Foster Youth Partners Present at State Conference, College Futures Foundation Awards Grant, and more updates from the L.A. Compact

FEATURE STORY

Fostering Careers L.A. Partners Present at California Workforce Association Conference

Partners from the LA Area Chamber of Commerce, L.A. County Department of Children & Family Services, L.A. County Workforce Development Aging and Community Services Department, the South Bay Workforce Investment Board, and the Alliance for Children’s Rights traveled to Monterey on September 5th to present at the annual Meeting of the Minds Conference hosted by the California Workforce Association. The Workshop, “Innovation and Regional Collaboration to Meet the Needs of Transition-Age Foster Youth,” highlighted progress in partnerships between L.A. County workforce and child welfare stakeholders over the past seven years that have resulted in increased access to early work experiences for the county’s 10,000+ transition-age foster youth. Check out the full presentation here.

WORKGROUP HIGHLIGHTS

Joint Advocacy Workgroup Relaunches to Advance Shared Priorities in Sacramento and D.C.

The Joint Advocacy Workgroup relaunched in August after a one-year hiatus due to staff turnover at partner agencies. Government relations representatives from Los Angeles Unified School District, First 5 LA, United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas’ office joined the relaunch to learn about the group’s history and discuss potential priorities for the 2019 legislative session. The group looks forward to continuing its collective advocacy in Sacramento and D.C. on behalf of Los Angeles youth.

Student Success Workgroup Receives Grant from Colleges Futures Foundation

The College Futures Foundation recently awarded the Student Success Workgroup a one-year planning grant to research Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) pathways across local CSU and community college campuses and to develop a plan for improving ADT uptake in L.A. County. This work will commence in the fall with UNITE-LA staff conducting research on available ADT pathways and projected enrollment capacity for ADT earners in the region.

L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) Kicks Off Strategic Planning

The OYC Strategic Planning process officially kicked off in August with a meeting of an executive advisory group composed of approximately a dozen cross-sector leaders from child welfare, k-12 education, postsecondary education, workforce development systems, and community-based providers. The advisory group provided insights on the perceived role of the OYC in L.A. County and expectations for the strategic planning process. Next, the OYC’s contracted consultant will be setting up one-on-one interviews with many OYC stakeholders to inform the development of the strategic plan.

5 School Districts Complete Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) Data Collection

First 5 LA and UCLA have collected and shared Early Development Instrument (EDI) data back to the five new districts that collected data during the 2017-2018 school year, including El Monte City, Rosemead, Mountain View, Pomona Unified, and LAUSD Local District South. These districts are working to utilize their results and engage community members and stakeholders to advocate for policies that increase outcomes for early learning. Ariana Oliva has joined UNITE-LA as the L.A. Compact’s new Early Childhood Manager to support the advancement of a common KRA in L.A. County and the use of KRA data for local policy and systems change.

Los Angeles Educator Pathways Partnership (LAEPP) Featured in Research Brief on Data Sharing

The LAEPP partnership was recently featured in a Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) research brief titled Intersegmental Partnerships and Data Sharing: Promising Practices From the Field. The report observes, “With data from teacher education programs and LAUSD, partners monitor teachers’ career progression, such as employment status, job assignment, and classroom observation data. L.A. Compact facilitates cycles of inquiry with leaders from the teacher education programs and LAUSD to discuss implications for training, to identify best practices, and to determine areas for improvement in teacher development.”  Read the full report here.

Check out what’s happening across all of the L.A. Compact workgroups, including the Stewardship Group, Foster Youth College Advancement Project, LA Performance Partnership Pilot, and more in our L.A. Compact Workgroup July/August Update.

PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

L.A. College Promise Enrollment Increases 25% in 2^ndYear

LAUSD Launches “Attendance Matters” Campaign

L.A. County, City of Los Angeles & LAUSD Explore Feasibility of Children’s Savings Accounts Program

LA Chamber Unveils Cradle to Career Agenda for California’s New Governor

Introducing CSU Dominguez Hills’ New President Thomas Parham

L.A. Compact’s Juana Hernandez Honored by Empowerment Congress’ 40 Emerging Leaders under 40

CSU Wins $10M to Support Latino STEM Education

WHAT WE’RE READING

Behind the Stats: Mark Courtney on His Newest Study on Transition-Age Foster Youth in California via Chronicle of Social Change

“Intersegmental Partnerships and Data Sharing: Promising Practices From the Field” via PACE

“Remedial Education Reforms at California’s Community Colleges: Early Evidence on Placement and Curricular Reforms” via Public Policy Institute of California

“Food Insecurity Hampers College Completion for California’s Students” via California Competes

“CSUN Is Using A Bot To Get Freshmen To Show Up For Class” via laist