Greetings YDEKC Members and Friends –
Watching the sugar snap peas, peonies and hostas emerge from the ground and the dogwood trees in full bloom around my house means that summer is right around the corner! As spring breaks come and go this month, summer planning is in full swing – for programs and for policy. Hope to see you at a community meeting soon!
To stay connected and see more about the awesome work of our members, don’t forget to like us (and ask your friends to like us) on facebook!
In Service,
Jessica
Executive Director, Youth Development Executives of King County
ydekc.org | jwerner@ydekc.org | 206.336.6912
Advocacy: Garnering systemic support of the youth development field
Hello YDEKC Community. Advocacy works! The spring of 2016 has been full of opportunities for me to interface with several levels of government on the behalf of YDEKC and its member organizations. Please feel free to reach out to me, Rene at your convenience.
State: The 2016 Session has come to a close and there were several successes for children, youth and families. Very notable are HB-1682, the Homeless Student Stability and Opportunity Gap Act and HB-1999 which will help coordinate education services for youth in foster care, including the Treehouse Graduation Success and Educational Advocacy programs. Also there was funding in the budget for the following:
– Implementation of the Family Assessment Response statewide
– The Blue Ribbon Commission (per the Governor’s Executive Order related to a separate children’s department)
– Additional HOPE beds, Family Reconciliation, Crisis Residential Centers, and Street Youth Services
King County: YDEKC held a “Lunching with Leaders” event on April 8th, with Representatives from King County to discuss Best Starts for Kids and the MIDD levy renewal and information regarding the Veteran’s and Human Services Levy. These planning efforts are well underway with intention to ensure connectivity between funding streams. The “5,000 foot” implementation plan for Best Starts is due to council on June 1st, with rfps to be released in the fall most likely. Get your voice heard at the upcoming Community Conversations regarding Best Starts in April and May in the region.
City Governments: YDEKC has representation on the steering committee of the Seattle Human Services Coalition, and membership with the South King County Human Services and King County Alliance for Human Services. With our increased staffing capacity, we are glad to be more involved in assisting with efforts to encourage the municipalities in King to consider robust support for Human Services in their budget development. Stay tuned for more.
Outcomes: Promoting common youth development outcomes
YDEKC continues to play a role in elevating motivation and engagement and social emotional learning in partnership with the Road Map Project and with and for our members. Much is happening in this space locally and nationally as recognition of the importance of the skills and dispositions that influence youth success grows.
New(ish) Resource: Foundations for Young Adult Success, A Developmental Framework
This report framework synthesizes decades of research evidence, practice wisdom, and theory to capture a holistic view of children’s developmental needs from early childhood to young adulthood. Whether at home or school, in an afterschool program, or out in their community, young people are always developing. Broader societal contexts, systems, and institutions shape youth development—often creating big disparities in opportunities and outcomes. Adults also play a pivotal role, and can give young people a better chance at successful lives by understanding and intentionally nurturing their development.
Note: While this report was published nearly a year ago, it is an excellent resource for us in King County as we grapple with how to best support children and youth to meet their full potential – building their agency, competencies and integrated identities. Well worth a read if you missed it first time around!
Capacity Building: Increasing member capacity through professional development and networking opportunities
2016 Annual Human Services Award
Do you know of an amazing human service agency, organization or individual that deserves recognition? Nominate them! The Seattle Human Services Coalition‘s Annual Human Services Awards are the perfect avenue to highlight and commend the inspirational work accomplished within our human services community. They have five award categories, more information on the different types of categories here. Extended deadline due April 18th, 2016!
Washington State Leadership Scan Release
In 2015, the Statewide Capacity Collaborative commissioned a leadership scan of Washington state’s nonprofit sector with an interest in understanding how to best develop and support strong nonprofit and community leaders. The SCC partnered with CompassPoint to explore what resources are needed to further develop the skills required to lead the teams, organizations and movements making positive changes in our region. Take a moment to review their results here.
