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This brief cites the importance of a full-range of developmental assets, in school, in the home and in the community, that youth need to succeed.  It indicates that “meaningful progress in improving educational outcomes must involve multiple stakeholders and a variety of sustained efforts over time.”

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The NCY and the Forum for Youth Investment recently release a guide to forming and sustaining Local Collaborations for Youth (LCY). An LCY is a means for local child- and youth-serving agencies to pool their collective expertise, resources, and voice in ‘whole-community’ efforts to improve outcomes for children and youth. It’s a chance to lift your eyes from the pressure of your agency’s own measurable outcomes and take a look at the Big Picture of child and youth well-being in your community.

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From the Girl Scouts to the Urban League, the members of the National Collaboration for Youth (NCY) are identifying their top priorities for the 112th Congress to reach a national goal of improving the odds for every child. NCY members should email Natalie Thompson with your organization’s top priorities. For background and inspiration, check out NCY's Policy Agenda for the 111th Congress  -- it's a good read! Email recommendations to Natalie Thompson, Policy Director at NThompson@nassembly.org by Monday, November 8th!

For 20 years GLSEN has worked to ensure safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. In this webinar, the GLSEN Research Department draws on findings from the 2009 National School Climate Survey to explore how supportive teachers, principals, and other school staff serve as an important resource for LGBT students.

Ready by 21 and the NCY have submitted comments in response to the Department of Education's August 5, 2010 Notice of Proposed Priorities for future discretionary grant programs, beginning in FY2011.  The comments reflect how the U.S. Department of Education can prioritize its future discretionary grantmaking to most effectively serve the needs of America’s children and youth. 

View the comments.

Watch the video below!

On Tuesday, June 15th the NCY held a Capitol Hill briefing on School Climate and Academic Achievement: Using Data to Improve Conditions for Learning and Youth Outcomes. Over 100 congressional and agency staff, members of the NCY and the community were in attendance. The briefing focused on the use of data to improve students’ safety, health and well-being. Briefing documents can be viewed by clicking on the titles:

• Briefing Agenda,
• Speaker Biographies,
• Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students from the Department of Education

Speaker presentations can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

• School Climate: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?—Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., co-founder and president of the Center of Social and Emotional Education (CSEE)
• Using Data to Improve Conditions for Learning
  
  1. Dr. Shane Lopez, Senior Scientist at Gallup and architect of the Gallup Student Poll
  2. Mr. Doug Hall, President of Pride Surveys
  3. Dr. Greg Austin, Director of Health and Human Development at WestEd
• School Climate, the Conditions for Learning, and Academic Achievement- Dr. David Osher, Vice President at American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Watch the video below!

President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum on February 9, 2010, establishing a Task Force on Childhood Obesity that directs Federal agencies to create a comprehensive interagency national action plan to solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. The Task Force is chaired by the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and composed of senior Federal officials representing the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services and Education. The Presidential Memorandum directs the Task Force to make recommendations that include, but are not limited to, meeting four objectives:

1. Ensuring access to healthy, affordable food;
2. increasing physical activity in schools and communities;
3. providing healthier food in schools; and
4. empowering parents with information and tools to make good choices for themselves and their families.

On Thursday, March 25 the NCY submitted comments focused on promoting healthy weight, nutrition and physical activity.
View the NCY’s comments.

On March 26th, the National Collaboration for Youth, MENTOR and YMCA of the USA sent letters of support to members of the House and Senate on The Child Protection Improvements Act of 2009. Many National Collaboration for Youth members also signed on in support of the legislation which would create a permanent national system making FBI fingerprint searches accessible to youth-serving organizations. More than 6% of the nearly 69,000 volunteers screened with FBI searches during the PROTECT Act Child Safety Pilot had criminal records of concern-including extremely serious crimes like child sexual abuse, cruelty to children, and even murder. In addition, more than 41% of individuals with criminal records had crimes in states other than where they were applying to volunteer-meaning that only a nationwide check would have caught the criminal records. The Child Protection Improvements Act of 2009 would create an applicant processing center to conduct FBI fingerprint searches for youth-serving organizations-in a streamlined and efficient way and at a reasonable cost.
View a copy of the letter.

Today, the NCY sent letters to members of the Senate in support of S. 678, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2009. S. 678 strengthens and updates critical components of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA), which has been protecting youth across the nation for 35 years. The legislation was introduced on March 24, 2009 by Senators Leahy, Specter, Kohl, and Durbin and currently has 8 bipartisan co-sponsors. View a copy of the letter.

Announcing a National Assembly/National Collaboration for Youth and PACE-Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement

About half of young Americans have never attended college. They are less than half as likely to vote and to volunteer as their college-educated peers. These youth have few opportunities to develop civic skills and interests. Drawing on a white paper published by in PACE-Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement October, 2009, An Inequitable Invitation to Citizenship: Non-College-Bound Youth and Civic Engagement, Jim Youniss, Professor of Psychology at Catholic University of America, and Peter Levine, Director of CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement and Research, and research director of Tufts University’s Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service will provide the latest research on non-college bound youth and civic engagement.

The speakers will suggest ways that civic and human services sector organizations can be part of the solution to greater inclusion of non-college bound youth, while at the same time enriching their own missions, creating future volunteers, social justice advocates, and engaged citizens.Download slideshow presentation used in the webinar.

Today, President Obama released his FY2011 Budget. View the budget release.

For a full report on the FY2011 budget come to the NCY Washington Group monthly meeting tomorrow, February 2nd, at 1:30 PM. Meeting is held at the NHSA Offices on 1319 F Street, Suite 402 and will feature a presentation on the budget from Joan Huffer, Director of the Federal Budget Project at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

The National Collaboration for Youth has submitted comments in response to the Corporation’s Fiscal Year 2010 Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) for Social Innovation Fund Awards. The Corporation released a draft Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the $50 million Social Innovation Fund (SIF) which will provide $50 million in funding to 5-7 intermediary grantees that will, in turn, provide subgrants of $100,000 or more per year for 3-5 years to other nonprofits for innovative programs in low-income communities.
View the NCY’s comment letter»

The Girl Scouts Research Institute and the National Collaboration for Youth held a webinar today to share research findings from Good Intentions: The Beliefs and Values of Teens and Tweens Today (2009), a national study conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI) in partnership with Harris Interactive. Click here to view the full report was released on December 2^nd.

The study explores what youth today value and how they go about making decisions, based on research conducted with 3,263 3rd- to 12th-graders from around the country. This work builds on a study published in 1989 by GSUSA and paints an encouraging picture about a generation of youth responsible to themselves and to others, and who value diversity, acceptance, and community involvement. It also highlights the important role that adults play in helping girls actualize their good intentions.

Click here to view the webinar slides.

Listen to audio feed (36MB download - Window Media)