Developing Effective Youth Councils

1. Developing Effective Youth Councils SC Workforce Development Partnership Symposium Columbia, SC/ February 22, 2012 Winston Tompoe Federal Project Officer, Regional Youth Lead tompoe.winston@dol.gov 404.302.5372

2. Session Overview • Purpose of the youth councils (YC) • Duties of the youth councils • Organize youth council to suite its purpose • Develop effective relationship with the WIB • Structure the youth council to perform work • Strategic planning • Creating a youth system strategic plan • Strategic plan as key driver for investment and service design • Effective coordination of key activities • Key principles for serwe bilities • Strategic planning for the youth councils • Developing a workplan: Strategies for getting the council’s work done Agenda ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

3. Propose of the Youth Council • The purpose of the Youth Council is to provide expertise in youth workforce development policy • Assist the local WIB on: • Developing and recommending local youth employment and training policy and practice • Broadening employment and training focus in the community to incorporate other development prospective • Establish linkages with other organizations serving youth in the area • Evaluate a range of issues that impact young people’s success in the labor market; 20CFR 664.100 ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

4. Duties of the Youth Council • WIA 117(h)(4): Develop portions of the local plan relating to eligible youth as determined by the local WIB chair • Recommend eligible providers of youth activities, to be awarded grants or contracts on a competitive basis by the local • Conducting oversight of providers that contract to provide youth activities • Coordinate youth activities • Perform other duties determined to be appropriate by the local WIB chair. ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

5. Organize Youth Council to Suit its Purpose • To accomplish required purpose and duties; be effective, youth council must have: • The appropriate size • Relationship with the local WIB • Membership; and • Structure • For effective working YC to meet WIA mandates, smaller is better – 6-12 members • For expanded focus beyond WIA; to build comprehensive youth system, bigger is better – about 20 or even 40 members What do we want to be? ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

6. Develop Effective Relationship With the WIB • Maximize youth council representation on the WIB • Maximize WIB representation on the YC • Secure maximum autonomy and authority from the WIB • Spending decisions • Local youth policy • Vendor selection ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

7. Structure the Youth Council to Perform Work • Set up subcommittees to address specific issues • Assign each subcommittee a manageable task with outcomes, next steps and timelines • Support the council and subcommittees by paid staff ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

8. Strategic Planning “If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland A strategic plan is a roadmap that determines where an organization is going, how it will get there, and how it will know whether it made it or not. ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

9. Create a Youth System Strategic Plan • A strategic plan is the blueprint; outlines the strategies to be utilized by YC to address identified problem areas. • Basic Steps to be used: • Develop a full understanding of the issues • Identify goals to be achieved • Set objectives that measure progress toward achieving the goal(s) • Develop strategies to achieve goals • Articulate roles and responsibilities; and • Create a timetable and work plan ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

10. Strategic Plan as Key Driver for Investment and Service Design • Program design should link directly back to strategic goal(s) • Let data be a key driver of the plan • Create appropriate subcommittees • Secure resource commitments from board to accomplish goals and objectives, i.e. • ITAs for older youth – utilizing Adult/DW funding • Identify growth occupations from economic sectors (healthcare, technology, • Strongly emphasize career pathway; with multiple options • Encourage youth, including incentives to train in occupations providing recognized credentials • Link case management and employer service activities to YC goals ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

11. Effective Coordination of Key Activities • Youth councils coordinate youth activities, most importantly 10 required program elements: • 10 Youth Elements: Having 10 elements available in LWIA is not enough, youth councils should verify the specific agency(s) providing such services • Evaluate the quality of the program elements, especially those not provided and paid for by WIA • Recommend specialized approach (different vendors provide services based on expertise). ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

12. Effective Coordination of Key Activities • Pre-enrollment Activities: Intake, Initial Assessment, Eligibility Determination • Select subcommittee that evaluate the effectiveness of services; constantly assess their impact on client and program • Services should not be compliance-focused exclusively; must be designed to contribute to youth and overall program performance • Use data to determine customer base, needs, trends, and for strategic planning ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

