150 likes | 231 Views
Building a Successful Collaboration B etween Private and Public Partners. Attorney Stacey Violante Cote, Center for Children’s Advocacy NAEHCY Conference, November 2011. Advocacy for RHY in CT: One Example. State that has a lot of wealth & a lot of poverty Large achievement gap
E N D
Building a Successful Collaboration Between Private and Public Partners. Attorney Stacey Violante Cote, Center for Children’s Advocacy NAEHCY Conference, November 2011
Advocacy for RHY in CT: One Example • State that has a lot of wealth & a lot of poverty • Large achievement gap • Small state • Both urban and rural homeless youth • Oh, and not a state where we have homeless youth (or so “they” thought) • Federal RHYA grantees in some parts of CT
CONNECTICUT TEAM: RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH Who Are We? The Connecticut Team for Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) is a coalition of state and private agencies and service providers who work with homeless and runaway youth, a population otherwise known as “the invisible population.”
CONNECTICUT TEAM: RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH Members include: • Connecticut Department of Children and Families • Connecticut State Department of Education • Court Support Services Division of the CT Judicial Branch • The Center for Children’s Advocacy • True Colors • Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness • The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, Inc., Kids in Crisis, RYASAP, and Youth Continuum What Do We Do? • We advocate for systemic changes to address the needs of runaway and homeless youth in CT.
CONNECTICUT TEAM: RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH Advocacy Success Legislative • Passage of a bill to require child welfare system to count its runaway & homeless youth (P.A. 09-96) • Passage of Homeless Youth Act with $1m to child welfare to implement (see the P.S.) (P.A. 10-179, Secs. 28-30) • Included waiver of liability for the provision of services where cannot contact parent
CONNECTICUT TEAM: RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH Advocacy Success Legislative • Passage of a bill to require police to report minors arrested for prostitution to child welfare (P.A. 11-180) Administrative Advocacy • Data gathering (see handout)
CONNECTICUT TEAM: RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH Advocacy Success Administrative Advocacy • SDE to count unaccompanied homeless youth • Child welfare created a unit to address domestic minor sex trafficking • Cross-agency collaboration • Judicial to include the question of homelessness in its system rewrite
CONNECTICUT TEAM: RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH Advocacy Success Other Advocacy • Data Gathering • Awareness raising • Creation of a webpage • Trainings- legal & other
CONNECTICUT TEAM: RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH Advocacy List • Restoration of the suspended $1m to child welfare • Judicial: Counting Homeless Youth Already in Care • DCF area office protocol for youth who runaway • DCF implementation of recsfr internal task force • Adult Shelters: Addressing Issues of Youth Development, Engagement & Safety • National Safe Place Designation • Accommodations at Colleges • 211 accuracy of available services • Use of social networking sites/blogs
What will this look like in your state? Some key questions to grapple with: • Who are you advocating for? • What does this population look like in your state? • Who is the appropriate body to attract an advocacy group?
What will this look like in your state? #1) Identify possible collaborators in your state. • Who are key decision makers in your state? • Legislators, heads of administrative agencies, judges, organizers, data analysis experts • How will you get to them? • Who are the providers in your state? • Think about providers to LGBTQ youth. • Will you include homeless youth?
What will this look like in your state? #2) How will you initiate relationships with possible collaborators? • Who is necessary? Who will you settle for? • What will be the first ask? • Who should contact the targets?
What will this look like in your state? #3) Identify 2-3 possible policy initiatives. • Think about “low hanging fruit” to start. • What will make a difference to your population? • What systems are involved in the problem? • What will help providers? • What data can you gather?
What will this look like in your state? Take 15 minutes to brainstorm with your neighbors & then report back. #1) Identify possible collaborators in your state. #2) How will you initiate relationships with collaborators? #3) Identify 2-3 possible policy initiatives.
Resources Stacey Violante Cote, Esq., MSW Director, Teen Legal Advocacy Clinic Principal Attorney, Immigrants & Refugees: New Arrivals Advocacy Project Center for Children's Advocacy, UCONN School of Law, 65 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT 06105 ph: (860)570-5327 x 227 sviolant@kidscounsel.org www.kidscounsel.org CT Team: Runaway & Homeless Youth Website: http://www.cceh.org/issues/detail/youth-homelessness/14