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IN THIS ISSUE:
Director's Report
Events & Opportunities
Funding Opportunities
Director's Report
January marks one year for the TAY SF, an outgrowth of the Transitional Youth Task Force that provided consensus about the unmet needs for our city's most disconnected young people. Guided by task force's 16 recommendations, we are making exciting inroads and creating infrastructure in areas of:
Infrastructure
This year has been about building the structure to support the ongoing advocacy & planning needed to better serve disconnected 16-24 year olds. To that end, we have created a strong interagency Steering Committee as well as a TAY Provider Network. We have also identified the role for young people inside of our young Adult Team. Creating an ongoing structure that supports the youth, government and community voices who informed the Transitional Youth Task Force has been critical in building TAY SF in year one.
Multiservice Center
This summer we developed a multiservice center strategy with the help of Larkin Street, Huckleberry, YMCA Urban Services, Communities of Opportunity, Office of Economic & Workforce Development, Department of Children, Youth & their Families & Department of Public Health. The group identified target neighborhoods, analyzed space opportunities, went on site visits of regional best practices & developed a citywide strategy on how to improve the services and access points for TAY.
Outreach
Last month we released the first TAY Provider Guide to the community and government agencies. Within three weeks we distributed 750 guides, and received commitments to include the resources in other local information & referrals service providers. The guide has been well-received, and we hope to improve and add to it this year. We also started this e-newsletter and grew our listerv to 500 recipients and are currently developing a TAY website in partnership with lifeportal.com.
Housing
With leadership from Mayor's Office of Housing, the city now has a TAY Housing Plan. By adding TAY into the city's target population, the TAY Housing Workgroup was able to create a real and viable plan to address the housing needs of young adults. TAY SF also funded an eviction prevention fund-a resource in short term emergency situations when a young person needs gap funding to keep his or her housing.
This year we plan to further build our infrastructure, gather more data about TAY, pilot new projects to support quality services and continue to advocate & build awareness of the population citywide.
A year in, however, we have some valuable lessons learned.
Youth engagement is an evolving and moving target
Having my previous work as the Director of the Youth Commission, I thought engaging young people would be a snap. Years of experience in both direct service and youth civic engagement led me to believe that the sole barrier to young people being more involved in policy was time and funding to pay them. What I didn't truly understand that the transition of the lives of these young people, as well as their diverse interest, competing interests for time and often immense responsibility for themselves and others, leave TAY with less time and energy than I imagined.
Finding ways to better engage young adults continues to be a focal point for us. We are learning from others, innovating the traditional ways we have involved young people and continued committed to evolving to what works. "No choice about us, without us" continues to be the mantra, and keep young people at the center of what we do.
All of Us or None of Us
Creating a rationale and support system for a marginalized population requires we get everyone on the same page. The more that we dwell on our differences and don't understand and absorb our similarities, we keep ourselves stuck.
One of the successes of the task force was to create forum between diverse providers who focus on young people who are homeless, emancipated foster youth, in juvenile and adult justice systems, are young parents, or have disabilities. Yet, we still struggle with understanding that the very characteristics that define the population are the challenges they have daily and they don't live in any one of those boxes very long. Creating language to help inform better policy and funding to better reflect this reality continue to challenge us. We are serving the same young people--we are just doing it accidentally and strive to be more intentional.
We are not there ... yet
The declining economy and bad budget year only exacerbate the realities for disconnected youth. I have studied other cities this past year that have fewer resources but whose aggressive disconnected youth agendas are broadly supported, and reaching TAY. Through understanding the population with more data and discussion we can improve the funding and outcomes for TAY.
I appreciate your ongoing support for the initiative. We are excited in year two to get a user friendly website off the ground to improve resource and referrals, continue to engage young people, providers and government partners and to educate and inform more on the needs of transitional age youth. With flexible and culturally competent services, all young people in San Francisco can become healthy and self sufficient adults.
In community,
Rachel
EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
4th ANNUAL FAMILY APPRECIATION DAY
Sunday, January 11, 2009. SF families with children (0-17) enjoy FREE entrance to 32 SF museums and attractions. Find participating attractions in every corner of the City. Plus: Kids ride MUNI and the Culture Bus free with a paid adult. To find details including a list of venues, hours, and special programming, visit www.sfkids.org, call 311, or read the Friday, January 9 Examiner.
CITY COLLEGE COURSES for SF YOUTH WORKERS
begins Monday, January 12. Flexible weeknight courses are available. City College is in the process of developing a youth worker certificate program. To register, log on to www.ccsf.edu. For more info, contact Child Development & Family Studies Department, 50 Phelan Ave, Box L207, 415-239-3172.
Courses include:
- HLTH 65: Youth Development & Leadership; CRN 38866; 3 units; Thursday; 6-9PM -- An introduction to the principles of youth development and approaches to investigating significant issues affecting today's youth. NEW CLASS!