13. Effective Coordination of Key Activities • Framework Activities: Objective Assessment, Development of Individual Service Strategy (ISS) • Select subcommittee to oversee these key services, i.e. recommend specific instrument to be used, purpose and how information will be used to develop plan • ISS development: evaluate how assessment results are incorporated in plan; • Committee should field test how well ISS plans developed; how career recommendations are made, and whether plans are helping participant achieve goals. ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

14. Effective Coordination of Key Activities • Case Management: • Communicate YC strategic goals to all youth case managers • Link key functions of case management with achieving YC goals, i.e. • Assessment • Developing ISS • Career counseling • Skills training • Follow-up • Have youth monitors report findings/observations on these activities and impact on participant achievement • On quarterly basis, evaluate how LWIA business services reps, if any, coordinates with youth case managers for those about to complete program or still active ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

15. Key Principles for Effective Youth Councils • Create a shared vision that reflects the community’s needs and values • Develop a vision statement that identifies the target population; state the purpose of the youth service delivery system • A successful vision statement should be brief, easily understood, and foster maximum buy-in from all stakeholders. • Fuse the youth development approach with the traditional workforce development approach • Helping youth find a job is no longer enough – effective youth programs must work together to help youth develop skills, knowledge and competencies for today’s complex workplace and social environment • Create a youth development system of effective services and service connections; i.e. what are other education and training resources to support specific youth population - dropout? ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

16. Key Principles for Effective Youth Councils • Address the economic development needs of the communities • Work in partnership with the chamber to develop economic development strategies • Work with business and industry to develop leadership, internship, and job opportunities for youth • Encourage and industry to tap into this untapped resource - youth • Conduct community resource mapping (CRM) • CRM helps council identify employer service needs, gaps, and duplications • Enables council discover information on other resources currently devoted to youth, and their geographic reach • Helps council set goals and objectives ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

17. Key Principles for Effective Youth Councils • Create a youth system strategic plan • Plan serves as blueprint; YC utilizes plan to address identified problem areas • Broaden the role of the youth council • Work with WIB to become the local planning body of youth development services, i.e. • Advocating on behalf of youth development services • Making funding decisions • Exploring and leveraging public and private resources • Overseeing, assessing and recommending providers; • Monitoring and evaluating youth workforce services • Developing and sponsoring interagency training; and • Conducting field visits for oversight and performance monitoring • Additional functions at 20CFR 667.220 ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

18. Key Principles for Effective Youth Councils • Broaden YC membership to include employers and educators • Employers: • They promote market-driven system; help YC build relationships and credibility with other employers • Help align training services with business needs • Educators: • Provide creative dropout prevention strategies • Monitor service providers to ensure strong link between academic and occupational learning • Monitor service providers to ensure quality of tutoring, study skills training, etc. can lead to high school completion ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

19. Key Principles for Effective Youth Councils • Establish a youth services system based on accountability • Effective monitoring; performance review processes; mechanism for ongoing feedback and continuous improvement • Leverage financial and programmatic resources • Ensures all 10 program elements are accessible to eligible youth in the community ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

20. Effective Practices for Retention and Active Involvement • Run effective well-organized meetings • Develop job descriptions for all members • Disseminate materials prior to youth council meetings • Hold meetings in unique locations; i.e. park area; restaurant, One-stop Center, youth program location • Have agreement on the duration (length) of meetings and process to conduct an effective meeting • Share youth service providers performance information and youth success vignettes with council members • Use the agenda as an active tool to achieve maximum input of ideas and involvement of members and public ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

21. Effective Practices for Retention and Active Involvement • Sustain focus – be strategic • Develop a strategic plan • Rely on workforce staff for operations. Have a staff person who is a youth coordinator • Call members periodically to check in with them and encourage their continued involvement • Choose a chair who is well known in the community. Have a Co-Chair who is more hands-on • Market your successes. Learn from your failures (or setbacks) • Rotate seats for youth to keep them involved. ETA Region 3 - Atlanta

22. Questions? ETA Region 3 - Atlanta