Hastings Community Education Advisory Council

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Hastings Community Education Advisory
Council February 12, 2008 Fulfilling Minnesotas
Promise Sarah Dixon, Minnesota Alliance With
Youth Kelly Amoth, AmeriCorps Promise
Fellow Contact MN Alliance at 612.616.1305
Visit our Website www.mnyouth.net
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Presidents Summit
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Our Vision All young people in Minnesota are
connected to their communities, have hope for the
future, and are able to realize their dreams.
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Mission of the Alliance

• To ensure that all young people in Minnesota
  have access to the resources they need to be
  successful caring adults safe places a healthy
  start effective education and opportunities to
  help others (the Five Promises)

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• The Five Promises Work
• Research shows that the more of the Five Promises
  that children receive, the more successful they
  are likely to be.
• Children who receive the Five Promises are 5 to
  10 times more likely to succeed as students,
  citizens, parents, and employees.

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Caring Adults

• Caring adults who are actively involved in their
  lives ongoing relationships with parents,
  mentors, tutors, coaches.

• 87 of young people say it is very important to
  have caring adults in their lives.
• 45 of young people expressed a need for more
  adults they could turn to when they need help.
• 15 million at-risk young people need a mentor.

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Safe Places

• Safe places in which to learn and grow with
  structured activities during non-school hours.

• 31 of young people do not feel safe walking
  around alone in their communities.
• Between 7 and 15 million children are alone at
  home after school the most juvenile crime takes
  place between 3-6pm.
• We spend over 14 billion each year on juvenile
  justice.

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A Healthy Start

• A healthy start towards adulthood healthy
  bodies, minds, habits, choices for a healthy
  start healthy future.

• 92 of young people think it is important to pay
  attention to their health, yet 60 of teens admit
  that there are a lot of things they do that are
  not healthy.
• Millions of young people lack health insurance
  and at least one child goes hungry in up to
  50,000 American households on an average day.

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Effective Education

• An effective education that builds marketable
  skills development, motivation skills for
  successful work and lifelong learning.

• 33 dont think they are learning the skills
  they need to be successful in life.
• American students rank in the bottom third of
  test scores in the world.
• More than half a million young people leave
  school each year without a diploma, resulting in
  associated costs of 260 billion.

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Opportunities to Help Others

• Opportunities to give back through community
  service the chance to learn and make a
  difference through volunteering, leadership and
  service.

• 94 of young people want to help their
  communities and make the world a better place.
• Only 51 of all young people who want to help
  have been asked to do so.
• 46 think community service and volunteering is
  boring.

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5 Promises 40 Assets

• Research conducted by the Search Institute
  identifies the 40 Developmental Assets as
  critical to ensuring positive youth development.
  
• The Five Promises framework is consistent with
  the 40 Assets framework.

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American Dream Gap

• Young people say they value and want more
  guidance from adults, more challenges and higher
  expectations from their schools, and more
  opportunities to contribute to their communities.
  
• (Voices Study, Americas Promise Child Trends,
  Inc.)

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American Dream Gap

• The Promise of America is the American Dream
  the idea that anyone can be anybody or do
  anything that they want. (Voices Study, Americas
  Promise Child Trends, Inc.)
• 95 of young people believe that kids can grow
  up to be anything they want in America and had
  set goals for their future.
• However, 42 of youth doubted if they would
  achieve their goals.

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Too Many Young People Lack Resources for Success

• Only 31 of our young people today are receiving
  enough of the fundamental resources, the Five
  Promises, necessary for success.
• (National Promises Study, Americas Promise
  Search Institute)
• 1000s of youth in MN have lost services over the
  past few years due to declining in funding, with
  25 of nonprofits saying they are serving fewer
  youth because of these funding reductions. (MN
  Council of Nonprofits)

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Social Return on Investment

• An effective comprehensive program costing around
  9,000 per participant can return benefits of
  from 4 to 9 for every dollar of cost. (Wilder
  Research)
• There is a 16 long-term return on each dollar
  invested in children compared to a 7 return on
  the stock market. For example, a 1 increase in
  high school graduation rates would yield 1.8
  billion in social benefits and reduce the number
  of crimes nationwide by 94,000.
• (Art Rolnick, Mpls. Federal Reserve Bank)

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Social Return on Investment

• When disadvantaged children go to a quality
  preschool the graduation rate from high school is
  65. When support continues through childhood
  and adolescents the graduation rate increases to
  91. (University of Chicago)
• It costs taxpayers almost 2 million dollars in
  criminal justice costs, victim costs, drug abuse
  related costs, lost wages and taxes for each
  young person that drops out of school and
  embraces a life of crime and drug use.
• (Vanderbilt University)

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Key Strategies of the Alliance

• Connect Mobilize Partner Organizations to build
  capacity around the resources young people need
  to be successful
• Create, connect, and strengthen School- Community
  Partnerships to build capacity around the Five
  Promises
• Increase opportunities for youth voice, youth
  engagement, and academic success

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Connecting Mobilizing Partner Organizations

• Identifying programs and resources from statewide
  and national partners to share with schools
  communities.
• Providing opportunities for networking and
  collaboration for statewide organizations.
• Sharing needs assessments, best practices great
  ideas from schools communities.
• Building capacity to deliver the Five Promises
  through a Statewide Partner Promise Fellow Corps
• Modeling and providing a source of youth voice
  youth action with a statewide Youth Advisory
  Council

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Strengthening School-Community Partnerships

• Providing opportunities for networking and
  collaboration.
• Sharing programs and resources from state and
  national partners.
• Collecting and sharing best practices great
  ideas from schools communities.
• Recognizing and celebrating school community
  success.
• Supporting schools communities in engaging and
  supporting young people.