- CDEV 75; Secondary (High/Middle School) Supervised Fieldwork; CRN#38460; 3 units; Monday; 6-9 PM; Get practical experience working in a public middle or high school classroom. Get your required pre-credential experience hours while at CCSF!
- CDEV 95: School-Age Child Care Curriculum; CRN 36430; 3 units; Monday; 6-9PM; Learn about planning curriculum in after-school programs.
LARKIN STREET'S MIND THE GAP CONFERENCE: EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR MEETING THE NEEDS OF TRANSITION AGE YOUTH
Thursday, January 15, 8am-5pm at PALACE HOTEL.The day will focus on strategies to advance practice and policy as it relates to the issue of homelessness among transition age youth. The goal is for participants to leave with new knowledge and concrete ideas to apply to their work. Registration is $75 - click here.
The SOCK IT TO ME CONCERT & SIMULCAST
The Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 7:00 am to Noon, Civic Center, San Francisco. Admission is new socks and / or underwear, with the tag still attached, which will be distributed to the homeless. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced 2009 presidential inaugural theme as "A New Birth of American Freedom," to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth (the title is a line from the Gettysburg Address).
DREAMS FROM A MONSTER FACTORY
A Tale of Prison, Redemption, and One Woman's Fight to Restore Justice to All -- Reception and Book Reading by Community Works on Thursday, January 22, 5:30pm at Koret Auditorium (San Francisco Main Public Library). A book reading and reception for Sunny Schwartz's new book, Dreams from a Monster Factory, a chronicle of the San Francisco County Jails, the ability, of people to change, and Sunny's efforts to transform the jails. For more information, click here.
SPECIAL NEEDS INCLUSION TRAINING 29
SNIP will be offering the FREE workshop at Support for Families of Children with Disabilities, 2601 Mission Street, 6th floor, from 9:30 to noon on January 29, 2009. Contact Dee Hayden dhayden@supportforfamilies.org or Alison Stewart at 415 282-7494 for more information. Find lots of resources and information about inclusion and register for the trainings here.
1st ANNUAL KNOW JUSTICE CONFERENCE
Wednesday, February 18th, 10:00am-4:30pm, San Francisco Main Public Library, Koret Auditorium. Organized by the Center for Young Women's Development (CYWD) in collaboration with United Playaz (UP), this conference will provide tools for youth and their families, service providers and community members impacted by the juvenile justice system to advocate for ourselves and organize for justice in our communities. To register for this event please contact Cassandra James, Girls Detention Advocacy Program Coordinator at 415-703-8800 ext. 215 or cassandra@cywd.org
TAYSF PROVIDER NETWORK MEETING
Wednesday, February 25, 1-3pm, at 1390 Market St (DCYF). Discussion topics will include TAY budget advocacy, provider highlights, and policy highlights. Please RSVP to Rachel Antrobus at rantrobus@dcyf.org or at 415.934.4843.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Transitional housing for domestic violence victims Grant
US Department of Justice is funding 60 awards up to $250,000 each for assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking who are in need of transitional housing, short-term housing assistance and related supports. Eligibility: States, units of local government, Indian tribes and other organizations with experience working with these victims. Deadline: Jan. 8, 2009.
National CASA Association: 2009 Conference Scholarships
National Court Appointed Special Advocates is funding scholarships to pay the registration costs to attend the association's annual conference in April. Eligibility: Former foster youth who are under age 25 (seven scholarships); active Court Appointed Special Advocates/Guardians Ad Litem volunteers (33 scholarships) and staff members (24 scholarships). Deadline: Jan. 9, 2009. Amount: Varies.
UnitedHealth HEROES
For youth-led community education projects about obesity prevention and health from 5-25 years old. Funder: UnitedHealth. Eligibility: Teachers, service-learning coordinators and youths. Deadline: Jan. 15, 2009. Amount: $1,000 each.
YouthBuild
To provide opportunities for disadvantaged youth in education, employment and community engagement. Funder: U.S. Department of Labor. Eligibility: Nonprofits. Deadline: Jan. 15, 2009. Amount: $47 million for three-year grants of $700,000to $1.1 million.
Identifying Neighborhood-Level Protective and Promotive Factors for Youth Violence
To: study how neighborhood and environmental factors reduce youth violence perpetration and victimization by promoting nonviolence or by buffering against known risk factors. Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eligibility: Public nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Deadline: Feb. 17, 2009. Amount: $700,000 for two awards of around $350,000 each.
Youth Violence Prevention through Economic, Environmental and Policy Change
To: assess policies and other interventions designed to change the economic or environmental characteristics of a community to reduce rates of youth violence perpetration and victimization. Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eligibility: Public and private nonprofits. Deadline: Feb. 23, 2009. Amount: Two awards averaging $500,000 each.
Legal Assistance for Victims Grant
To: increase the availability of civil and criminal legal assistance for adult and youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking who are seeking relief in legal matters arising as a consequence of that abuse or violence. Funder: U.S. Department of Justice. Eligibility: Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments and private institutions of higher education. Deadline: Jan. 28. Amount: Up to $650,000 each.
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