Ready by 21, developed by the Forum for Youth Investment, helps mobilize communities to improve the odds for children and youth.
Welcome to Ready by 21® Quality Counts
The Ready by 21 Quality Counts initiative is focused on improving the quality and reach of youth programs and strengthening local and state policies that guide resource allocation, accountability and workforce development. The Ready by 21 Quality Counts initiative provides community, agency and elected leaders from select cities and states across the country with a bold challenge, an infusion of national and local momentum and an accompanying suite of policy-building strategies and tools. Funding for this two-year initiative was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies.
In 2007, 13 places – 7 communities and 5 states – made formal commitments to use Ready by 21 tools and technical assistance to improve the quality and reach of community programs for youth. The Quality Counts sites took on this challenge with the understanding that long-term success would require not only work with programs directors, but with policy makers and the public.
The Forum for Youth Investment is leading the initiative and, using its Ready by 21 framework, helping communities engage stakeholders, assess leadership and program capacity, identify policy priorities and build momentum for quality improvement. The High/Scope Educational Research Foundation’s research-based quality improvement methodology is at the heart of the initiative, and participating sites also have access to the expertise of the AED National Training Institute for Community Youth Work in the areas of youth worker professional development and intermediary capacity building. These supports are designed to help improve the quality and reach of community programs and strengthen and align policies that guide resource allocation, accountability and workforce development. Learn more about how we are improving quality in the "QC Core Strategies" tab.
The Ready by 21 Quality Counts sites are: Austin, TX, Columbus, IN; Georgetown Divide, CA; Grand Rapids, MI; Indianapolis, IN: Nashville, TN; St, Louis, MO and the states of Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, New York, Rhode Island and Washington. Find out more about each site in the "QC Site Profiles" tab.
Latest Tools & Materials
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Ready by 21 Webinar--Program Landscape Mapping--Thursday, August 26, 3:00 PM EDT August 10, 2010 Program landscape mapping is a process that enables community members, decision makers and stakeholders to identify or inventory existing youth services and organizations. |
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Youth Voice: a Topic of Discussion at the White House August 9, 2010 The Forum’s America's Youth Councils Network is working with a coalition of national organizations to advocate for the creation of a National Youth Council. On June 30th, coalition members had a West Wing sit-down with Tina Tchen, Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, to discuss their vision for ways to incorporate youth voice into federal policymaking. |
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Introducing SparkAction: For Children. For Youth. For Change. August 9, 2010  SparkAction officially launched in June! The Forum is proud to be managing this collaborative effort for and by the child and youth field to mobilize a large, well-informed constituency to spark action for change. |
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Ready Picks, June 2010 June 23, 2010 Each issue of READY PICKS focuses on one or more of “the 4 Bs” – the capacities leaders need to strengthen to do business differently, and offers our best picks of research, tools and examples selected from the work of Ready by 21 Partners, Ready by 21 places and others committed to big picture change. |
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The Ready by 21 Quality Improvement & Asset Building (Q&A) Challenge May 27, 2010 An Opportunity for Three Southeast Communities to Take a Big Picture Approach to Tracking Quality in OST Programs |