Public sector collaboration to improve postsecondary outcomes for foster youth

In May, the OYC Foster Youth College Advancement Project (FYCAP) partners presented a session at the Collective Impact Forum in Chicago, titled “Driving Public Sector Systems Change: Lessons from Los Angeles County.” The session described the process that FYCAP co-conveners, John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) and UNITE-LA, undertook in order to build buy-in from the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and to co-design College Bound Antelope Valley, a project that is training social workers to initiate college exploration and planning activities with middle and high school aged youth. FYCAP also supported DCFS in launching two new higher education courses this past April that will increase the capacity of Resource Parents to assist youth with college exploration and planning. To learn more about this new postsecondary education curriculum for caregivers, register for this webinar on June 5.

Further illustrating their deep commitment to increasing postsecondary attainment for foster youth, DCFS  launched two new higher education courses this past April that will increase the capacity of Resource Parents to assist youth with college exploration and planning. Developed in collaboration with DCFS, JBAY, UNITE-LA, and the local Foster and Kinship Care Education program, each course is approximately 3 hours in length and covers essential college planning steps, as well as resources that are available to assist youth in paying for and succeeding in college. DCFS requires that all Resource Parents with children in their care ages 12-19 complete at least one of these courses as part of the Resource Family Approval process.

Welcome, Akin Abioye & Julian Lucas!

Akin Abioye recently joined the L.A. Compact team as the new Foster Youth Manager! In this position he will lead the Compact’s advancement of systemic strategies related to transition-age foster youth college access and success and employment. Prior to joining the L.A. Compact, Akin was the Director of Public Policy at FosterClub where he worked to elevate the voices of young people in federal child welfare policy reform. Akin is passionate about issues that reside at the intersection of education, foster care, and Black identity politics. In 2015, he was honored as a White House Champion of Change. At 15, as a participant at Peace4Kids, Akin created “Project Homebound,” an initiative to raise awareness about foster youth homelessness, leading to the passage of CA Assembly Bill 12, landmark legislation that increased the legal age of foster care from 18 to 21. We are excited to have Akin and his breadth of knowledge and expertise as a vital contribution to our team!

Julian Lucas is joining the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and UNITE-LA as a Coordinator for Talent Development! He will be supporting our workforce development portfolio related to system change projects by coordinating our Working Families initiative, L.A. Workforce Systems Collaborative, Health Sector Collaborative and others. Born in Mexico and raised in Los Angeles, Lucas started his career in the fashion industry on private label projects for American Apparel and helped GoodhYOUman when it was a startup company scale its production and reach new markets. He went on to work on a range of local and statewide political campaigns in California. Most recently, Lucas coordinated partnerships with local organizations and universities to provide immigration legal and educational services as part of his work at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN-Los Angeles). Lucas earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. He loves to support local businesses and enjoys good conversations.

L.A. Compact Student Success Workgroup focuses on community college transfers & reverse transfers

UNITE-LA staff and representatives from the CSUN Connections reverse transfer partnership traveled to Detroit, MI at the end of April to participate in the Lumina Foundation’s national Talent Hubs convening to think about how to support and scale reverse transfer through state and system-wide policy development. The partners, including project leaders from CSUN, L.A. Mission College, L.A. Valley College, L.A. Pierce College, and California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office participated in a half-day institute on reverse transfer that was facilitated by the Institute of Higher Education Policy, where we joined Shasta County’s North State Together team members in sharing implementation lessons with other communities that are exploring reverse transfer.

On April 24, the Compact hosted a meeting with CSU and LACCD District Office representatives to review preliminary research findings by WestEd that map  available Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADT) pathways in L.A. County, identify feeder patterns between local community colleges and local California State University campuses, and highlight programs of study where bottlenecks are occurring.

L.A. County launches coordinated referral process to connect foster youth with work experiences

Thanks to the efforts of L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative partners, L.A. County recently launched a new coordinated referral process for foster youth ages 14-24 to improve connections to job training and early work experiences. Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) staff who support youth living from Lancaster to Long Beach face a confusing array of work readiness programs managed by 7 workforce boards and over 40 non-profit agencies across the county. DCFS will now utilize a common form to send referrals to L.A. County Workforce Development Aging & Community Services department (WDACS) who will manage the assignment and tracking of referrals across workforce agencies. DCFS has allocated $1 million this year to provide 400 foster youth with paid work experiences through a new FosterYouth@Work program. Nearly 400 foster youth have been referred through the new system in March and April.

Collaboration to improve postsecondary outcomes for foster youth, supporting expansion of community schools, Mayor Garcetti prioritizes early education and more...

Collaboration to improve postsecondary outcomes for foster youth, supporting expansion of community schools, Mayor Garcetti prioritizes early education and more...

Thank you for your steadfast dedication to improving educational outcomes and closing attainment gaps for children and youth in Los Angeles. We hope the new year brings you a renewed sense of purpose and optimism for the future.

"Foster Youth College Awareness Month", Sharing Successes and Lessons Learned, Young Ambassadors Program and more

L.A. Compact's Workgroup and Collaborative updates for the months of September & October 2018

L.A. Compact Workgroup Update Archive>>

Current list and description of L.A. Compact collaborative initiatives>>

L.A. Compact's Workgroup and Collaborative updates for the months of May and June 2018

L.A. Compact Workgroup Update Archive>>

Current list and description of L.A. Compact collaborative initiatives>>

Follow our Workgroup and Collaborative updates for the months of March and April 2018

Current list and description of L.A. Compact collaborative initiatives>>

Promoting College Readiness for Antelope Valley Foster Youth

This story and more in the April issue of the L.A. Compact Connection

The L.A. Compact has been busy this summer! Check out the L.A. Compact's updated workgroup descriptions and read up on our progress in the August workgroup update.

Updates include LAUSD Strategic Plan engagement, Joint Advocacy legislative priorities, L.A. STEM Hub's new partnership foundation, OYC's Young Leaders, and more

Welcome to the launch of the L.A. Compact's first bi-monthly newsletter!  

Since 2008, the L.A. Compact has convened cross-sector stakeholders to work together across siloes in pursuit of three big, systemic goals:

1. All students graduate from high school;
2. All students have access to and are prepared for success in college; and
3. All students have access to pathways to sustainable jobs and careers.

Today, 17 working groups (and counting!) are engaging hundreds of partners to improve cradle to career outcomes through the power of collective impact.  We hope this newsletter will help shine a spotlight on this important collaborative work that seldom makes headlines.  Each edition of The L.A. Compact Connection will include a short feature story, timely Compact workgroup or partner updates, and links to relevant news and research. We look forward to your feedback on how we can best utilize this newsletter to share the collective work of L.A. Compact partners.

Established: 2008  |  Convened by: UNITE-LA

The L.A. Compact Stewardship Group is comprised of senior staff and deputies representing the L.A. Compact signers. Members serve as stewards of the larger community interest and serve the L.A. Compact’s broader collective vision.

Roles of the L.A. Compact Stewardship Group:

The rigor of the L.A. Compact's commitment to education transformation in our region is the alignment to Measurements of success

Measurements of success

GOAL 1:

All students graduate from high school

GOAL 2:

All students have access to and are prepared for success in college

GOAL 3:

All students have access to pathways to sustainable jobs and careers