serving programs is a program that is absolutely teeming with potential. By providing young people with a strong foundation for lifelong success in the labor market, we help our youth, but also the long term economic standing of the District. The District needs to take advantage of this potential and use the momentum DOES has created over the past year to further improve SYEP and thus the economic vitality of the city.

Links to all the testimony DCAYA provides at Council hearings is available on our website.

If you or staff members from your organization are interested in participating in one of the follow up groups with DOES please contact DCAYA’s Policy Analyst for Youth Workforce Development Anne Abbott (anne @dc-aya.org)

It's Not All Bad...

Despite all the negative media attention the City Council garnered last week (check it out at:Post Local, the Examiner, WAMU, and GGW) there were a number of decisions made in the last days before summer recess began that weren't negative at all! So instead of dwelling on the bad, let’s focus on some definite good that came out of the re-shuffling effort.

First off, DCAYA applauds the Council’s decision to put the University of the District of Columbia and the Community College under the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development. This move will go a long way in aligning the city’s efforts around creating and sustaining a workforce that is in- demand and well prepared for a continued presence in our local labor market. Both UDC and CCDC, will have an expanded role in preparing District residents for meaningful employment. By placing the oversight functions for these two educational institutions under the committee that is responsible for the oversight of all employment activities, the Council is taking a step in the right direction.

Second, the emergency legislation passed that establishes a Workforce Intermediary Taskforce is GREAT NEWS for the District! DCFPI, DC Appleseed and a few other workforce advocates did an issue brief earlier this year on the need for a workforce intermediary in the District and DCAYA could not agree more, that creating a city jobs broker is a highly beneficial step for the District. Workforce intermediaries take many forms, but as the above issue brief mentions their function as a "jobs broker" that connects employers with job seekers is absolutely essential in moving District residents towards a lasting presence in the labor market.

An effective intermediary in DC will have a positive effect on all areas of employment, but has especially promising outcomes for youth employment if done correctly. When employers' expectations are reflected in the types of training and educational opportunities that the city offers to District residents, those residents are likely to find long-term success in the labor market. This is an important part of connecting adults to careers that can hopefully be sustained through the rest of their working lives. However, the District has much to gain by ensuring that youth are also well served by the Workforce Intermediary.

Currently only 62% of DC students graduated from High School within four years, and as of 2009, over 14,000 young people in the District (ages of 16 - 24) were neither enrolled in school nor employed. Given these figures, it isn't all that surprising that FY'11 budget data indicated that more than 4,500 of DC TANF recipients were between the ages of 18 and 25. Connecting the city's young people to viable employment options early on in their working lives will increase the likelihood that they maintain consistent employment into adulthood and will secure the District’s overall future economic vitality.

Passing legislation that mandates the creation of an intermediary that will someday help aid in the goal of achieving better youth employment outcomes was a positive decision by the Council.The politics of the District can be an endless of web of confusion, hype and drudgery if we allow them to be, but it’s important to recognize the good things that happen and give credit when credit is due. The Council’s decision to place two of DC's most valuable resources under the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development and the passage of emergency legislation to create a Workforce Intermediary Task Force are decisions that are surelya step in the right direction.