Workgroup Update | August 2018

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

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

L.A. Compact Stewardship Group, convened by UNITE-LA: At August’s Stewardship Group meeting, members continued their discussion of adopting two-year priorities for the L.A. Compact, reviewing existing priorities and new potential priorities. To assess the feasibility of six new potential priorities, the group participated in a landscape analysis and asset mapping activity. Then members broke into small discussion groups to review the landscape results and discuss the L.A. Compact’s potential value-add. Lisa Catanzarite, VP of Research and Evaluation at the L.A. Chamber and UNITE-LA also presented briefly at the end of the meeting on the L.A. Compact Data Workgroup’s recommendations for revised k-12 and postsecondary student success indicators to regularly measure the Compact’s progress. At a future meeting, the Stewardship Group will ratify these metrics while the Data Workgroup continues to compile metrics for early education, workforce, and social emotional learning.

Joint Advocacy Workgroup, convened by the L.A. Area Chamber: In August, the Joint Advocacy Workgroup relaunched after a one-year hiatus. The group consists of 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, and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas’ office. At the relaunch meeting, partners introduced themselves, learned about the group’s previous work, and discussed opportunities to work together and potential priorities for the 2019 legislative session. The group will continue to convene on a bi-weekly basis and looks forward to continuing its collective advocacy on behalf of Los Angeles youth.

Postsecondary Initiatives & Workgroups:

College Promise, convened by the L.A. Mayor’s Office: The Executive Committee met in July to discuss the first year of implementation of the L.A. College Promise. The group reviewed outcomes data for the first College Promise cohort, including course and unit completion, semester to semester persistence, and persistence into the second year of college. The group also discussed programming for the second cohort and implementation of Assembly Bill 19 which provides funding for College Promise programs throughout the state. LACCD leaders recently announced a 25% increase in student enrollment in the L.A. College Promise, with around 5,000 students participating in the second year of the program districtwide. Read more
Los Angeles Educator Pathways Partnership (LAEPP), convened by UNITE-LA: The LAEPP reconvened in late August to kick off the school year, welcome new members, and launch the next phase of data sharing and analysis. Our focus for the next two years will be on STEM teacher preparation in our local IHE teacher training programs and outcomes for graduates who teach at LAUSD. 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.
Student Success Workgroup, convened by UNITE-LA: The Student Success Workgroup met on August 30th to finalize their workgroup priorities and meeting schedule for the 2018-19 academic year. High on the group’s list of priorities for the year ahead is the topic of aligning transfer pathways in the region. The Workgroup will continue to guide the implementation of the CSUN Connectionsreverse transfer partnership, which is helping CSUN students who stopped out receive an associate degree from one of three participating L.A. Community College District colleges in the San Fernando Valley. In September, representatives from CSUN Connectionspartner institutions will travel to Washington, DC to meet with other Lumina Foundation Talent Hubs communities that are designing interventions to serve the adults with “some college, no degree” population. This learning lab is designed and facilitated by the Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP), with support from the Lumina Foundation.

In addition, 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 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.

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Project, convened by First 5 L.A.: 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. Those districts include: El Monte City School District, Rosemead School District, Mountain View School District, Pomona Unified School District, and the Los Angeles Unified School District Local District South. First 5 LA is working to finalize the next cohort of school districts that will collect EDI data during the 2018-2019 school year. We expect to have 90% of kids in LA County to have data collected by the year 2028. Currently, school districts are working to utilize their results and engage community members and stakeholders to advocate for policies that increase outcomes for early learning. The So Cal Learning Exchange will hold their next quarterly meeting in September.

UNITE-LA recently hired a new L.A. Compact Early Childhood Manager to support the advancement of a common kindergarten readiness assessment (KRA) in L.A. County and the development of a new countywide leadership body to utilize KRA data and lessons from EDI Pilot Communities to advocate for policy and systems changes, revenue enhancements, and resource allocations to improve school readiness outcomes. Ariana Oliva starts on 9/10 with UNITE-LA. Her previous work experience includes advancing early care and education policy with Child 360, early childhood health policy initiatives with the L.A. County Department of Public Health, and school nutrition initiatives at California Food Policy Advocates.