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Increasing Youth Voice Youth Engagement
Academic Success

• Increasing youth civic engagement through
• Youth Leadership Opportunities Development
• Youth Service Service Learning
• Authentic Youth-Adult Partnerships
• Supporting youth civic engagement through
• Sharing Civic Engagement Best Practices, Great
  Ideas, Programs and Resources for Youth
  Engagement
• Providing opportunities for youth voice youth
  action
• Recognizing and Celebrating Young People

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Youth Voice Youth Action

• Statewide Youth Advisory Council
• Lieutenant Governors Red Wagon Awards
• Delta Dental Serve a Smile Program for National
  Global Youth Service Day
• Promise Fellow Service-Learning Civic
  Engagement Programs
• Resources My Voice, Connecting is Key, Power of
  5, 5 Promises Ambassadors Network
• Online Youth Program Directory

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AmeriCorps Promise Fellows in Minnesota

• The Alliance hosts the AmeriCorps Promise
  Fellows, who work with partners, schools and
  communities across the state, building capacity
  around our key strategies to fulfill the Five
  Promises for every young person in Minnesota.

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The work of the Fellows

• Coordinate volunteers to serve as mentors,
  tutors, and on service projects with youth
• Develop key partnerships between schools,
  communities, and parents
• Engage young people in service, service-learning,
  and leadership activities
• Involve youth in developing collaborations within
  their communities

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AmeriCorps Promise Fellows

• Over the last three years, Fellows have
• Directly served over 129,000 young people
• Recruited 17,000 youth volunteers serving over
  112,000 hours in their communities.
• Recruited over 10,900 adult volunteers serving
  over 146,000 hours working with youth.
• Supported mentoring, tutoring, and service
  learning programs that led to improved academic
  performance in 69 of participants. 

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How does it work in communities?

• Example of Multi-Sector Collaborations
• Northfield Healthy Community Initiative,
  Northfield, MN

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Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI)

• Formed in 1992
• Original partners City of Northfield,
  Northfield Public Schools, and Northfield
  Hospital expanded over the years
• Strength-based approach to youth development 40
  assets and 5 Promises
• Over the past 5 years, HCI has helped bring in
  nearly 2 million from outside the community to
  benefit youth efforts

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HCI Overview

• Not about running programs they convene,
  connect, mobilize
• Identify gaps and opportunities around youth
  issues in the community help fill these gaps
  and take advantage of opportunities
• Bring partners together to expand mentoring
  opportunities, after school options, graduation
  initiatives, and school/community connectedness
• They are an umbrella for other things to happen

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HCI Initiatives YOUTH

• Northfield Mentoring Coalition
• Mayors Youth Council
• Familias en Accion/TORCH
• Middle School Youth Center
• Youth Sports Collaborative
• YouthPlus

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HCI Initiatives PARENTS

• Parent Education and Resource Liaisons (PEARLs)
• Parent Communication Network
• Parenting Events
• Parent Resource Carts

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HCI Initiatives Community Capacity Building

• Rice County Chemical Health Coalition
• Fundraising for youth organizations
• Mini-grants to projects that build youth assets
• Recognition/celebration community events
• Continuing education events

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HCI Impact in Northfield

• Mentoring matches have increased by 65 in past 4
  years
• Youth substance use has decreased
• More after school opportunities for youth
• Latino graduation rates increasing
• More opportunities for youth to have voice in
  community dialogues

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Northfield Mayors Youth Council

• Formed in spring 2006
• 13 high school students - diverse group!
• Mayor appoints and City Council approves
• City-level commission (like other city boards)
• Charge To provide youth input into civic affairs
  and to work on initiatives that positively impact
  Northfield youth

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Key Outcomes for the Alliance

• Promoting a common vision for Minnesota
  community-wide youth development. 
• Increased number of volunteers (Youth Adults)
  serving their communities.
• Increased number of opportunities for leadership,
  service, and civic engagement.
• Increased number of communities working
  collaboratively WITH Youth.

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• The Little Red Wagon a symbol of childhood.
  It could be filled with a childs hopes and
  dreams or weighed down with their burdens.
  Millions of American children need our help to
  pull that wagon along. Lets all pull together.
• We have no choice but to keep moving in this
  direction, to keep giving of our resources, our
  time, our talent, and our energy because the
  need is still there. The need is still great.
  There are still youngsters who are looking to use
  for a promise.
• Colin Powell, Founding Chairman, Americas
  Promise