Forum Flash: August 14, 2008

After traveling around the country hosting convenings, the Forum is excited about the future. Scroll down to read about the invigorating sessions in New Orleans with youth, children's cabinets and state and local leaders, and an article on spiritual development. Also, check out the latest Next Gen Bulletin with news about the latest projects and supports for youth workers.

Next Generation Youth Work Coalition Bulletin 8

Stay up-to-date on the latest in the youth work profession in this e-Newsletter. Learn how the Frameworks Institute, Corporate Voices for Working Families, National After-School Association and the University of Minnesota are advancing external communications, policy and higher education for the youth work profession. Also, read about new coursework being offered in New York, a youth worker's perspective from Vermont, a new Next Gen Toolkit for conducting workforce surveys and more. Read the Bulletin.

A New Road Map to Address Spirituality in Youth Programs

News Direcitons in Youth Development Cover

"Addressing spiritual development in youth development programs and practices: Opportunities and challenges" was featured in the summer edition of New Directions for Youth Development. Forum staff Karen Pittman and Nicole Yohalem collaborated with Pam Garza and Stephanie Artman to discuss the importance of helping youth workers facilitate young people's spiritual development. Breaking through the silence of current practices will take a clear road map for how to include spirituality in youth work, a critical mass of professionals who are willing to break new ground, and candid assessments that inform practice and measure success. Learn more about the journal.

Conferences & Convenings

Forum Brings Stakeholders to New Orleans to Change the Odds for Youth
The Forum manages several affinity groups, including the State Children's Cabinet and Councils Network and the Youth Council Learning Group. This year we decided to try something new: what if we had these affinity groups meet simultaneously, so they could interact with each other? And what if we had them meet at the same time and place as the state Shared Youth Vision teams (run by a Federal interagency partnership)? Since the Forum is all about bringing people together, we decided to give it a shot and we're glad that we did - the results were phenomenal!

The 4th Annual Children's Cabinets and Councils Roundtable focused on the importance of having a collectively owned outcomes framework, breaking down silos, improving services and programs for youth and engaging all of the relevant stakeholders from young people to the corporations that will eventually hire them. Learn more about the Children's Cabinets and Councils Network.

The first ever Youth Councils Learning Group marked the first time the Forum brought state and local youth councils - young people charged with advising their government - together face to face. The young people quickly rose to the occasion and are exploring the creation of a national umbrella organization to promote their collective work. Learn more about the Learning Group.

To top it all off, we brought together all three groups (Children's Cabinets, Youth Councils and Shared Youth Vision teams) to hear a rousing Ready by 21 Keynote Address from Karen Pittman and have a lively interactive session to discuss ways they could connect with each other.

NCSL Annual Meeting
On July 24 in New Orleans, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) held a session for 150 legislators entitled 'Investing in Our Future: The Status of America's Youth'. Elizabeth Gaines of the Forum provided recent legislative developments, an overview of the status of youth in America and how using a Ready by 21 approach can help. Policymakers had the opportunity to share recent legislative developments in their states that prepare young people with better health, better connections to community and youth leadership opportunities in state government. See Elizabeth's powerpoint.

Sincerely,

Karen Pittman and Laura Mattis
The Forum for Youth Investment

Publishing Date:

August 14, 2008