Workforce Development Initiatives:

Workforce Systems Collaborative (LAWSC), convened by the L.A. Area Chamber: The Workforce Systems Collaborative met in August to share initiatives on which members are currently working and to identify strengths and opportunities for collaboration that can be leveraged towards LAWSC’s four goals: 1) aligning across funding streams and programs; 2) scaling successful outcomes throughout the region; 3) establishment, sharing, and distribution of program data; and 4) systems-level solutions to meaningful employer and industry engagement. Additionally, the group formed an ad hoc committee to meet in September that will provide input on the L.A. Compact 3.0 Career Readiness and Success goal. The full Work Group will re-convene in October to drill down into systems-level employer and industry engagement (LAWSC Goal 4).
Health Sector Collaborative (HSC), convened by the L.A. Area Chamber: At its the August meeting, healthcare providers, associations, and education & training partners met to share existing initiatives and goals at HSC member organizations and discussed possible ways to collectively work together to strengthen the healthcare workforce in the LA region. The HSC plans to develop shared priorities and goals at the next meeting in September.

L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC), convened by the Alliance for Children’s Rights:

OYC 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.

OYC Foster Youth College Advancement Program (FYCAP), convened by John Burton Advocates for Youth and UNITE-LA: Over the summer, the Foster Youth College Advancement Project (FYCAP) partners have continued working closely with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the L.A. County Office of Education (LACOE) to better support foster youth in the transition to college. John Burton Advocates for Youth and UNITE-LA have been working with the DCFS Resource Family Support and Permanency Division to institute a new training requirement for caregivers with youth between the ages of 12-19 in their care. Beginning in January 2019, these caregivers will be required to complete 3 of their 8 annual training hours on the topic of college readiness. John Burton Advocates for Youth and UNITE-LA are designing the training modules, which will be implemented by the Foster and Kinship Care Education programs across L.A. County.

FYCAP is also working with the DCFS Regional Offices in Lancaster and Palmdale to design college readiness training for social workers and other front line staff as part of the College Bound Antelope Valley pilot initiative. On August 28th, FYCAP and LACOE trained approximately 45 DCFS staff on the educational rights of foster youth. College Bound Antelope Valley will next launch monthly case consultations, where social workers in the pilot will come together for ongoing coaching. FYCAP provided an update on these and related activities to the DCFS executive committee on August 29th and is working with the Office of Kathryn Barger on a board motion to further focus the county’s efforts in this area. The FYCAP Executive Advisory workgroup will next convene on Tuesday, September 18th.

Fostering Careers L.A., convened by the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance for Children’s Rights: Fostering Careers LA 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.

A pilot of a new coordinated referral process to better connect foster youth with regional workforce development programs has been delayed pending finalization of an MOU between L.A. County DCFS and L.A. County Workforce Development, Aging, and Community Services (WDACS) Department. The MOU will outline eligibility requirements for approximately 400 slots for foster youth to access up to 120 hours of paid work experience and training, as well as guidelines for the referral process and tracking youth outcomes.

The L.A. Chamber and the Alliance for Children’s Rights are working with a consultant to develop content for a new Career Readiness Guide that will serve as a critical resource for DCFS social workers, caregivers, and youth in understanding age-appropriate activities that support long-term career readiness, beginning at age 12. The OYC will be hosting a series of focus groups with foster youth, caregivers, DCFS ILP staff, and workforce and postsecondary stakeholders in September. The OYC is also forming a Content Advisory Committee for the guide to draw expertise from multiple diverse stakeholders.

Los Angeles Performance Partnership Pilot (LA P3), convened by L.A. City EWDD and L.A. County WDACS: LAP3’s next quarterly meeting will be held onSeptember 26 from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. at the LA Area Chamber of Commerce. This quarterly meeting will focus on two of the most critical issues facing disconnected youth: Teen Parenting and Reproductive Health. The meeting will feature a panel of experts and young adults sharing the latest best practices information and available services.