L.A. Compact Connection | June 2019

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

FEATURE STORY

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. READ MORE.

OUR IMPACT

L.A. Compact supports new partnership to expand community schools

On April 29, the L.A. Compact, in partnership with L.A. Unified and United Teachers Los Angeles, hosted the inaugural meeting of the Community Schools Steering Committee. The group will guide the selection of up to 20 L.A. Unified schools to pilot a model that emphasizes integrated student supports, expanded and enriched learning time, family and community engagement and shared decision-making. The pilot represents an opportunity for schools to transform the way they partner with families and community members to ensure students’ holistic success.

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 seven workforce boards and over 40 non-profit agencies across the county. READ MORE.

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. 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. READ MORE.

Check out what’s happening across all of the L.A. Compact workgroups, including the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, the Workforce Systems Collaborative, the Health Sector Collaborative and more in our L.A. Compact Workgroup Updates.

OUR PARTNERS

Kim Pattillo Brownson Appointed to State Board of Education

We are thrilled to hear that Kim Pattillo Brownson of First 5 LA has been appointed to the State Board of Education by Gov. Gavin Newsom. We are fortunate to have worked closely with First 5 LA, an L.A. Compact signer, on cradle-to-career education issues and know that Pattillo Brownson will offer high-level expertise and knowledge to the Governor’s administration. Pattillo Brownson has served as First 5 LA’s Vice President of Policy and Strategy, as well as the L.A. Area Chamber’s Education & Workforce Development Council co-chair.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti Prioritizes Early Education in State of the City

Mayor Eric Garcetti, a signer of the L.A. Compact, focused heavily on early childhood education in his State of the City last month. We are committed to working with the mayor’s office to ensure that all working parents have access to quality early child care, maximize new state resources, eliminate school readiness gaps for our youngest students and build our education workforce. READ MORE.

OUR CORNER

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, Abioye was the Director of Public Policy at FosterClub where he worked to elevate the voices of young people in federal child welfare policy reform. Read more about Akin Abioye!

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. Read more about Julian Lucas!