Ready News: June 23, 2022
June 23, 2022
Don’t Leave Us Out: How to Tap ARPA Funds for Older Youth & Opportunity Youth
Webinar
June 29, 1:30-3:00 PM ET
Please join the Forum for Youth Investment and the Children’s Funding Project for a timely conversation about leveraging the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for older youth! ARPA offers some of the most flexible and significant funding that states and localities have and is helping to lift many children and families out of poverty. However, ARPA does not include a concerted focus on older youth, including Opportunity Youth ages 14 and up who are not connected to the workforce or school, leaving the needs of this important group up to states and localities. Join this session to hear from two localities that are effectively directing ARPA funds toward older youth populations. You’ll learn what they are doing, how young people are involved in shaping programs, and how you can take the lessons home.
This session is designed for: Advocates, policymakers, agency staff, and other policy influencers and implementers. Young people and young advocates are encouraged to join!
Participants will walk away with concrete information to understand ARPA timing and processes, including:
- How can I help secure ARPA funds for older youth populations?
- What step in the process can I still influence – and what is it too late for?
- Who makes key spending and implementation decisions?
- How do I find local information on these questions?
Charting a Path to COVID Recovery for All Young People
The Forum recently joined 50 other organizations in signing on to the Science of Learning and Development’s Alliance letter, “Charting a Path to COVID Recovery for All Young People.”
Across our nation, educators, school and district leaders, families, and students are focused on the difficult task of COVID recovery — working to keep children safe, address the losses caused by the pandemic, and accelerate learning for each and every young person. Recovery will happen, but it will take significant time and investment. There is a real risk that our shared interest in moving past the pandemic will create a false mindset that we can quickly “return to normal” in our schools and move linearly toward recovery. This mindset and approach will fail our young people.
To chart the best, fastest course for recovery, we must understand the full depth and breadth of the crisis, adopt a strategy that is both urgent and long-term, and address the needs of each and every young person. We encourage everyone to read and share this guidance for charting a path to an inclusive recovery.
Supporting Quality in Summer Learning: How Districts Plan, Develop, and Implement Programs
School district-led summer programs play a critical role in supporting students academically and providing them with enriching experiences. Drawing on existing research conducted by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, and the perspectives of policymakers and field professionals. The report looks at the policies, practices, and resources that go into the planning, development, and operation of these programs. Researchers spoke with 92 individuals: district representatives and community partners (representing 38 districts in 30 states); staff from 21st Century Community Learning Center state offices (25 states); and other state-level stakeholders, including state afterschool networks, involved in the design, implementation and funding of district-led summer learning programs.
Measure, Use, Improve! Data Use in Out-of-School Time
Measure, Use, Improve! Data Use in Out-of-School Time shares the experience and wisdom from a broad cross-section of out-of-school time professionals, ranging from internal evaluators, to funders, to researchers, to policy advocates. The book’s chapters touch on a range of topics, including how to build support for learning and evaluation within out-of-school time programs, creating and sustaining continuous quality improvement efforts, authentically engaging young people in evaluation, and securing funder support for learning and evaluation.