WELCOME Employment Challenges and Supports for Foster Youth

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WELCOMEEmployment Challenges and Supports for
Foster Youth

• New Ways to Work
• October 28, 2009

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New Ways to Work

• Builds community connections that
• prepare youth for success
• 25 years building comprehensive youth-serving
  systems nationally
• Focuses on effectively targeting public resources
  to prepare youth for the future
• Connects efforts to Economic Development
• Pioneered the All Youth-One System approach
• Since 2004 a focus on foster youth transitions

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New Ways to Work

• Where New Ways Works
• Supporting connections between schools,
  community, and the workplace across the nation
• Building connected transition systems for all
  youth in California
• Building community capacity through customized
  technical assistance locally

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New Ways to Work

• Current and Former Initiatives
• Communities and Schools for Career Success
• Diploma Plus
• Intermediary Network
• Partners on the Breakthrough Series Collaborative
  on ILP Transformation
• Targeted Technical Assistance New York City and
  Chicago
• Youth Council Institute
• Youth Transition Action Teams

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Session Overview

• Key Elements of Effective Career Development
• The Career Development Continuum
• Career Development Supports
• Opportunities that Support Career Development
• Additional Resources

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Whos in the Room?

• Your name, organization, and title
• What you hope to get out of this session

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Career Development Continuum
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Mapping Existing Career Development Opportunities

• Name specific career development opportunities
  within post-secondary education and training that
  exist in your community

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Career Development Supports

• What needs to be in place for effective career
  development to happen?
• What supports need to be in place for youth to be
  successful in any career development activity or
  program?

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Foster Youth Career Development and Employment
SummitPolicy Focus Areas

• Focus Area 1 Prioritize Career Development and
  Employment for Every Foster Youth
• Focus Area 2 Systematically Connect Foster
  Youth to Education and Workforce Development
  Programs
• Focus Area 3 Support Emancipating and
  Emancipated Youth in their Transition to
  Adulthood
• Focus Area 4 Provide Work Experience and Job
  Opportunities that Lead to Economic Success

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Focus Area 1 Prioritize Career Development and
Employment for Every Foster Youth

• Prioritized Legislative Action
• Develop a consolidation bill that creates a
  unified vision for transitioning foster youth,
  brings together the various pieces of existing
  law that address one or more related foster youth
  transition issues, and coordinates systems. A
  cross-disciplinary workgroup including youth
  should work with the Legislature and create
  uniform policies and an efficient coordinated
  service system in which foster youth receive
  priority for services across departments.

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Focus Area 1 Prioritize Career Development and
Employment for Every Foster Youth

• Prioritized Legislative Action
• Ensure that all existing laws directly related
  to transition issues, career development, and/or
  employment preparation are fully implemented and
  resourced appropriately.

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Focus Area 1 Prioritize Career Development and
Employment for Every Foster Youth

• Prioritized Regulatory Action
• The Child Welfare Council should prioritize the
  creation of common assessments and outcome
  measures in the areas of permanence, education,
  and employment across all systems working with
  transitioning youth. The Council should formalize
  Memoranda of Understanding among State Agencies
  and Departments that define ways to allow for the
  sharing of data and information about common
  program participants. Agencies and Departments
  should be charged with implementing common data
  systems and reporting cycles to maximize
  cross-program collaboration

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Focus Area 2 Systematically Connect Foster
Youth to Education and Workforce Programs

• Prioritized Legislative Action
• Establish a statewide program in which former
  foster youth are employed as transition
  navigators in each county to link foster youth to
  systems and services and ensure that when youth
  relocate their services are maintained. (Modeled
  after the current Disability Navigators)

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Focus Area 2 Systematically Connect Foster
Youth to Education and Workforce Programs

• Prioritized Regulatory Action
• Actively support cross-program collaboration in
  order to leverage and link services across
  systems for foster youth by addressing issues of
  resource sharing, data alignment and reporting,
  program design, technical assistance,
  professional development, oversight, and
  governance.

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Focus Area 2 Systematically Connect Foster
Youth to Education and Workforce Programs

• Prioritized Regulatory Action
• Bring together the multiple plans that guide a
  youths transition by creating a system for and
  requiring a common, youth-centered and youth-led
  transition plan across all agencies, departments,
  and programs that work with transitioning youth.

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Focus Area 3 Support Emancipating and
Emancipated Youth in Their Transition to
Adulthood

• Prioritized Legislative Action
• Support or establish comprehensive, youth-led
  transition centers that coordinate existing
  resources and provide a place for youth to be
  supported and connected to one another and their
  community.

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Focus Area 3 Support Emancipating and
Emancipated Youth in Their Transition to
Adulthood

• Prioritized Legislative Action
• Expand eligibility and resources for career
  development and employment supportive services
  and Independent Living Programs to ages 12-25.

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Focus Area 3 Support Emancipating and
Emancipated Youth in Their Transition to
Adulthood

• Prioritized Regulatory Action
• Build on the successes of the THP model and
  create additional transitional housing
  opportunities. Adjust program eligibility and
  program participation requirements to allow youth
  to maintain housing while pursuing the goals of
  permanence, education (including secondary and
  post-secondary), and employment. Transitional
  housing and affordable residential opportunities
  must be developed on or near community college
  campuses.

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Focus Area 4 Provide Work Experience and Job
Opportunities that Lead to Economic Success

• Prioritized Legislative Action
• Encourage the hiring of youth in entry level,
  career pathway positions through a subsidized,
  transitional work-experience program in
  partnership with the private and public sectors,
  ILP, and Workforce Investment Boards. The program
  should include the provision of support to
  worksite supervisors to maximize their
  participation, youth to build confidence and
  skills, and foster families to support youth
  participation.

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Focus Area 4 Provide Work Experience and Job
Opportunities that Lead to Economic Success

• Prioritized Regulatory Action
• Encourage the State Youth Vision Team and the
  California Workforce Investment Board to develop
  a statewide Hire-a-Youth campaign in
  partnership with the California Chamber of
  Commerce and other state-level business groups.

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Opportunities that Support Career Development

• Workforce Investment Act
• The Gateway Project
• Career Ladders Project
• Guardian Scholars
• Chafee Education and Training Vouchers
• California College Pathways
• Foster Youth Success Initiative
• California Career Resource Network (CalCRN)
• Career Advancement Academies
• Adult Education Programs
• California Connected by 25 Initiative

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Connecting Youth to Next Steps

• Find out who and what foster youth are connected
  to already
• Caregivers
• Social Worker
• CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate)
• Mental Health Counselor
• Educational Liaison
• ILP Case Manager
• Case Plan
• Individual Education Plan
• Transitional Housing Program
• Transitional Independent Living Plan

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• We should dream of and plan for a day when fewer
  children require foster care. But until that day
  comes, we have a moral responsibility to prepare
  young people leaving foster care to become whole
  adults who can fulfill their potential and build
  bright promising futures.
• President Jimmy Carter

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For More Information or Questions

• Contact
• Kellie Noe
• Project Coordinator
• New Ways to Work
• knoe_at_newwaystowork.org
• 707-824-4000 x 33