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Blogs
Blogs by Forum staff and by leaders around the country about getting young people ready for college, work and life.
Changing the Odds for Youth, by Design.
Karen Pittman
Thursday, April 21, 2016
You know you’ve struck a chord when the diagram hurriedly sketched to summarize the new research on readiness is still up on the client’s conference room wall when you return a month later. You think you’re in heaven when the staff, without prompting, are not only using the language and ideas but have voluntarily downloaded and reviewed the research summaries and tools and are ready to talk about infusion strategies.
Taking Bold Action to Fund What Matters: Communities Raise Revenue to Support Youth
Elizabeth Gaines
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
In his latest book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, Harvard professor Robert Putnam describes with great clarity the starkly different experiences of kids living in the same community. Higher-income families are outspending lower-income families nine to one on enrichment opportunities (Source: Sabino Kornrich and Frank Furstenburg, Investing in Children: Changes in Parental Spending on Children 1972-2007.)
The Importance of Making Meaningful Measurable
Stephanie Krauss
Monday, August 10, 2015
For many in the United States, the United Kingdom (UK) has been a standout among political powers because of its treatment of youth work—afterschool programming, voluntary services, job training, housing—as a public good. Most youth services were primarily funded by local municipalities. In 2010, this public support was revoked as a part of broader austerity measures enacted in the wake of the global financial crisis. Many youth programs, already reeling from reduced resources under the Blair government, found themselves defunded overnight.
The $1.2 Billion Program that Changed America’s Approach to Afterschool
Karen Pittman & Charles Smith
Monday, March 30, 2015
We’re all for evidence-based policy making. But there are moments when the use of the “evidence” card just rings false. Brookings Senior Education Fellow Mark Dynarski’s reprised conclusion that existing research on afterschool programs does not support the current federal investment has that telltale clank.
Readiness as a Right
Karen Pittman
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
We’re four weeks out from the Ready by 21 National Meeting and I’m stoked. We couldn’t ask for a better location or better host partners. The plenary and workshop line-up is fantastic, as is the mix of familiar and new names on the registration list.
My excitement, however, also comes from within.