Upcoming Leadership Trainings with Spark Consulting
Leading With Purposeful Questions: June 10, 2016
Participants will acquire tools to ask effective questions that build relationships, facilitate creativity and innovation when solving problems, promote learning and development, and represent their leadership values. By taking our communication skills to the next level, we have the potential to improve outcomes in a diverse array of situations, including team building, workplace conflict, program development, and customer service. Click here for more information and registration
Ignite: A Leadership Program for Early-Career Professionals: July-November 2016
If you are an early-career professional who wants to lead with integrity, support and encourage the people you work with, and develop positive, healthy climates at work, take this opportunity to join a network of peers in a five-month process of learning how to lead in alignment with your values and develop a learning culture within your organization. For more information and registration click here.
Chronicle of Philanthropy Upcoming Webinar
April 28th, 11 a.m. PST
Join The Chronicle of Philanthropy for a one hour session that will explore how to select qualified board members, set clear expectations, and make the best use of their talents. Get the Most Out of Your Board’s early bird rate of $75 closes April 21, register today!
Events & Job Opportunities
Save the date! June 17th 2016, SOAR will be celebrating 13 years of building effective partnerships at their annual conference. This will be a day of reflection, dialogue, and action for all who support SOAR’s children, youth, and family initiatives. The conference will be held at Green River College in Auburn, WA from 8:30am to 3:30pm. More details to come soon. Follow their Facebook page here, to stay up-to-date.King County Executive Director Forum
Friday, April 22 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Pacific Tower, Seattle
The Executive Director Forum is a unique opportunity for EDs/CEOs to connect with their peers, share ideas, and learn from each other in a supportive environment. Each session offers three discussion groups facilitated by three outstanding leaders. The format of the forum allows you to circulate through all three topics and interact with many of the ED/CEOs in attendance as well as our outstanding discussion leaders.Reconnect to Opportunity. CCER is excited to be partnering with Mario Bailey and the team at King County Employment and Education Resources on Reconnect to Opportunity, a regional effort to link opportunity youth with education/employment programs. Check out the new website here. Youth who are interested in getting connected can fill out this simple form or call 206-263-8244 to talk with an outreach worker. If you want to learn more or are interested in getting fliers or cards to share with young people or outreach staff you work with, please contact Mario.Opportunity Fair. In August 2015, a coalition of employers launched the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative which is committed to creating meaningful pathways and hiring at least 100,000 opportunity youth by 2018. This employer-led coalition is partnering several local partners to host an Opportunity Fair on May 5 at the Century Link Field Event Center. It will be an inspirational day of connection and empowerment, to leading companies and also a full suite of services, workshops, and inspiration to help break down barriers for youth. Check out this video from a recent Opportunity Fair to learn more. Interested youth and adult volunteers can now register here.Educurious: Hiring 100K Opportunities Initiative Program Manager
Educurious is hiring a Project Manager that will lead the regional effort to align the supply of opportunity youth with employer demand, while creating pathways to employment and career advancement. This position will coordinate both locally and nationally to manage Seattle’s 100K strategic development, implementation and follow-up. Click here for a full description and more on how to apply!
Youth Program Directory
The most comprehensive way to find engaging programs that support and enrich the lives of young people ages 5 – young adult.
Summer Program Updates
The Youth Program Directory is now gearing up for summer! If you are in the directory and have changes for any of your program listings, please email our data specialist partner (Elizabeth) at Crisis Clinic 211 at YouthProgramDirectory@crisisclinic.org with your updates/changes. If you know about your summer programs in particular, please ensure that all locations including school sites are listed correctly.
If you are NOT in the directory…List Your Program
Go to the “List Your Program” page and check to see if you meet the directory’s Eligibility Policy. Then please submit both the “Organization Info Form” once and the “Program Info Form” for EACH program that you offer. If one program has multiple sites, you can list all sites within one program listing.
Like Youth Program Directory On Facebook & Twitter!
Like the Youth Program Directory Page on Facebook here and follow us on Twitter @YPDKingCounty. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on the latest programs and more! If your organization or program has a good news story that we can link to be spotlighted on our Facebook or Twitter, please email alopezdiaz@ydekc.org.
Thank you for continuing to work together to advance the youth development field. Hope to see you soon!
The YDEKC Team
Jessica Werner, Executive Director
Sarah Terry, Research & Evaluation Manager
Rene Murry, Public Policy Manager
Andrea Lopez-Diaz, Member Engagement & Communications
Youth Development Executives of King County (YDEKC) is a coalition of youth-serving organizations working together to improve outcomes for young people.