Workgroup Updates

LAUSD Community Schools Steering Committee

Over 200 school and community stakeholders representing 18 LA Unified schools selected to participate in the first cohort of the district’s Community Schools pilot attended a kickoff learning session on Saturday, September 21 at Wilson High School. The teams were oriented to the four pillars of the community schools framework and the history of the community schools movement.
On November 2, L.A. Unified hosted its second convening of 18 schools participating in the Community Schools pilot at Panorama High School. The teams dove into the process of developing a community needs and assets assessment as a critical step in adopting the community school model.

Los Angeles Educator Pathways Partnership (LAEPP)

At our September meeting, the LAEPP moved the analysis and data utilization agenda forward.
The team:

Discussed a set of additional research questions to deepen the analysis of teacher preparation pathways and LAUSD outcomes for new STEM teachers compared with other teachers
Discussed uses of the dashboards for program improvements at the IHE's
Determined to contract with Ed Analytics for inclusive narrative research reports and tailored analyses

Further, the LAEPP decided on a path to streamline the MOU renewal process in order to resolve an unexpected administrative delay.

Student Success Workgroup

The Student Success Workgroup met on November 5, 2019 for its bi-monthly meeting.
The topic of discussion was reverse transfer and how to scale the LA Compact’s CSUN Connections work throughout the region.

CSUN Connections

In September, CSUN Connections team members representing CSUN, LACCD and UNITE-LA attended a Lumina Communities of Practice Convening in Los Angeles.
- Teams from across the country working towards degree attainment for adults with some college, but no degree met for two days to discuss inter-community strategies and progress, and plan for the future of our own work.
- Additional CSUN Connections team members and UNITE-LA staff also joined the convening to speak on panels regarding the processes and impact of our regional work.

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment

On September 17, UNITE-LA hosted partners from the Erikson Institute to learn more about their Early Development Index (EDI) implementation efforts in Chicago and to exchange ideas on how to use EDI data to improve coordination among the many systems that serve children.
UNITE-LA and First 5 LA participated in the quarterly SoCal EDI Learning Exchange meetings hosted by the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. UNITE-LA staff provided information on LAUSD’s and LACOE’s community school efforts and the governor’s longitudinal data system. EDI data can be used to inform and strengthen these initiatives.
As a member of the Child Care Planning Committee, Ariana attended the September and October meetings. The October meeting included an overview of the Los Angeles County Early Care and Education Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis Overview.
After a brief hiatus, LAUSD relaunched the ECE Committee. Chaired by Board Member Kelly Gonez, the committee held its first meeting on October 10. Dean Tagawa, Executive Director of LAUSD’s Early Childhood Education Division, provided an overview of the recently released Birth to Eight Roadmap. We look forward to joining the conversation and participating in futures meetings. The next committee meeting is scheduled for December 12.

Fostering Careers L.A., convened by UNITE-LA & Alliance for Children’s Rights:

OYC representatives from the Alliance for Children’s Rights, UNITE-LA, L.A. County DCFS, L.A. County WDACS and iFoster headed to Aspen, Colorado in October for the annual convening of 28 Opportunity Youth Forum communities who are all focused on deepening education and employment pathways for young people ages 16-24 who are disconnected from school and work.
In October, the county’s seven workforce boards held their first planning meeting to discuss implementation of a joint operational agreement with L.A. County DCFS, Probation and LACOE that establishes ambitious goals to ensure all foster and system-involved youth participate in 100 hours of work experience by age 16 and 300 hours by age 18.

OYC Foster Youth College Advancement Project, convened by John Burton Advocates for Youth

The L.A. County Office of Child Protection recently reported back to the County Board of Supervisors highlighting progress of the foster youth FAFSA Challenge, led in partnership with John Burton Advocates for Youth and the OYC Foster Youth College Advancement Project.
The FAFSA completion rate for foster youth high-school seniors in L.A. County increased from 33 percent in 2018 to 61 percent in 2019.
Building from this tremendous success, countywide partners have set a goal of increasing the rate to 65 percent in 2020.

L.A. Workforce Systems Collaborative (LAWSC)

At the October convening, the LAWSC members continued discussing how to support the development of apprenticeship programs in the region.
LAWSC member Lisa Salazar, Director of Workforce Development and Economic Opportunity for the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti and Eric Flores, Policy Director at the California Workforce Association shared best practices in youth apprenticeship development gleaned from recent learning tours to Germany and Switzerland.
Luis Barrera Castanon, Director of Strategic Operations at Goodwill of Southern California, provided lessons learned from building and implementing successful new registered apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing with regional employers.
The group will follow-up on weighing into the state’s Longitudinal Data System development and implement plans to collect data from stakeholders in the region about existing employer engagement practices.

Health Sector Collaborative (HSC)

At the September meeting, the HSC discussed how to strengthen awareness of allied health care employment and career technical education opportunities in the region.
The discussion was led by Ozzie Lopez, one of two Regional Directors in Los Angeles for the California Community Colleges and Health Workforce Initiative (HWI).
This conversation resulted in UNITE-LA and the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce partnering with HWI to provide a Health Care Career Exploration Track at the annual college and career convention “Your Future LA: Beyond the Diploma” (formerly known as Cash for College) which served 371 high school students from 37 high schools throughout Los Angeles.
Members are also engaged in ongoing discussions about strengthening the behavioral health workforce pipeline as well as exploring a collaboration to develop a pilot program to support acquisition of soft skills essential for medical assistants and other allied health care professionals working in community clinic settings.
Finally, the HSC are collaborating to continue building a talent pool for LAUSD school nurses among colleges in the region to fill immediate openings.

Workgroup Updates | November 2019