Field Supports

The Forum for Youth Investment has always sought to bring together a wealth of supports and services for the child and youth field. We achieve this by building our capacity: we actively lead and manage organizations that can encourage advocacy, improve the workforce, measure and improve the quality of learning experiences and offer better communication avenues. By bringing these assets within the Forum, we can contribute to the work they are already doing and, ultimately, give leaders easier access to these great resources to make more informed decisions and plan more effectively.

  1. Give individuals and organizations access to technology that can increase civic engagement and advocacy that change change policies that affect youth.

      The Youth Policy Action Center (YPAC) is a website that engages young people and adults in democracy: changing policies that change young people's lives. Using powerful software and linking member organizations, YPAC builds the advocacy capacity of the child and youth field by giving individuals access to local and national legislation that affects children and youth. Visitors can learn more about the proposed bills, take action by contacting officials and give their voice to the democratic process.

  2. Provide youth workers, who work directly with youth, with the proper supports and resources. More committed and prepared youth workers offer a better overall experience to kids in these programs.

      The Next Generation Youth Work Coalition (Next Gen) brings together individuals and organizations dedicated to developing a strong, diverse after-school and youth development workforce that is stable, prepared, supported and committed to the well-being and empowerment of children and youth. Next Gen believes that this entails progress in at least five key areas: standards and competencies; professional development and training resources; learning delivery systems; career ladders and compensation guidelines; and research and evaluation systems. The primary role the Coalition is to inform and support ongoing discussions about the public policy, institutional, organizational and individual changes needed to build workforce capacity. Next Gen is supported by Cornerstones for Kids, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Lilly Endowment.

  3. Synthesize and highlight the need-to-know reports, articles, guides and news so leaders can be better informed and more effective at gathering and distributing information.

    4. Connect for Kids (CFK) is a website that provides summaries and context for the most essential youth news, research and policy changes across the broad range of issues facing youth. CFK also offers opportunities to take action such as contacting officials or finding other opportunities in your community. CFK is also a great resource for other organizations who need communications tool and depth on specific issues and geographies.

  4. Improve the quality of young people's learning experiences and increase returns on current investments.

    5. The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality (CYPQ) is a joint venture between the Forum and the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. The Weikart Center's mission is to position point of service quality as a powerful public idea that drives research, policy, practice and public opinion on what it takes the improve young people's learning experiences and increase returns on current investments in programs for youth.