The FY 2020 AP chapter “Building and Using Evidence to Improve Government Effectiveness” can help policymakers, researchers, and service providers understand the federal government approach and priorities for using evidence in policymaking. It focuses on four key areas: (1) evidence-building strategies to learn and improve, (2) evaluation as a tool to learn and improve, (3) harnessing data for learning and improvement, and (4) promoting transparency and accountability in federal evidence-building. These four areas demonstrate how the federal government is moving forward on a number of key ideas found in the Forum’s recent work.

The Children & Nature Network's Co-Founder Richard Louv spoke with Karen Pittman on the importance of connecting all children, families, and communities to the natural world.

In just two short weeks, we will be heading to Seattle, Washington, for the 8th annual Ready by 21 National Meeting. Every year, the National Meeting brings together hundreds of leaders from around the country who are working to get all young people ready by 21 - for college, work and life.

The Local Children’s Cabinet Network is a national network of community leaders working to improve the coordination of child- and youth-serving agencies and initiatives in their localities through the use of a “children’s cabinet” or equivalent policy coordinating body.

In this Issue: Preparing Children to Thrive | Adult Capacity | Ready by 21 National Meeting | Social and Emotional Learning

In this Issue: Social-Emotional Learning | National Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month | Collective Impact Learning Lab | Change Management

Helping to reconnect youth back to education and employment and get them on a path to a successful transition to adulthood that includes economic self-sufficiency, skills that support independent living and improved health, mental health and well-being can be challenging. Youth development stakeholders and beneficiaries (i.e., the youth themselves) describe significant challenges that hinder meaningful improvements in education, employment, health and well-being outcomes.

In this Issue: Summer | Ready by 21 National Meeting | Social and Emotional Learning | Collective Impact Learning Lab

Our nation is at a turning point: We now understand that social, emotional and cognitive development underpins children's academic learning. This breakthrough understanding about how people learn is fueling a growing movement to educate children as whole people, with social and emotional as well as academic needs.

In this Issue: Capacity-Building Trainings | Ready by 21 National Meeting | Children's Cabinet Network | Collective Impact Learning Lab

There is no question that I am a fan of out-of-school time (OST) systems — data-driven, coordinated community-level efforts to improve access to quality before and after school and summer learning experiences. Just check my track record to know I have helped incubate dozens of them across the country, both as part of The Wallace Foundation team as well as a Big Picture Approach consultant with the Forum for Youth Investment.