Effective leadership for changing the odds for children and youth requires motivating a number of distinct groups to act. It is essential for leaders to develop an aligned and focused advocacy and communications strategy that articulates and builds demand for changing the odds for children and youth.

On any given day, scores of young people with limited individual and social capital are simultaneously struggling to exit some systems and enter others: foster care, residential treatment centers, higher education, mental health programs, gainful employment.

Landscape mapping is a process that enables community members, decision makers and stakeholders to identify or inventory existing youth services and organizations. The approach can help move communities and states to examine their current assets, help to create connections, improve efficiency in the use of limited resources and assist community members to know what is available to them.